AUCKLAND v. WELLINGTON.

Observer, Volume XXXIII, Issue 1, 14 September 1912, Page 18

AUCKLAND v. WELLINGTON.

[Fob the Obsebveb].

In thoughtful'mood one day I stroll d down Queen-street thoroughfare, Depression held me in its grip, and gloom was everywhere, For crowding on each side-walk there I saw in brave array, A sea of colours (black and gold) in prominent display. On many manly breasts I saw those coloured emblems worn, >t I heard the one word "Wellington from daylight unto dawn. . 'Twas bark'd by every mangy cur, and every cockatoo Could only cry out "black and gold, but never "white and blue. Those men from Southern climes had come to Auckland, far afield, To play us at the Rugby game and lift Ranfurly's Shield. But what struck sadness in my breast was surely plain as day, No critic gave our men a chance; they said we could not play. They called our men Methuselahs, and then, I do declare, They said the sun had set at last on Auckland's record fair. . The glamour of the Rugby Shield, which had been ours for years, Would surely float to Wellington upon our flowing tears. They cried in loud and raucous voice, as Mountebank of old, "We will not paint your city red ; we'll paint it 'black and gold. We'll tear the trophy from your grasp, we'll smite ye " hip and thigh, And footballers from North to South, will cheer to see you die. Your old "selector" must have been into an old man's rest, And pick'd -the hoary grey-beards there, to meet the Southern best. Just blow the whistle with all speed and let the game begin, We'll kick the sox from every leg, the whiskers from each chin. The whistle blew—the game commenced—Ye Gods ! how great the fall, Unto a standstill they were played; they couldn't even crawl. The broken-down Methuselahs m righteous wrath arose And like the ocean's surging waves, fell on their "old time foes. They strewed the ground with Southerners ; they wiped them from the view, „, , .• -, ~ „ Instead of looking black and gola% they all look'd " black and blue. And when they counted up the stock of Wellington, they found A. multitude of " Sellars,' but no buyers on the ground. • Then as from.off that gory field the Southern legions went, A loud unearthly yell of joy was to the heavens sent. A figure danced a haka wild—created quite a stir: 'Twas not a Maori Chieftain bold, but Davie Gallaher. . „ " My boys have won the day again, was his triumphant cry, "The critics all must bow the head; I've given them the lie. They know a lot about the game (at least they think they do), Our ' Ancients' lick'd the Southerners; what could our young men do ? There is a moral in my lay, its value let them gauge, . . ' Don't think that youth s invincible, and don't decry old age;' And when, like 'Bruce,' you try again' to lift Ranfurly's Shield, Just place some vet'rans in the team before you ' take the field.' " His Honour.