THE WEEK’S RUGBY.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCVIII, Issue 18084, 2 July 1924, Page 4

THE WEEK’S RUGBY.

NOTES AND COMMENTS. (By “ Toucliiine.”) FIXTURES. Julv 5. —Charity Day. i . July 17. —S.C. v. Waiinate Sub-Union, "at AVaimate. „ , „ . July 19.—S.C. v. Ashburton Sub-Union "at Asliburton (Junior Representatives!. , August 16!—S.C. v. Canterbury, at Timnru. August 30. —Geraldine Tournament. September 6. S.C. v. Marlborough, at Timaru. ■' September 10. —S.C. v. Mellmgton, at Timaru. THE PREMIERSHIP. .

Charity Day on Saturday next junior Flag points. —Point 12, Zm- : Filth Grade. —Point 11, Geraldmo 10.. - Fourth Grade.—Temuka 16, Star 12, Zingari 11, Old Boys 11. „ gari 12, Celtic 11, High School 9, r’areoru 9, Star 7. ■ . . Third Grade. —Geraldine 14, Old Boys 11, Temuka 11, Point 10, High School 10, Waslidyke 9. Star juniors registered still another draw on Saturday last. Their record for the season now reads as follows : Played 7, won 1, drawn 5, lost 1; points scored 9, points against 14. j Thomson, the Star half, had an unlucky day oil Saturday last. Soon after the start he injured a hand, and not long afterwards he had a leg hurt. Before the first spell had run its course he was dazed by a fall, and under the circumstances, played a plucky game. | Ashbury - Pam is* now being exten- j sively used by the, Rugbyr Union, and j the games there are attracting a goodly •number of Spectators.- The “Park” is no stranger to football, as matches were played on it forty years ago when ,it was merely a swampy area on what was known as AVoollcombe’s Gullv. For years without number the junioi grade was the ugly' duckling of South j -Gn-mterbur—footbailj—-butrr-thatr- state- ofaffairs no longer exists, and not enough people realise that many second-grade matches offer better entertainment than some senior congests. With,Ahe exception of the third , grade, which always lias been pretty good, all the niinor., divisions now offer an imnroved brand of Rugby. Wailii had a strange-looking rearguard in action on Saturday. _J. Henderson was played at half, O’Ne’h and .T. Mcßride at five-eighth, and J., Edgeler at" full. The presence, of Edgoler in the goalkeeper’s position was due fo a regrettable enure—young O. Quirkc was operated on for appendicitis on Friday ‘Evening, and his j services will be-greatly missed for thn . rest: of the season bv the Club—awUtho South Canterbury “B” reps. ;• A rather I ffneTpoint cropped up -in-> tho Old Bovs-Star game last week, , wlien Mathieson sent Fraser away for, ■ a try'- .Mpthipson. who was half out of touch, prevented-the ball from going out, ..and; owing to.-:: bis only near, onponent'-'/.believing • the ball _ was unplayable; was allowed to initiate a sooting movement. In the event of a nlayer who is carrying tho ball putting liis foot out of-.touch, or in case of the ball going outside the line while in possession of. a player, whose feet may he in tho'field'of nlnyj: the line umpire’s flag should be hoisted; hut a player whose feet are outside the line may still play the ball if it is inside, provided he does not carry it. • j Both junior matches at the Athletic j Grounds on Saturday resulted in <- | draw, and nobody quarrelled with the I verdict. The Point-Zingari contest j Was anybody’s game all through, and tho Star-School clash, though at one stage it looked like going to ; Star, finished up with honours pretty even. The older team struck a patch of bad . luck just after School equalised tfm ; scores in the second spell. A • shot from a free hit the goal post and rebounded, and immediately afterwards a Blue man crossed tht line but lost the ball before lie could get it down, j Had the game ended at that point Star would have been unlucky to lose, but the students’ condition told in the end, and they, too, had their share of ill-luck in not registering points. The first spell in the Star-Old Boys game was the longest drawn out we have experienced tor some time. The actual play did not exceed the 45 minutes agreed upon, but stoppages for repairs to players or their costumes, consumed an additional 13j minutes, and the game did not end until 5 p.m., at least half an hour later than is desirable in mid-winter. The referee has drawn the attention of the Rugby Union to the fact that the players did not take the field until 3.12, twenty five minutes later than the advertised time, although they were ready at 3 o’clock, and he suggested that instructions should be issued to referees that on all grounds where two matches are played the first should terminate not | lqter than 2.55. Some steps should bo taken to prevent a recurrence of last week's groping in the dark, and in future it is to be hoped that referees will exercise their powers and stop all games as soon as the bad light makes play dangerous. i

The suggestion made in this column j last week that Temuka seniors should | either get on or get out seems to have : been accepted in' the proper spirit by j the Magpies, who proved last Saturday j that they were capable of better things than their recent form had suggested. Their winning margin over Celtic was a narrow one, and on more than one occasion was in imminent danger of disappearing altogether, but the cold fact remains that they regis- j tered four tries to the town team’s one | try. If Saturday’s win proves to be i the turning in the lane for Temuka | it will give the keenest satisfaction to j everybody possessing any real interest j in South Canterbury Rugby. Highet, | full back for the winners, was safer ! than usual, and the three-quarters— McDonald, McNulty, and Larcombe—all played good individual games. McNulty, who was the pick, notched two good solo tries, and Larcombe produced bis annual one “out of the box.” Bennett, Hamlin brothers, and Robertson went well in the forward division Bennett giving his best display of the season. His try- was a beauty, and he handles infinitely better as ft forward than he seems capable of doing as a back. Mason, at full foi Celtic gave a great exhibition The bounce of the hall heat him on one occasion, and Temuka scored from the error, hut it was the only miss the lad made during the game. Houlihan •md Reillv were solid in the throe line, and Crowley .at five-eighth mnem several good runs. Of a orotty even lot of forwards Kane, McAllen, Flynn, and Darcy were about. the pick, Kano I threaten'-' to blossom into a scoring I man, and was almost over on iwo or I three i>cpmOoii«. Celtic apparently bad i a pi lie diffieullv in mustering tbeir In)., v ,,,-s. e- :i ”■ s- preily laic before the parly left town.

