FOOTBALL

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19836, 27 June 1934, Page 6

FOOTBALL

NOTES AND COMMENTS By "Onlooker." Guy was the outstanding forward In the Point pack against Celtic on Saturday, and he should be hard to keep out of the southern tour, should it take place.

The South Island trial match is to be played at Oamaru this afternoon. Three South Canterbury players, GGaffaney, A. Provan and G. Adkins will be given an opportunity to show their ability and they will carry with them the best wishes of other players and supporters of the game.

B. H. Black, good forward and goalkicker in the British Rugby team which toured New Zealand and Australia in 1930, has no intention of giving up Rugby yet. Some of the leading clubs in England select their field-captains for a season six months ahead, and the Blackheath Club has selected Black captain of its fitst fifteen for the 1934-35 season.

Wrestling is in the boom in the Dominion at present, and it would seem that a good many footballers are supporters of the sport, judging by the displays given by many them every Saturday. Clean, hard tackling, round the legs, is rapidly becoming a lost art, and in its place has sprung up an offshoot of wrestling, a sort of sport in which the players seem to see how many holds they can get on to opposing players.

At the conclusion of Saturday’s matches in Christchurch, Albion and Merivale were together in the lead In the Canterbury Rugby Union's competition, each having eight points. University and Old Boys are next with 6j points, Sydenham 5, Curistchurch and Linwood 4 and Athletic 1. In the challenge cup competition for the team gaining most wins in the «eond round, Albion, Merivale and Linwood each have two points.

The tactics adopted by the referee, Mr R. G. Sampson, in the Star-Te-muka match at Fraser Park on Saturday went a long way towards making the game fast and open. Prom the outset he penalised players falling to relinquish possession of the ball ae soon as they were tackled, with a result that after a few penalty kicks had been awarded for the infringement, there was very little of the “sacks on the mill” type of play which was common last season. As a result the game was kept open and the referee’s firmness in dealing with that particular breach of the rules was favourably commented on by spectators in the stand.

After having run Old Boys very close the previous week, it was expected that Celtic would fully extend Point on Saturday, but at no stage of the game did the Greens really look dangerous. In the forwards they held their own fairly well, although so far as loose play was concerned Point were always going the better of the two. There was no comparison in the backs, the Maroons com billing much better, and they handled with a great deal more certainty. But for the accurate fielding and kicking of Delury, Celtic would have suffered defeat by a much greater margin. Point were well served behind the scrum by Dewar, while Stewart and Cartwright linked up well. Stewart has lost a good deal of the nippiness he displayed a few seasons ago when he figured in the Star line, but he is still capable of doing the right thing at the right moment. Anderson, the Point custodian, is inclined to get up among the recognised back-line too much. Now and again an extra man is handy, but to join in every other rush is a foolhardy move, especially when noone drops back to fill the gap.

Here is what Mr W, J. Wallace, I?QS All Black, has to say about the 3—2—J, or at least the 3—4—l scrum. In a recent address to the Wellington Rugby coaches Mr Wallace referred to the resentment felt by the British players in ISOS, and the South African team in New Zealand in 1921, regarding New Zealand’s method of scrummaging, and the wrongful interpretation of the scrummage laws by New Zealand referees. The New Zealand team learnt in South Africa in 1928 that two

: en could never beat three in the front row of the scrum, and had to follow the Springboks’ formation, 'men in 1932 came the gentlemen's agreement to do away with the wingforward, and New Zealand in Australia In 1932 had to learn scrummaging all over again. He described thi experiments the All Blacks tried in Australia until they came to the conclusion that the 3—4—l scrum worked best- “ The present rule is the fairest we have ever had,” declared Mr Wallace, “as, it stops locking and swinging hookers. We must have uniformity. It is no use clinging to the methods of our grandfathers. That old wing-forward of ours never did us any good on overseas tours, and only led so a lot of unpleasantness.”

The standard of football in South Canterbury seems to be slipping badly. Earlier in the season there were prospects of a marked improvement in comparison with previous years, but the standard on Saturday in all matches was not up to that of the opening of the season. There is plenty of material available; in fact, if the right men were selected, and these men were to have the benefit of good coaching, it is safe to say that a side could be turned out which would be a good deal better than any that has represented the district for many years. Where does the trouble lie? Is it with the players, or the coaches, or both? “Onlooker” does not propose to take the coaches to task, for they give their time and talent freely in the interests of the game, but it would seem that a good deal of their work Is being wasted. Players seem content to jqg along in the same old groove without making an effort to improve their style, or brighten up the game. Can the public be blamed for failing to patronise football in the circumstances? There is definitely a need for something to be done In regard to club Rugby in this district, and unt., the standard is improved, the game will continue to attract tile very moderate patronage it has been attracting for some weeks. For a while it appeared to be a tossup whether Temuka would be able to send a team out to meet Star oh Saturday. At about 2.45 there Wjtre five senior players in the dressing shed and just before 3 o’clock a tally revealed the strength to be nine. Included in that number was A. Gaffaney, who was compelled to turn out because of the lack of players, although he took the field with a knee about twice its normal size. Heavy calls were made on the junior fifteen, and at a result the remaining six places were filled by youngsters. Under those conditions, Temuka put up a good game against the fast moving Star combination, and ii would not have been surprising if the Blue-and-Blaeks had scored double the number of points they did. K. Hall, who scored two tries, gave a splendid display for Old Boys, his speed proving a valuable asset. His

