IN SCHOOL AND PLAYGROUND

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12063, 18 July 1917, Page 3

IN SCHOOL AND PLAYGROUND

OUR RULERS OF THE FUTURE WHERE THEY ARE BEING MOULDED ' The Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of England.—Wellington (By Student) I] ! II II II II if

TO CORRESPONDENTS. "Spectator."—Many thanks for contribution. Had already received an account of the match you described. Would bo glad to receive future reports, but you would greatly oblige by writing on one side of the paper only. SECONDARY SCHOOLS. CHRIST'S COLLEGE v. BOYS' HIGH SCHOOL. The annual meeting of the first fifteens from Hoys' High School and Christ's College took place on the College ground on AVednesday last. According to available records, this match Mas the thirty-fourth between tin; two schools. The records show that the matches commenced in the year 1891. bur in conversation with old. boys of both schools I m;is informed that they bad clear recollections of contests taking place prior to that year. En fortunately, however, nobody can recollect who won those earlier matches. f have - hunted through magazines and newspapers for hours at a stretch but have been unable to find any account of the games in question. It is therefore quite impossible for me to furnish a table of results which will give general satisfaction. Last- week's match was attended by a crowd of spectators quite as large as in former years, but I think the barracking Avas not quite so vigorous as usual. This can probably be put down to the fact that a creditably large number of the old boys of both schools are away on active service, many of them. I regret to say, having made the supreme sacrifice. As one looked on at last AVednesda.v's play one's thoughts drifted back to the seemingly short time since a past pupil of either school played a magnificent, game for his side. To mention a \'f\v examples amongst the many which flash across my mind:—ln noticing the play of the half-hacks I could not help thinking of the sterling play of ,1. Al. Deacon behind the- College scrum a lew years ago. Also, what a very fine wing-forward Erank Davison -was; A. \Y. Bishop will also bo well remembered by the older expupils of both schools. All these College- old hoys have made the supreme sacrifice. Regarding Hoys' High School, prominent players of more recent years came to one's memory. Take, for instance, K. J. ("Jack") Taylor, everybody's favourite licbind the School fiiTiim and associated with him at first five-eighth, R. G. liickmott. Then exactly two years ago E. J. Shaw led the School team to victory in a closely contested game —l2-10. These young lads, in the prime of life, have also played their last game. On occasions such as tho annual match between these two schools one naturally i.s drawing comparisons between preseut and past during the who Ifj of the match, and it is indeed sad to think that the players I havo mentioned amongst numerous others, will not return to make their influence felt- amongst the present generation of the school's footballers. .Reverting to the play in last week's match I must confess that I was rather disappointed, more particularly so far as tho .back play was concerned. ft was far and away below the many brilliant exhibitions which the backs of both schools havo given in former years. Strange to relate it was back play which won the match for College, or perhaps I should say it was the fceblo •tackling, of two of' the School backs. Had the. School tackling been sound I doubt very much if College Mould have won the match. Their forwards played with lino dash, but they lacked finish, and appeared quite unable :to end up their many excellent rushes with tries. The most: prominent feature of the match, in the writer's opinion. Mas tho rush stopping, tho manner in which thn boys M'ent down in front of the forwards being a A-critable treat in comparison with M'ha-t M'o are used to witnessing in everyday grade Rugby. And what was the reason for such fine Mork in this respect? The answer is simple enough. The boy going down to stop a rush knew that his opponents Mere gentlemanly players, and would play tho ball and not the man. He, therefore had nothing to fear except a penalty for lying on the ball too long. What usually happotis_jn such cases in ordinary grade football ? AATiy, the man who has the audacity ! to go down to a forward rush is often kicked off the ball with the result that be is leftl lying prostrate when, tho rush has advanced from 'that particular spot. Again, the players in grade matches are always looking for an opportunity to beat the referee, and nine times out of ten they succeed in getting one on to that, official. Such things as these all tend to spoil the game, and it is their entire, absence from tho school games which make tho latter so delightful to watch. Another feature of tho match was the fine Jinekicking of Cooke and .Mehrtens for theiir respective sides. The College team averaged 71b per player heavier than their opponents; the forwai'ds 11 lb heavier. One Mould havo expected this weight to have had a, great effect on tho play, but such did not prove the case. A good many spectators wer© inclined to th c opinion that tho weight of thc Col lego forwards told greatly in the last twenty minutes. It probably did to some extent, but what I consider told more on the School pack was tho lack of support they Mere, receiving from their backs during that period.

