OUT DOOR SPORTS

Observer, Volume XXVII, Issue 34, 11 May 1907, Page 10

OUT DOOR SPORTS

By Harbier,

THE Auckland Rugby Union's fixtures were started on Saturday last, but unfortunately the bad weather militated against a good attendance of the public. Rain fell all the morning, but it took up early in the afternoon, and the matches were consequently proceeded with. Notwithstanding the unfavourable weather, the attendance at Alexandra Park was very satisfactory, and at the North Shore ground a large crowd. of enthusiasts assembled. • • •

The three senior fixtures resulted as follows : — Ponsonbv beat Parnell by 17 points to 3 ; City put up 17 points to Newton's 3 ; a,nd North Shore got the best of Grai'ton by 13 points to nil.

The Ponsonby and Parnell fame attracted most interest, being -clayed on the No. 1 ground. As is usual with the first games of the season, the form of the players was somewhat varied, and a greasy ball did not mend matters. Although Ponsonby beat Parnell by such a large majority, their play was disappointing, principally among the backs. Parnell played up remarkably well after Ponsonby had registered two scores, and should give a good account of themselves in their future games.

Coming to the Ponsonby backs, Blakey did some remarkably clever work at full, getting his side out of some awkward positions.

The three-quarters were passable. Barclay did not play up to junior form, whilst Murray and Wilson were in and out.

The two five-eighths did not work well on the attack, and of the pair Bater was perhaps the best. Kenyon did some useful stopping. It was noticeable that hardly once during the game did the blue and blacks' backs get off a concerted passing rush. j

Carlaw is hardly up to the standard of a senior player, although he had to contend with a greasy ball.

Ponsonby's win was mainly due to the play of the forwards, and Gillett's all-round work was a big factor. Francis and Nicholson alshone out, and in the heavy work Dunning and McDonald were well to the fore. The Parnell backs as a whole t shaped much better than Ponsonbv. Several splendid passing rushes were mulled by the three-quarters failing to take the ball at a time when a score looked very eminent.

Cleave performed very satisfactorily for a first appearance as full-back in the senior ranks. The wing three-quarters, Smith Mowbray, were the weak spots in the backs, the former being quite unable to handle the ball. Twiname's play was very consistent, and he never failed in his defensive work.

Todd and Stuckey should go better together after Saturday's game. They started badl- but improved vastly as the game went on.

Fox played a stubborn game as half, his passing out being good, and he stemmed a lot of rushes. The maroon forwards were hard at it all the afternoon, but were beaten in the finer points. Kinder stood out for some solid work, and got good backing from Muir, Walsh, White, and Armstrong (on the wing).

There appeared to be a lot of illegal play going on amongst the forwards of both teams in this match,

and there were several instances where a warning from the referee would hays had a beneficial effect.

City and Newton had a set-to on the No. 2 ground. The red and blacks did their best work in the first spell, but the Newton men bucked up in the second half, a made a good go for it.

S. Magee filled the position of fullback for City with much credit his kicking being very effective.

George Smith was a host in himself, and his run in the second snell was a bit of an e^e-opener. Gladding could not do himself justice, and V. Little made several smart dashes.

R. Magee is nlaying as sound as ever, being good on both attack and defence.

Ladner played very capably as half, and proved an excellent substitute for Young. He passed out smartly and is not lacking in defensive work.

The City pack were a long way too weighty for the red and whites, and held the np^er hand all through. Seeling went well, and G. Tyler, MeGuire and Herring were a solid trio. Williams is coming on fast, and the wings, McTlhone and W. Tyler, were generally prominent.

The Newton backs want knocking into shape a bit. They were a little strange to one another at the start, but settled down better in the second half.

Sutherland (not ; " Pat ") could not be called a success as full-back, being very much off in the first half.

Rowe did the best work in the three-quarter line. Purdie, an exWednesday player, is a promising three-quarter, and Woolfgram played passably.

The five-eighths, Gray and Freeman, did some fair individual work, and Farrant had a toxigh time of it against the City forwards. He stood up to his work well.