first try was a spectacular dash from near half-way, when he outdistanced the opposition. * • • • With Blyth, P. Leonard and Ryan standing down, it was not to be expected that the Magpies would showmuch combination, but their substitutes, Hopkinson, Parrant and Hope gave a good account of themselves. After the first few minutes of the game, A. Gaffaney was more or less a cripple and his usual penetration and clever defensive work were sadly missing from Saturday’s exhibition. An amusing incident occurred at No. I ground at Fraser Park on Saturday when a toddler of about three years wandered through the fence just below the grandstand and sot out to capture the 25 yards flag. After wrestling Sternly with the cherished banner for a while the child uprooted the post and was staggering manfully back (presumably to its parents) with the burden when, alarmed by a sudden swing of play to the corner, an onlooked retrieved the flag and rescued the child frpm danger. Star had things much their own way in their match against the depleted Temuka side, but they were slow to turn their opportunities to advantage. The backs indulged in some good concerted rushes, but solid tackling Dy Hopkinson and M. O'Connor, the Temuka full-back, and a tendency on the part of Proven and Greybum io crowd their threequarters, robbed many of their efforts of fruition. Boys was the most consistent straight runner in the Star rearguard and he was unlucky not to be more successful with his slashing runs. In N. Ford, Star have a safe custodian. Certainly, he was not ealled on to do much defensive work, but he saved his forwards time after time with well judged line kicks whleh gained large slices of ground. « « * <■ By a last minute dash K. Hall gained the points which gave Old Boys the victory over Geraldine by 9 to 7 on the Geraldine High School ground. The game was a decided contrast to the 01<1 Boys v. Geraldine game at the commencement of the season when the country team suffered defeat by “7 points to 6. Although Old Boys were Superior on Saturday, particularly in scrummaging and tn passing, Geraldine promptly smothered most of their attacks, and In the second spell had the better of the game territorially. The country team was decidedly unlucky in losing the game. K. Loach, who snapped up and put a good drop kick over to make the spores 7-6, about five minutes before time, played a splendid game. Neutze, the Geraldine skipper, was also 6n his game, while Thorp again proved indefatigable ■ s half-back. Anderson, in the forwards, has proved a useful addition to the team. S. Callanan made no mistakes as full-back.

DRAW FOR SATURDAY. The fixtures and referees for Saturday are as under:— Senior. Old Boys v. Waihl, Fraser Park No. 1, 3.45 p.m.—Mr J. Phillip. Celtic v. Geraldine, Fraser Park No. 2, 2.45 pun.—Mr S. Robinson. Point v. Star, Pleasant Point, 2.45 p.m. —Mr A. B. Rowlands. Tf-muka v. Zlngari, Temuka No. 1, 2.45 p.m.—Mr L, W. Parrant. Junior: First Division. Old Boys v. Pareora, School Park No. 2, 3 pm—Mr C. L. Cutler. Btgr v. Temuka, School Park No. 3, 3 p.m.—Mr C. Harding. St. Andrews, a bye. Junior: Second Division. Wa* h dyke v. High School, Washdyke, 2 p.m.—Mr w. Dlreen. Old Boys v. Kingsdown, Ashbury Park, 3 pm.—Mr R. Richards. Geraldine v. Zingari, Geraldine No. 1, 3 Mr Si Drew. Third Grade. Celtic v. Temuka, Fraser Park No. 1, 1.30 p.m.—Mr H. E. Lawson. Star V. High School, School Park No. 2, 1.36 p.m.—Mr L. Richards. Fourth Grade.

Star v. High School, Fraser Park No. 2. 1.36 p.m.—Mr A. Mcßeth. Old Boys v. Temuka, Temuka No. 2, 3 pm.—Mr M. Grant. Pareora v. Geraldine, School Park No. 1, 3 pm.—Mr S. Black. Fifth Grade. Star v. Geraldine, School Park No. 4, 3 pm.—Mr A. Simmers. Technical v. High School A, School Park No. 1, 1.30 p.m.—Mr R. G. Sampson. Temuka v. High School B, Temuka No. 1, 1.45 p.m.—Mr J. J. McGuigan. PRIMARY SCHOOLS MATCH. The following will represent the Tilh4.ru town schools against country school* ft Fraser Park to-morrow aftfmoon. Forwards.—Front row: J. Howard (West); D. Lyons (Walmataitai), Houlihan (Marist). Second rew: F. Sanders (South), W. Fitzgerald (Marist>. Back row: A. Shortus (Walmataitai), E. Gribben (Main), P. Fitzgerald (Marist). rialf-bgck: Ryan (Marist). Five-eighths: M. Goddard (Marist). P. Walsh (Marist). Threequarters: W. McNaugliton (West), Joyce (Marist), N. Kelly (Waimataitai). Full-back: R. Howard (West). Emergencies: G. Parmenter (South', P. King (South), W. Green (Main), c. Shore (South).