him acting the role of spectators. Graham was fair, tackling being his weakest point. Little Dalloy behind the scrum plaved brilliantly all through. Ho was popular on account oi his si/.e. A line feature of his play was liisnihlistopping. He was shouldered off the field alter the match, and he well deserved the honour. The School forwards are to be complimented on the manner in which they stuck to their hi" task. In the loose and line-out thev held their own. but were beaten in the scrums and tight work. They were very ably led by Fraser, who plaved a great, game throughout. There is iiUle douht that the defeat of School in 1017 can be largely accounted for by poor tackling. All the College tries were the outcome of this. INTER-SCHOOLS MATCHES. Waitaki B.H.S. v. Cbristchufch B.H.S. The annual football match between the first fifteens of the Waitaki and Christchuroh Hovs' High Schools will he plaved in Chi istchureh on Saturday week (Julv The ground has not vet been decided upon, but there, is a probability of its taking place at English Park. SECONDARY SCHOOLS' TOURNA- : MEXT. The annual football tournament between the Christchuroh, Otago Southland and Timaru Hoys' High Minos is this venr to take place in ( hnslchu.vb. The tournament will commence on Mondav, August 27, and will he continued throughout that week.

PRIMARY SCHOOLS FOOTBALL. RUGBY. The eighth round of matches in the primarv schools Rugbv football competitions Wi.-. played last week. One interesting match was between Elmwood and West Christchitrch who wore beaten by Sydenham by 13 and S points respectively. The game ended in a draw. Sydenham deleated A\ a - tham. and should have very little difficult v in beating "Woolston this week, so that thev are now practically certain of winning the competition. J hoy deserve their success, for they are the, best team in the competition, though perhaps one or two of their players plav a little too hard-one might even sav thev go beyond hard piny at. tunes. The second series of matches m the. Junior Grade was begun on Friday, but onlv one match was played. It would seem to be absurd to go on with tho matches if this is all tho interest- thai lies in the competition.

The star forward on the day was Tothill, the College captain, and the star back Dallcy, who played half for School. Tho College forwards wore much superior to School in the. scrums and light work, and with tho opportunities ■which en mo the way of the backs tho score should hare hren considerably larger. But tho passing of the College hacks was very poor. Watson at half sent out many wild passes, whilo Hindmnrsh at second five-eighths played annch below last year's form. CowHfihaw and Batley did fairly well, though the last-named spoiled his play by trying to take passes one-handed. There was also too much solo effort on the part of all the backs. Sugdon, who replaced AVilson when tho latter was injured, showed much dash. Cooke Rare a very fine exhibition at full-back, handling the ball well and kicking with fine direction. As previously stated, Tothill was the best forward. He played a groat game throughout. ' His dribbling was first-class, he tackled cleanly and low. and followed up with ■wonderfully untiring energy. Stock, Burdon, Lowry, Reeves and Strachan all rdavod well. The School full-back, Goodwin, was obviously suffering- from nervousness, and bis'display in consequence was by no means a criterion of his ability. Tho three-quarter lino had no chance to prove their worth. Bowes gave, one ibo impression that he might have scored a try or two, given any kind of an opportunity. He made the most of tho two chances that did come hip way, his second run being a particularly good one from one twenty-five to the other. Mehrtcns. at first fiveeighth, played a splendid defensive game, hi.s kicking being very powerful indeed- It was invariably accurate, 'and was the best of the match. When attacking he held on to the ball too much, and thereby kept those behind