The Newon pack was considerably lighter than City's, and contains a number of juniors. They placed up remarkably well against the more experienced men. Trevarthen was hard at it, and Winters, Hayward and Jackson deserve mention. Hooper was toiling hard on the wing.

The North Shore-Grafton game was a fairly interesting go. Unfortunately Grafton's selected team did not roll up in full force, and juniors were brought up to fill the vacancies. The Shore men scored all their points in the first spell, but Grafton's defence was too sound in the second half, and no further scoring was registered.

It was a piece of bad luck for W. Wynyard that he had to retire owing to being accidentally kicked under the eye. Ur> to the time he was on the field the Shore backs were showing fine combination, and his retirement upset matters somewhat. WynyarS played very soundly for the time he was on.

D. Miller made very few mistakes as full for North Shore, his line kicking being well executed.

O. Miller and Woodward shaped fairly well as wing three-quarters, and Smith filled W. Wynyard's place with satisfaction.

R. Wynyard has started the season in good style, opening up some nice passing runs. He is always handy, too. in the open rushes. Jackson played a fairly sound game as half.

Of an even pack, A. Mays was perhaps the best, and Todd worked his scrums nicely. Marshall, a newcomer from Wellington, is a useful addition ,and brought off a lot of serviceable work on the wing. "Pat" Sutherland made his reappearance in senior football, and he promises to come back to his old form as full-back.

The Grafton ' three-quarter line did nothing brilliant. In fact, the back division apnears to be the weak spot in this team. Kiernan played an uphill game, and showed much of his old cleverness. Blake is a fairly promising player. Ponoanga had a sort of a roving commission.

The Grafton pack is not at all a bad one, and. they made matters

pretty willing on Saturday. McCormick is as dashing as ever, and Eaton, McGuire and Comes were honest toilers.

The Public Schools matches will be started on Saturday next. "All Black" Bob Deans has started playing in Cup matches in Christchurch. Next Saturday's senior fixtures are — Graf ton v. Newton, Parnell v. City, and Ponsonby v. North Shore.

The press is to be admitted at all meetings of the New Zealand Rueby Union. This was decided at the annual meeting last week.

The old war-horse, " Scotty " Bonella, was resurrected for Cit^ on Saturday, having to fill a gap owing to Plant being unable to play. But where did "Scotty" get that jersey ? Ten' thousand people attended the opening football match at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday week last, it being the first club competition played" on the ground for over two years.

Where did the Auckland Rugby Union get those scales that had to do duty on Saturday last to weigh the players of the fourth grade competition ? They were about as erratic as some of our players, and finally had to be dispensed with, the "fourths" being weighed in the Tramway Company's Barn.

The death of Mr Claude Stephenson on Saturday last removes a player who did good battle for the Ponsonby F.C. several years back. He worked his way up from the juniors to the senior team, where he played wing forward. He was very popular .on and off the field, and very deep regret has been expressed at his early death.

There is (says a Queensland writer) vefv keen disappointment that the New Zealand Rugby Union cannot ae^ree to alter the dates so that all their big Queensland fixtures can be played on Saturdays. As previously pointed out, this decision means a loss of some hundreds of pounds to Q.R.U., as the receipts from a Wednesday match will be absurdly low for such an important fixture.

In the majority of cases, play was (remarks the "Bulletin" on the opening of the Sydney football season) simply shocking and /ml of illegalities. In places it was also very roiigh, and the way some of the brutes flung their feet about deserved six months' hard on a charge of criminal carelessness. There were also a few threats to " wipe yer nose fer yer !" and little things lifee that. Some of these violent gentry will have to be dealt with, or the game will get a .very bad name from the jump. Rugby cannot afford a bad name just now.

After the report and balance-sheet at the annual meeting of the New Zealand Rugby Union had been adopted, Mr Coffey, one of the delegates, claimed that a surprise vote had been taken and, he had not had the opportunity to speak on certain matters. The chairman asked the meeting if it desired to reopen the question. This was not the desire of the gathering, whereupon Mr Coffey moved the adjournment of the meeting. But another delegate from Dunedin objected to an adjournment, and the next business was gone on with.