Celtic’s third-grade to tun has forfeited two successive games, nnu according to the rules is now out of tho competition. , , Among those who turned, out to assist Temuka to victory ngumst Celtic was “General” Jackson, who oft and on has hooked for tho Magpies for nearly 20 years. Temuka’s win on Saturday was very popular with the local public, who gave the players an ovation at the finish, and now can he expected to show revived interest in the team. A pleasing feature of tho business was the spontaneous aud hearty manner m which the losers offered congratulations to the Temuka men on breaking then I 1 must be a long timo since a senioi ■ learn committed so many lntungements as did Old Boys last Saturday. In the early part of the game the succession of free kicks against them offside became monotonous, ancl the number of penalties would- have been considerably increased had the referee been able to achieve the impossible and see what was happening on the blind side of some of the rucks. It must be longer still, however, since- wrongdoers prohted so much by their offences, lne Star skipper does not commit many errors of judgment, but he played ! straight into the hands of his opponents by persevering so long wire Boroman as kicker-m-cluef. the full back either could not or would not use the line, and so much ginger was unnecessarily taken out of the Star pack that their superiority m scrum , and tight work gradually disappeared, and at the end of half an hour the I advantage had passed to the opposi--1 tion. AVith the exception of Logan, none of the Star backs kicked with tho judgment of the Royal Blue leaiguaiu. Zingari owed their win against Waihi to the superiority of their rearguard—the. Yellow forwards, with F. Ward and Ritchie absent, being rather overshadowed by the country men, Storey was responsible for some yery good work at five-eighth, and his form confirmed the impression that he is not line-lined to let himself go unless tho . ground is fairly dry. Herdman handled j with his usual skill, and Gibb, at I centre, gave further evidence of scor--1 ing dash. Skellerup, who was incapacitated for some weeks as the result of a motor accident, was back on the wing, and with his pace it is a pity he does not get more opportunities. D. I Fairbrother, it is almost needless to say, I did all that.was required of him at full, land it is to be hoped that there is'no foundation for the rumour that lie contemplates retiring. A. Edgeler was the solidest of the Waihi backs, and W. Mcßride stood out among vigorous pack of forwards. Towards the end there were some instances ol unnecessary tackling by members ol both teams. Aparently all the players ■Tire" nt)t- content to let bygones be neverbeens, and it is noteworthy that the Zingari man who was charged with putting the match to the tinder at the previous meeting was on the bank last Saturday.. ... "The Star-Old ‘ Boys game was a bit disappointing. The unusual liumbe. of intermissions due to casualties, the innumerable infringements by the winners, and a considerable amount of fumbling robbed the play of a lot of sparkle. The indecisive nature of most of the scrum work also contributed to much tight play.. The Star hookers secured possession in the early stages, hut the ball seldom got away deadly,, and when the weight of the Bliies commenced to , tell the j leather ■ dribbled out at tlie side more often than it went through the tunnel, and it was noticeable that the Did Boys -winger initiated more; passing ruhs than the half was able to do. The kicking of some of the Star backs was execrable, and helped towards the amdoing of the forwards, but however the game had been played Old Boys Would have been returned winners, as_ the mishaps to Thomson spoiled the back plav of tlie Star men. Of the winners’ backs G. Lawson was the star, and gave a clever all-round exhibition. His nippiness and olusiveness - _ time irid again turned a Slur attack into an Old Boys’ offensive,-' and at present lie is head and shoulders above any other inside back in the competition. Frnse* nlayed a solid game. In the first spell he Van too often towards the sidelinelie improved in this particular later on —and if he . could learn to . delivct better passes would be a valuable man in the team. Some of the passes Mahan received were only knee high. Matbieson, on the wing, displayed his usual alertness, and his smartness in snapping opportunities credited bis side with a good many points. Parker is right back to form as winger, and made many openings for both backs and forwards. The pick of the vanguai'd was Gerard, who stood out as the best forward on tho ground. He was penalised three times irv as many minutes for offside early in the game, but once ho had overcome liis eagerness he gave a greali exhibition. Doull was tried out in a new place—the front row—but is obviously no hooker. In tho loose he played good football, and his handling of "free kicks was just as good as Boroman’s was indifferent. Ut the Star backs Logan was the best in spite of one of two errors. Burrell was missing, and was replaced by Head, who had already played .in a junior game. Head had to retire at halftime, Ball coming on when the team reappeared. T. MeVey put m a of hard work at wing forward, and though he suffered by, comparison with Parker be must be given credit, lor a good display. The outstanding figure in the forward division was Clarke and next to Gerard he was the best of the two packs.

W .5 U O ~tn Played. Won. Lost. Drawn. Clip. P Points tn Old Boys Zingai'i Star Celtic - 3 7 . 8 5 . 8 4 . 8 3 1 1 2 1 0 2 2 4 172 99 111 92 o 80 49' 87 lu 11 10 . S' 1 1 6 45 117 3 a Temuka . 8 1 0 7 39 108