Following are the results:— Light-weight Grade. Sydenham (6) heat 'West Christchurch (O).--Tlio winners have a good team, who did not do themselves justice ju tliiti match, which was iur Irom an win. Their backs are superior to their forwards, the latter really letting down the former by their inability to get the ball to the scoring boys. West Christchurch were on the defensive during a good part of the time, and plaved as good a, game as could be expected. They suffered rather severely from penalties for breaches of the rules iu this match. However, they have no reason to be ashamed ol their display when all things are taken into consideration. Scorers: Rodd and Uaufield. Mr V. AV. Oolvillo was referee. Linwood ('23) beat Richmond (o). From the start, the Linwood forwards dribbled and packed well, the sodden statu of the ground making forward play advisable- The Richmond boys have improved a good deal since they began playing this season, their tackling in particular having become more solid, and this latter was one factor that kept Linwood's score down. < Walloon, Chetwin, Torrance and Smith played well for the losers. Of the wiiinei'ti, Desmond, Hunt, Lewis arid Booth were probably the pick. The. scorers were Booth (3), Lewis Desmond and Hunt. Logic converted one try. Mr D. IM. Shirlaw was ret'ereo. Marist Brothers (.1(5) beat AddingLon (0) —The winners have fine combination among the backs and a heayy pack that hangs together well. Therefore, Addington deserve great credit for the vei \ plucky defence they put up against vastlv superior opponents. Of the Addition boys, llore and Ifoarfield were thenest. Payne, Smith, Cairns and M'Arlev did good service, for the winners. Scorers —Foster (2), Smith and I'ayne. The last-named boy converted two tries. "Brother Leo was referee. Fast Christchurch won by default from Opawa. liiccarton won by default from Normal. "Woolston had a bye. The positions of the various clubs in the Senior competition are as follow: i d m ,-s £„• § 5- d ~ |.2 u £ "3 n'c .2 'o «r« '£ Sydenham . S 7 1 107 G 7 A W. Christchurch 7 0 1 diarist. Bros. . G 5 1 117 3 liiccarton . ("• i> 3 Linwood . . ft 'I 2 Addington . .73-1 K. Christcliurch R - 0 Woolston .7 2 5 Hichmond .7 2 ;> Opawa. . .7 1 0 0 IIS 1 Normal . . Note. —Some of these teams won by default from Normal. Junior Grade. liiccarton (3-) beat Opawa (o).—The Opawa boys have greatly improved since the beginning of the season, and on occasion might have crossed liiccarton's line--a feat that has not been accomplished this year and only once last year. The Opawa backs have learned to keep their places better. liiccarton did not play up to form. One or two of the forwards may justly be described as lowXnvs in this game, while the combination of the backs was not as good as usual. Adams, Todd, Snelling and F. Cunningham for the losers, and S. Carleton. R. Carleton. Wilson and Lang for the winners played best. Scorers— S. Carleton Cr»), I?. CaVlet-on, Wilson and Lang. Wilson converted three tries and S. Carleton one. Mr li. H. North , was referee The following table shows the present

PVndalton beat Beckenham by default. Tlio tShirley-Normal match was postponed. "West Lvttolton liarl a I>ye. Sonior Grade. Elmwood (0) drew with "West Christchurch (0). —Both these teams tvereout to win, as in the two previous years, they played drawn games—3-all in 1015 and iio score in 1916. in passing, ia might be mentioned that West Christchurch seem to havo a fondness for draws, having drawn with Waltham in 15)15 and 1916 and with Sydenham in 1 ( J1(J. Elmwood kicked ofF, and a solid

rush was checked by West's hacks. I'h'.y then 'went up and down the field with little advantage to either side, half-time soMnding with no score. On resuming, West attacked strongly and i carried play right up to 'their opponr outs' goal line, where their opportunity was thrown away by,a, too eager player getting off-side, Play again became loose, and wont up and down the field. Xo side was sounded with play in midfield. Thus another draw to the credit) of Elmwood and "West Christchurch was registered. It is not possible to mention all the good olayers, as the names of the- Elmwood "boys were not ascertained, but particular mention might be made of Frank I'owolJ, West's fullback. This lad played an excellent game, his handling of the ball, his running: and his line kicking being uniformly good. Mr G. N. Ormandy, as referee, gave every player a certainty of justice, and in no .small manner ho contributed to the earnest yet friendly way in which these well-matched teams played. Sydenham (18) bent AYaltham (o). Sydenham kicked off, but Walt-ha-m quickly found the line. A scrum thou resulted, and W. Thornton on the blind side scored a good solo try. Thereafter Sydenham indulged in many passing- rushes, but often found AYalt ham's d<y'onoe> too solid. Tn this connection W. I'Mvy is deserving of praise, a.s his tackling was of a high order, and h<\ saved many a score for his side. Sydenham's forwards did good work in thisgame, but did not show up as conspicuously as they have done in some of the earlier games. Scorers: --AY. Thornton, E. Thornton and J. Nelson (two tries each). Mr V. W. Colville was referee. Linwood won by default from Addington. Marist Brothers won hv default from St Albans. Woolston bad a bye, The following table shows the position oMhn teams to date:-

