NOTES AND NEWS.

Thames Star, Volume LVII, Issue 14728, 5 August 1921, Page 8

NOTES AND NEWS.

RUGBY FOOTBALL.

To-morrow there should be two j sterling matches at the Parawai s Racecourse. City and School of 1 1 Mines will play-off for the final of t f the senior competition, and the game ] promises to be a good one. In the 1 first junior grade, Matariri and Col- I < lege Old Boys will meet again. Reports from the country state that the ( ] Matariri boys are determined to re- j ] peat last Saturday’s performance, j; and as College Old Boys have a nippy j: team, the struggle should be well worth seeing. SPRINGBOKS V. , CANTERBURY. Commenting on Saturday’s game, the Christchurch writers say: All the Canterbury vanguard excelled themselves. W. Cummings, in all his lengthy career, ha 6 never previously played such a game. Alv/ays | on the ball, occasionally going almost the length of the field bv himself, and always where the fray was thickest, in defence or attack, he was easily the best forward on the ground, and his brother was not far behind him. Ellis and Petersen, too, l not forgetting Carnegie, who did an j immense amount of spoiling work, i Avere always in the picture, while the j hard-playing “Toby” Murray’s dis- j tinctive head was always noticeable where the ballAvas. Mumo did excellent work in the front row, and in the loose, too, while Henderson, the lock, Avas equally good in the scrums. E. Cummings and Petersen, considering the size of their opponents, did much valuable work in the lines-out. Taking them collectively, no praise is too high for the Avay in which they rose to the occasion, and literally sAvept the A'isitors off their feet. At times the weight of the opposing pack avus such that the home scrum was pushed back as though it did not exist,. but, nevertheless, the two* hookers quite held their oavu~ against the three front-row men on the other side, while in the loose Avork the whole eight practically took of the game. One could write a column in praise of C. E. Evans, at full-back, and then leave much unsaid. It is safe to say that no finer exhibition of full-back play has even been seen at Lancaster Park. His tackling and line-kicking were superb, and he made not a single mistake, Avhile frequently he got his side out of trouble in miraculous fashion. . NEW SOUTH WALES TEAM.

The New South Wales selectors are to be congratulated on havmg chosen a very fine side to tour New Zealand, says the Sydney Sun. The forwards are particularly strong. Save for Connor and Louden, they all played against the Springboks, and acquitted themselves well. The two mentioned players secured their places through W. S. Friend and Marshall being unavailable, but their inclusion in no way weakens the strength of the 15 chosen, for each of them in club matches this season has consistently been the best forward on his side.

The strength of the side lies in the all-round ability of the majority. In Davis, Fowles, Smith, Thompson, and Bond, there are five pure frontrow forwards to last 'through the series of nine matches, but players like Fox,. Dunn, Elliott, and McKay can play either second or third row if the occasion requires. For breakaways, Louden, Thorn, McKay, Elliott, and Fox are a very strong quintet, and it would be hard at any time to select the two best from thme. / NOTES. “Where the Springboks have a great advantage,” remarked a Wellington visitor, “is that they can converse among themselves in Dutch. This enables them to vary their tactics in the midst of play, without their opponents knowing what they are talking about.” The speaker in- j stanced a spectacular score by the Springboks’ full-back against Wellington, and said that the full-back [had told him that this score was purely the result of his team’s linguistic advantage. The visitor humorously added that New Zealand’s one hope oT beating the South Africans would be to pick a Maori-speak-ing team who could talk their way to victory.

An attempt is being made in Christchurch to arrange a guarantee of £250 to induce the Railway Department to run a special train to Dunedin on the evening of Friday, August 12, to convey Canterbury Rugby enthusiasts desirous of witnessing the first test match. South Africa v. New Zealand, on the following day.'

In the senior football match between Waverley and Opakii, the game was stopped by the referee, Mr. McDonald, and awarded to Waverley for alleged rough play on the.Opaku players’ part, and for assaulting the referee. —Patea Press.