OUT DOOR SPORTS

Observer, Volume XXX, Issue 39, 11 June 1910, Page 10

OUT DOOR SPORTS

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£j g\ UR Rugby footballers had to -y j II play their gamfes undermost V -v disagreeable conditions on Sat- *•*' urday last. Heavy rain fell all the { - afternoon, and thus the football all round was of a scraggy character. } / A good many enthusiasts made • the ?<• ' journey to the Park, and in the r v sienior game between Marist Bros. *>;. Old Boys and City they were reward- *- ed with seeing a fairly fast game. \ v ■■• -.•■■ [ Only two senior games were played '' on Saturday, consequent upon New- ; c ton having withdrawn from the competition. City beat Marist Bros. f , Old Boys by 6 points, to 3, whilst Ponsonby downed University by 16 \ points to nil. *_* • ■ • . . ' l * Marist Bros. Old Boys won the toss from City, and played with the l\ wind in their favour in the first half. . Some surprisingly fast play ' was indulged in at times, and the % Old Boys were doing the most atv tacking work. Towards the end of the first half, the Old Boys made an opening, and although the greasy ball was difficult to manipulate, " Blake was fortunate enough to get over the line. In the second half, some spirited play took, place, and aftej* about 15 minutes' play, City evened up mat- - ters by scoring. . Then, later on,. Stewart got over for City, giving ,' them a three-point majority. Although the Old Boys kept hard at it, they were unable to score, and -by thus won by 6 points t0.3. Under the conditions, the players of both team® could not making - mistakes, the greasy ball and sloppy ground being against them. Amongst the City backs, Mincham ; v did we'll under the circumstances. .R. , 1 Magee and Stewart were the sound- , J est amongst the others, and the. lat- ; ter's try was a" smart piece of work. 7 The City forwards were consistent *■' toilers, and " kick the ball hard" was one of their main features. Estall was noticeable for some fair work, and as a goal-kicker had hard \ t luck. ' . ■ j The Old Boys put up a rare fight -, against their older opponents, and it is a pity the day was not a fine one, ;> as there is no mistaking their attacky jng dualities. The backs did really well.in handling the greasy ball, and v several scores were all but realised. ' ' Conspicuous amongst the backs was B. O'Brien, at five-eighths. His ' all-round work was very solid, and jhe did by far the biggest bulk of it. White stood out for some fine in- £„ work, and Tobin and "Little |' w were well to the fore. -.' ■ I i The " Tykes' " forwards were udt at their full strength. 1 but still they *j. up a good fight against the City pack. rather a difficult matr - ter to individualise, as all of them toiled honestly. it • • • !j* ' Neither Ponsonby nor University their full strength in, and the \& result was that Ponsonby won by 16 $ 'vpoints to nil. The first spell was 3s',fairly even, but towards the end, the It. blue and blacks had all the best of iy-V'The best of the t Ponsonby barks , |T' were Murray, Blakev and Webb. The ' was very tricky. s.ln the for- > !||Mafdg,2 .Barrett was in scoring.,

I, Gray was showing the most consistent form for University till he had to retire. The other backs did not appear to relish the game too well. The N.Z. Maori team will meet the , , Queensland reps, at Brisbane on Saturday next. * Grafton 11. caused somewhat of a ...surprise by downing North. Shore 11. .oh. Saturday.. Thus College Rifles now lead for the Junior Cup. '• ■ ' Our. local referees are keeping to their resolve to deal with players who are wont to put in too much " boot." One of our senior players was put off. on Saturday on this account. ."..•■ The Ranfurly Shield is beginning to worry our Southern friends, and the Hawke's Bay Union are first in the field with a . challenge. The match has been arranged for Satur--1 day, August 13. ' The Management Committee of the , Auckland Rugby- Union have decided to hold a seven-aside tournament on Saturday, June 25th. Besides the ~ city clubs, our country friends will be asked to participate in the games. The New Zealand team will have their first engagement with New South Wales reps, on Saturday next. The Dominion team arrived in Sydney on Wednesday, and will thus have a couple of days to prepare for the fray. Next # Saturday ?> the two unbeaten teams in the senior competition — City and Ponsonby—will meet 'at Alexandra Park. Ponsonby, as is well.known, have several of their best men away touring in Australia-, and they will thus be considerably weakened. On the. other hand, the City team is not by any means as strong as it.was last year, and taking this into consideration a very close game should result. An independent scheme of insuring its players has been adopted by the Clifton Club, New Plymouth. Before taking part in a match each senior pays to the insurance fund a shilling, which covers him for the match. Should he be injured during the match the club will pay him £1 per week, whilst incapacitated, . for ten weeks, but if he fails to pay the shilling the club i» free from liability. In the case of junior players the fee is 6d per match, and the benefit is 10s per week for ten weeks. Some time ago there was a big outcry at rough, play (says a Sydney writer), and as a result. the two unions, New South Wales and Metropolitan, invited their officials to report any case of brutality. As touch judges are for the time officials, their report would naturally have 'been welcomed. Whether these reports are received now, and the results not made known, I cannot say, but I know that one very seldom hears of any abuse being exposed by any other person than the referee. Word now comes from England that the International Board, has decided that Where neutral touch judges officiated in matches, they should report case of foul play. Why it should be necessary to come to a determination upon the matter at this time in Rugby football is hard to under- _ stand. would have- thought that it was simply a matter of common sense. However, now that the International Board has. delivered itself upon the matter, the unions will further impress upon touch judges ( the necessity for enforcing the mat- \ ter rigorously.

The New Zealand Maori team put up a good fight against New South , Wales in their first match in Sydney on Monday. To "be beaten' by 11 points to nil was no disgrace, and the Maoris should do considerably better in their future, engagements. The New Zealand' team beat Wellington last week after what appears, according to the reports, to have been a very fast and open, game. This is the fourth occasion on which the Now Zealand and Wellington teams have met. The result is that honours are now even—two wins each. Ad vices to hand from independent sources in America point to the coming American team as likely to surprise Australians by their strength and ability on the Rugby'field. The Americans play their first game in Sydney, against Sydney, University, on Saturday, June 18th. v The. British team touring South Africa are reported to have the following guarantees :—Transvaal (six matches), £1200 ; Western Provinces (six matches, £1000) ; Griqualand West (four matches), £600 ; Eastern Province (three matches), £500. From a, financial point of view the tour should be a success. By the time the New South Wales team is got together for the matches with New Zealand, it will (remarks Sydney "Referee"), one fancies, be found that a fifteen worthy of the occasion will enter the field. Of the backs one is very hopeful. And by that time the very best eight forwards will probably be sifted out and blended into a. very good combination. Besides, the team is to be given the immense advantage of living together for some little, time prior to the first match, an arrangement fyew South Wales has already proved to be of the highest importance to successful co-operation on the field. * . • • The Amateur Billiard Championship of New Zealand is now being played in Auckland, the gf'mes being 500 up,, and at time of writing the first heat only had been decided. Two local men met—F. Lovelock and E. Morrison:—and a great finish resulted, Lovelock winning by one point, with the game at 499 all. Lovelock put up the biggest breaks but Morrison played very consistently. The final will be decided by the end of the week.