NINTH IJOUXD MATCHES. Light-weight (< rade. liiccarton v. Christchurch, on Polo Ground (cast). -Richmond v. Mariot Brothers, on Christchurch ground. Addington v. Linwood, on 'Varsity ground. Woolston v. Opawa, oil Sydenham l'ark. East Christchurch a live. Junior Grade. As some of the schools whose teams play in this grade have not yet replied to the secretary's circular, the draw for the second round of this grade cannot be completed. Senior Grade. West Christchurch v. Marist Brothers, on Polo Ground (west). Woolston v. Sydenham, on Sydenham Park. Klmwnod v. Linwood, 011 Chriatckureli ground. •St. Albans wins by default from Aldington. Walthuin, a bye. Two interesting matches should result this week, viz.. liiccarton v. West Christchurch, in the light-weight grade, and West Christchurch v. Marist Brothers in the senior jjrade. ASSOCIATION.

REPORTING COMPETITION. The cards this week wero not up to the usual high standard, several bearing traces of haste and consequent carelessness. As this competition is nearing its close, some idea of tho marks obtained by tho highest boys may be given. The first boy so far has 86.6 per cent, second boy 8-1. land two others

The following is a contributed account of the schools' Senior Grade match between West. Christchurch 15 and Technical College B : •The teams met at South Park, West Christchurch proving winners by six goals to nil. Tlio score, however, does not give an accurate estimate of the play, as Wcstt Christchurch did nob have such a runaway game as the result would indicate. indeed, at the interval they were only leading by one goal, a splendid shot from well out by Robertson. The Technical boys have improved greatly since they played Rovers a few weeks ago, and some of their players are very good, the best of them being Slierrifs and Steel, both of whom played plucky games. The most prominentWest Christcliurch players are amongstl the forwards. They possess two good wingers, both of whom are. good shots and centre well. Robertson, right' wing, is particularly good, his corner kicks, centres and shots being very accurate. Gillies, left wing, will play better when he gets faster and rids himself of the habit, of taking the ball into the corner instead of closing in all the time towards goal. Smith, who scored throe goals, will be a better centre forward if he heads a ball which i.s too high for him to pull down with his feet. Both teams should keep their places bettor, learn to pass the ball out and not talk so much. Mr 1:1. Woolf was referee. St. Bede's defeated St Andrews by default. Rovers v. Technical College match was postponed. West. Christchurch A had a bye. Tn the Junior A Grade Kast- Christchurch defeated Richmond by five goalsi to nil. 'The Hcorcru were Aschoff (.'}) and Robinson (2). Mr MTvenzie was referee. Christchurch had a bye. Represent;i4ive Matches. Invitations have been received by tlio secretary of the schools competitions from Dunedin and Wellington to send representative teams to each centre. Tn all probability the trips will eventuate, in which case the school from which any player is selected will be asked to defray the cost of the return fare. The local boys will he billeied in each centre. PRIMARY SCHOOLS' HOCKEY. IsOYS' CO.M PKTITrON. The schoolboys' hockey matches were played last week under fine, weather conditions. Sydenham created a great surprise by drawing with the redoubtable Christcliiireh eleven, no score being registered bv either side. Right from the bully-oft the Sydenham players went at it as though they meant business. and their opponents were at. time's rattled by the dash and vigour displayed. Sydenham are to be congratulated on their excellent display against what has been the strongest side in this competition since it was inaugurated at the beginning of last season! The result ol this match brings Selwyn A level with Cliristrhtireh in the championship table, but the Selwyn boys have played a game more than their rivals. Selwyn A 'defeated Oxford Terrace in an interesting match by three goals to one. The losers showed greatly improved form, their combination being much better than in previous games. Technical College were superior in every department of the came to Cran ford, whom they defeated bv five goals to nil. Selwyn B were responsible for another surprise as they accounted for Wharenui somewhat easily by three goals to nil. Tlio following table shows the present position of teams:—

