A Rugby Causerie

Thames Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 17618, 9 May 1929, Page 7

A Rugby Causerie

1 Points and Players

i Notes bB “Lock" Ef:^crriF==-,

Some discussion took place at the meeting of the Southland Rugby hoothall Un ion on Monday night .on the question whether A. AV. Holden, the ex-Otago and New Zealand half-back, who is at present located at Edenvale. should be permitted to play for an Invercargill club. The view of tbo Eastern District Sub-union was tjiat one of its teams should have a prior claim upon Holden’s services. Alter considerable discussion the committee of the Southland Union decided that Holden could play for one of the Invercargill teams, and he may be seen in action for the Star Club on' Saturday.

Ibo New South Wales Ruby Union has paid Mr. S. S. Dean, chairman of the New Zealand Ruby Union a nice compliment in inviting him to visit that State when the New Zealand team travels over there a little later on. Mr; Dean was able to give the Waratahs an enormous amount of useful advice in connection with their tour Home in 1927, and it is no doubt by way gf appreciation that the invitation has been issued. Air. Dean has decided to accept the offer. He will be aide to do a great deal of good in connection with the reorganisation of the game in Queensland and also in.\ ictoria. Mr. Dean’s visit has nothing to do with the management of the All Black t£am. He is going'pure!v as guest of the New South Wales union.

According to-advice from Australia the Management Committee of the New' South Wales Rugby Union is early on the job preparing for the visit of the New' Zealand team, it is proposed to form an Australian Selection Committee, with one representative each from Queensland, Victoria, and New' South Wales, the Mother State to provide a chairman, who will have a casting as well as a deliberative vote. It is 10 years since an Australian Union team took the field—the last was against the A.I.F. in 1919. There has never been a recognised Australian jersey, the practice formerly being for players to use .the coloms oi the State in which the game w-irs being played, with an Australian coat of arms on the breast. This season the jerseys will lie green with a coat oi arms. Admission prices for the New' Zealand matches will be 3/6 and 2/-, stand and ground respectively; mter-State matches, 2/6 and

Gundy was in good kicking form, and besides . converting four tries, kicked two penalty goals for Greytown against Gladstone, in Wairarapa last Saturday. Irvine score a trv for Carterton against Masterton, while the majority of the passing rushes which led to Carterton’s cricket score of 54 points were started by Hart. Jim Donald played one of'liis best wingforward games for Greytown against Gladstone, and three 'of Greytown’s rushes which led to scores were started by him.

who played in the Otago university A rearguard last season, is new playing centre three-quarter with Auckland University,

Captain AY. Watson, M.C., D.C.M. who led the A.I.F. team during the tour of Great Britain after the Armistice. and subsequently captained New South AY ales, has been presented with an A.I.F. honour cap ‘by the New South AA T ales Rugby Union to reeogs nise the part of the A.I.F. team in re-establishing the game after its decline during the war period. All members of the team will be presented with special caps. Captain Watson is coaching tho police team in Sydney.

Victoria College, Wellington, have got hold of a flyer in Eastwood, a MasHigh School old boy. Playing for ’Varsity against Sehvyn in ' the senior B competitaion at. Athletic Park on Saturday, Eastwood raced away to score no fewer than four tries. Mr. Martin Smith should keep his eve on this young greyhound (says the Dominion).

Tor years Poneke lias always managed to field a solid forward team, and this year the pack was regarded by Billy \\ allace as being on a par with any other the team has produced. One can easily imagine the surprise of the Red and Black supporters when tho pack was compelled to play second fiddle to the rather despised Berhampore unit.

I was very pleased to see that Mr. A. McDonald, the Otago and 1905 All Black forward, had ben appointed a member of the New Zealand Rugby Selection Committee (says a writer iii the Otago Daily Times). Mr. McDonald recognises a working forward when he sees one, and from what I know of the ideas regarding the ..value of a scrum, and the importance of its strength, he will be in entire disagreement with one of his co-selectors, who gave voice to the weighty pronouncement prior to the selection of the New Zealand team which went to South Africa that he did not care if the All Blacks did not hook the ball from the scrums it did not matter. As the

The statement made that AV. Irvine, J. Donald, I. Hart and R. Cundy, the AYairarapa players, had either left the district or retired, is incorrect, as all of them played in the senior championship matches last Saturday (says the Masterton correspondent of the Star),

A Rugby writer in the Sydney Bulletin says:—A journalist attached to a

daily paper knows no hours, and because oi that Y.ALC.A.’s dashing • skipper, Gregor George, will be unable to turn out for his club and State this season.. He is now attached to the sporting staff of the Telegraph Pictorial, and one of his duties is to keep an evo on the ponies. That means Saturday afternoon work. George's absence will lie a big loss to the Union code, and his place at .stand-off half will be hard to. fill. He retires with a good record, however, as he is the only player in Australia that has represented his State for .six years in succession.

