EXCEPTION TAKEN

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLII, Issue 20493, 11 August 1936, Page 8

EXCEPTION TAKEN

ALL BLACKS’ MATCH IN TIMARU The All Blacks who will meet the Wallabies in Wellington on September 5 will be kept together for the second game at Dunedin on September 12, playing a match at Timaru on the Wednesday on the way to Dunedin. The idea of not dispersing the players between the two international games is good, but that of making them play three days before the second big fixture is open to question (comments the “Dominion”). It is only necessary to recall what the 1930 All Blacks said about having to play at Oamaru just before the first game with the British team at Dunedin to know what the players think of these practice matches.

Poor Display. “Brute strength and ignorance” may seem harsh comment to pass on the Star- Zingari match on Saturday, but it about sums up the position. The Star backs saw plenty of the ball, but generally they made little use of it. The Zingari line did not once function as a unit, and Bruce, at centre, might as well have been carrying the line umpire’s flag for all the chances he got. For a game which had an important bearing on the championship, the standard of play was decidedly poor, and warrants very little comment. The spectators were unusually silent, most of the noise coming from the players themselves. This is one aspect of play in South Canterbury which has been commented on time and again, but there has been no improvement. It would seem that the only possible way an improvement could be effected would be for the referees to impose a few penalties. Nothing detracts more from a game than persistent yelling, and some ni the representative players are the worst offenders.

Dirty Play. An incident occurred in a match n Timaru on Saturday which calls for some comment, because it is not the first occasion on which it has happened, and the circumstances were such as to remove the incident from the sphere of coincidence. One player was late tackled by another and thrown heavily. Some spectators commented on the matter at the time, and decided to watch events, expecting retaliation. Sure enough, the player who made the late tackle was later badly injured. This is the sort of thing which is killing public interest, and doing much harm to the game, and the sooner a stop is put to it the better. Some will be inclined to argue that it served the injured player right, but players who deliberately set themselves out to inflict injury should be barred from taking the field. Why is it that school football has such a big pull with the public? Simply because the boys play the game for the game’s sake. Another incident occurred in the same match which merits comment, because it revealed the exact spirit in which Rugby should be played. One player fell with the ball, and an opponent was charging at him. Rather than risk injuring the man ou the ground, the player who was charging jumped over his opponent. It wis clean play, the type of play the public like to see, and in striking contrast to the happening referred to previously. There is a vast difference between hard play and dirty play, and a stop would be put to a lot that goes on if referees were a little more strict. Waihi’s Mainstay: Ron Jamieson, the Waihi five-eighth, is one of South Canterbury’s unlucky players. On his performances in club football he would appear to be entitled to a try-out for representative honours, but he has proved in ‘lie past that he does not fit in with hit team mates. On Saturday he was the only back in the country team to sh v form. Apart from his ability as a five-eighth, his kicking was an asset to Waihi, for he contributed eight of his side's 11 points with his boot. Good Finishers: Little interest was taken in the Celtic-Waihi match on the lower ground at Fraser Park, neither b” the players nor the spectators. Apart from a few officials closely connected with the teams the gallery was nil, but had some of those who patronised the fixture on No. 1 ground transferred their attention they would have seen a better game. Although they could muster only 13 men, Celtic lived up to their reputation as good finishers and piled up nine points in the second spell, threatening to deprive Waihi of what earlier appeared to be a clear-cut win. With the scores at 11-9 and Celtic with a conversion to make to draw, the luck was against the Greens, Venning’s kick swinging wide of the uprights. The game had nothing to commend it in the way of tactics or execution, but as a friendly encounter seemed to be most enjo i • able from the players’ point of view. A match-winner: Otago’s Benny Osler (D. Trevathan) is a match-winner if ever there was one, says the Rugby writer of “The Southland Times,” and when the South Island and New Zealand selectors come to make their final decisions they will have to give the Southern player consideration. He made all the difference to Otago’s (and Southland’s) chances. He is not the fast-moving first five-eighth that one likes to see in the position, but he cannot be faulted as a link and nothing else. He is solid, and although he was caught in two minds once or twice when the South five-eighths cut through in the 1 first half, his defensive work was generally good. Anyway, he is worth a job in almost any team for his kicking alone. An All Black Centre? Jack Sullivan, the Taranaki representative centre, scored five tries in a recent club game and had the distinction of being carried shoulder high off the field by delighted club mates an spectators. A Taranaki writer comments: “Just at present not one centre-three-quarter in the Dominion appear to have better qualifications for or chances of, filling the All Black centre position than the Taranaki ex-amateur sprint champion.” Sullivan is playing for the North in the inter-island game at Christchurch on Saturday.