80 per cent' each. Tho senior reporters have one card morn to send in, and tho light-weight reporters three more. OF course, the number of cards does not make any difference, as all marks are averaged. Junior reporters have still some matches to report. The hest cards this week were sent by Jack M'Kenaie (West- Christchurch) and Cyril Montgomery (Richmond). Their repprts are as follow: j Linwood (23) v. Richmond (nil). —By arrangement this match was played on tho Linwood School ground, and in spite of the sodden state of the ground an interesting game took place. A score was soon made by Booth; and another by Desmond was quickly followed by one by Lewis. After that, tho game iva.s not quite so exciting, although the Richmond team rallied and took the, offensive. The most conspicuous players were Desmond. Hunt, Lewis and Booth for the winners; and Kalloon, Chetwin, Torrance and Smith for the losers. Referee. Mr Shirlaw.— Cyril Montgomery, Richmond School. TClmwood (nil v. "West Christchurch (nil). —The match TClmwood v. West Christchurch proved to lie a very even match all through. TClmwood kicked off, but met able checks from West's hacks. Up-and-down play followed. Botli teams were attacking strongly, but only force-downs resulted. .Halftime sounded soon after, there being no score. On resuming. West had TClmwood on the defensive. West worked their way to their opponents' line, hut the chaiice was spoilt by a, hoy being offside. Towards the finish there, were some exciting moments. The final whistle sounded, there being still no sco re.—-Jack M'Kcnzie, West Christchurch School. Tho following boys received one mark l(v SS . : —William"Desmond (Linwood). ft. Purdon (Sydenham) and R. M'Kay (Marist Brothers). _ _ . The best writers were Jack Mlvcnzie and William Desmond. JOTTINGS. J have to acknowledge with thanks file receipt of congratulations on tho appearance of tho photographs of the Rows' High School and Christ's College football teams in last week's issue. The messages included one from each of the schools concerned.

There is at I his stage of the season a slackness making itself apparent, in the schools with regard to forwarding results of matches to the secretaries of the several competitions. There is a general delay in connection with the Hugby results and hockey results, while the Association football results have, all along been sent in in a most lackadaisical manner. Far too many games have recently been won by default. This is particularly apparent in the Association game. The spirit shown by .schools defaulting when they know they have, no chance, of winning a competition is anything but praiseworthy. The secretary of the North Canterbury Public Schools Amateur Athletic Association communicated three weeks ago with South Canterbury with reference to the playing of a representative match between tho North and South Canterbury Rugby schools, but so far no reply lias been received,

positions of tlio teams: — g 1 J : ! S.s « i ofi'SiJo J? M Q PL| &< a u 0. Hiccartoa .7 7 — — 211. — 7 Normfil . 6 4 2 — 33 35 4 Fendalton .7 4 3 — 8t 45 4 Shirlev .6 3 2 1 C6 45 Hi W. Lyttelton 6 2 3 1 2!) 41 2£ Opawa . 7 2 6 — 31 76 2 Beckenham 7 — 7 — 3 183 —

fi T) o d va r) a rt JS rt cH 53 o p o rt R 'A " tr, a C -< £2 ci 5 -B 'o o a •Srtionlinm 7 7 IT ~ (7 210 o" 7 Alurists 7 i; l 0 42 3U H W. Christchurcli 7 - l 1 10 L j:i 54 Elnnvood . 7 4 •2 i 31 10 Hi AV;illh;uu . r> 'J 4 (i •14 •it) ■z~ "Wool stem 7 o 0 55 o iiinwfwl ■J ;> 0 .18 51 '2 St Albans . 5 2 ;i 0 ]8 51 •2 Adilingtou . c X r> 0 J 35 1

Team. a >• K Won. § M e oj u. a Goals j for. G oals against, (Chain. Points. Christclairch 7 0 0 I 43 3 G h Wolwyn A . 8 6 1 i -1G .T 6i Terh. College H 4 '2 n 30 7 ii Sydenham . 8 3 i! 2 37 8 4 C ran ford. . 8 3 i 1 9 41 Si W ha renu i . R 2 1 13 <2 J Selwvn B . 8 % 6 0 7 48 '2 Oxford Tei\ 7 1. 6 0 51 1