Tho failure of her forwards to stick it out cost Ireland the match against Scotland at Lansdowne Bead (.says tho Dublin correspondent of tile London Daily 'Times). Up to the interval the Irishmen looked well on tho road to victory, but the forwards completely cracked up in the last -a. minutes, m which period the Scots had matters all their own way. It was a fast and interesting game, buf it stopped short ot being a great contest, both sides being guilty of many mistakes. There was little of the spectacular about tho play, which,, however, was hotly and strenuously contested. Though the Irishmen had more of the play, there is no doubt that the Scots well deserved their success, and it was - the best display given by Scotland lor some seasons.

Two or three important matters regarding the rules of the game will come up for discussion at the annual meeting of the New Zealand llugby Union. ' It seems practically certain that the old kick into touch rule will be reverted to for the rest of the season, in view of the visit of the British team next year, and the question of doing away with the wing-forward and the introduction o fthe 3-2-3 formation will also, no doubt, come up (savs a writer in tho. Otago Daily Times). So far as the present New Zealand formation is concerned I see no fault with it—provided, of course, that the forwards are workers, and not shirkers. When we come to the wingforward, however, he is not generally on tho field to play football, but to prevent the other fellow doing so. He in fact, is a spoiler, and could be done without.

A Sydney football writer’s view:— New laces will abound in the New Zealand Rugbv team that lands at Sydney in mid-June. The South African tour was the last fling of quite a number of All Black veterans, and marriage is claiming more of them every month. Dow Maorilanders run toot ball risks once thev have taken the fatal step. Mark Nicholls is retiring and so (for the third time) is the famous A. IC. Cooke, whose absence from the South African team caused the-country to put on mourn-, ing. But the lack of stars last season allowed young blood to wifi a place in representative games, and there seems much material about. Setford, a highly promising Hawke's Bay youngster. is a lad who will go a long way.

.Mr. S, S. Deaii. chairman of the New Zealand Committee of .Management, says that the idea of sending a New Zealand team to Australia this year is to give the young players a chance and try them out in view of the visit of the English team next year. That being so, tho personnel of the team will bo read with much interest.

“Tiny” Leys, the Victoria University half-back, showed- good form in Wellington last Saturday.. Leys was second string to Goman in representative matches last year, and towards tho end ol tho season- lie was playing better football thaii the representative hall. Leys should have no difficultly in making a place in the New Zealand ’Varsity test toani now that Holden has left Otago, and it is within the liounds of possibility that he will go further in the game. At present Leys hardly reaches the ac- 1 cepted standard as a New Zealand half, hut it- is a little early in the season to count him out altogether.

Mackay. the young Victoria University wing three-quarter, showed great form in the first match'of the season in Wellington on Saturday. He turned on amazing speed in his gallops down tho wing, and his play was full of resource. Mackay won his All Black colours lor the first time last year in the third test against the Waratahs, and provided he shows his present rate of improvement he will lie knocking for a trip to Australia.

A. C. Wallace, the Warntah captain, has retired. His services will not be lost to the game as he has consented to coach the Glebe-Balmain first-grade team, of which he was captain when selected to tour with the W’aratahs. W allace has played with conspicuous success for New South W’ales, first gaining representation against New Zealand in 1921. A New South "Wales Rhodes scholar, he went to Oxford, where ho won international honours shining on the wing for Scotland. His greatest triumphs, however, were with the V 7 aratahs. He proved a great tactician, and the Wallace touch was revealed in the brilliant play of the tourists.

The English Rugby Union has decided that the practice of players writing articles on matches is contrary to the spirit of the game. The Scottish Rugby Union decreed 12 months back that no writer for the Press shajl be a member of the union. Whether' these' decisions are, or are not, too drastic, it is clear that in Australia far too many men officially connected with , the governing bodies in sport are writing for the Press, says a Sydney paper. There is nothing so good as a corrective and stimulant to a sport as a fair-minded, independent and wellin formed Press.

games turned out it mattered so much that a spectator of the fourth test in South Africa told me that Dailey, scrum half, was exhorting and imploring his forwards from start to finish to stav in the scrum and hold the (ipposition. That was the way .McDonald was taught to play the game, and all other good forwards of the old days.

Rugby-critics-in Wellington kept a close eye on the form of the young \ players who won their All Black col- - •: ours last year against the Waratahs. ; . l’lio opening play of -Mackenzie, the* \ arsity skipper, who played in the ?; ) ( hristehurch match, was not altogether }. U: impressive. Mackenzie is a sound five- 'V: eighths, but he lacks punch when . compared with players like McGregor, Johnston. Cooke, Nicholls, or oven Lilbiirne. .Mackenzie is really a first-class [ ) connecting link only and lie can have little chance of selection to an, All Rlack side so long as the present high 7 standard of resource is called for . '