ON THE BALL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12085, 14 August 1917, Page 3

ON THE BALL.

SATURDAY'S FOOTBALL GAMES. NOTES ON iTHE PLAY AND PLAYERS. , u 1 fT H*re resoimds the football field with Hi discordant train—Quiller Couch. i u.

•fell-mirid' grasps a situation in an .instant, and Avhilo ethers would he wondering what to do ho has thought and acted. Ho has qualities of such ou'tr standing merit thai- much of the, .success of the Marist team is due to iiis efforts. O'Loughlin at full-hack was confident, and his fielding and kicking .were alike excellent. He got through a heavy afternoon's work with distinct credit. M'C'ormick and Li 1 ley also earned merit marks for their defence. The Linwood full-back, Brown, did not, seem comfortable at any part of the game. The occasion seemed to impress him unduly. Hirst was most effective in his line kicking, and his left foot drop that scored was made while going at high speed and when surrounded by opponents. Cain was responsible for a shocking bit of selfishness that probably cost his side a try. Harry Watson maxlo a beautiful opening by feinting a man out of position and then bv cutting out one of his own side in the pass lie left Cain and M'Gerty to beat one Marist. Cain elected to do it all himself, and failed. If his captain didn't havo a heart to heart talk wiH.li him when the gamo was finished, ho failed to get his just dues. Two teams with nerves on hair-trig-gers provided all the elements for a step over the edge, but Mr Peako's control was always evident withou't, being obtrusive. Sharp in his decisions, ho held the confidence of the players, and the match that might -easily have shown a deteriorated standard was kept at a high level of football conduct. THE M ARISTS-LINWOOD MATCH. TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —As an occasional visitor to Christchurclv, and in search of amusement, I wended my way last Saturday afternoon to the Show Grounds, and there 1 witnessed one of the mos't interesting games of club Rugby football 1. have ever seen. As a disinterested party I watched the game without bias to either side and left the ground satistied that I had spent an enjoyable halfholiday. As an enthusiast of our national game I look forward to the newspaper reports of c.ich Saturday's game, and I must say \our report of Saturday's game was anything but pleasing to me. When reading your paper L wondered what your reporter was thinking about-. To begin with, in giving -the personnel of the teams we find that Marist played sixteen men, and you only published the names of thirteen men m the Linwood team. This, of course, is only a trifle, but trifles make perfection. . Your report opens one-sided and finishes the same way. You tell the public that "Marist kicked ofF wi'th an appreciable advantage. of the wind." Why do you not report that Linwood won tho toss and elected, as you report to play with tho wind against them? Does it seem feasible? But it is not my intention to criticise your report.' My object in penning these lines is to ask, Do think that you would assist our national game to a greater extent by taking care that your reports are no way one-sided, and above all avoid even the slightest suggestion that tho referee made mistakes. Here I venture the opinion that Mr Peake's exhibition of rcfereeing left nothing to bo desired.—l am. etc., LOVER OF RUGBY. SECOND AND THIRD GRADES. _ The following tables show the positions of the various toams in the-second and third grade competitions:— Second Grade.

WELLINGTON NOTES. [From Otjr Correspondents.] WELLINGTON, August' 13. Rarely-have I witnessed suck a sceiio of excitemest as there was at tlie Athletic Park last Saturday afternoon, in the concluding stages of the match between tho Wellington College and lactone teams. Barring tlie fact that there rather much keenness in the northerly wind that was blowing, the conditions were as favourable as they well could be for the playing of tho game of Rugby football, and a goodly concourse of the goneral public had assembled. Tho game, however, was not as good a ono as I anticipated, the majority of the backs mulling tho ball in a manner that was quite unaccountable to me too many times during the progress of the game to declare it a really classy exhibition of how Rugby should be played. Maybe the lads were overanxious to do their best, and failed to reach the high standard they had reached in previous games because of this extra keenness they were trying to infuse into their play. Occasionally tho incidents would crowd one on top of tho other, the ball j travelling backwards and forwards in I a bewildering maimer,, and at these stages tho yelling of the barrack-crs was truly inspiring in these days, when ouo is hoping for the coming back of tho- good- old game of Rugby football into its former standing with tho sports-loving community. In. between these exciting incidents thero would happen much dull play, in which the monotony with which tha ball went over the touchJine began ,to weary one. How is it that one has to complain so much 'these days about the ball being kicked into touch, regardless of the fact whether such kick is gaining ground or is merely used as a way of getting rid of the ball? This is one of the features of _tho play that! could exercise the minds of the delegates of tiie New Zoaland Rugby Union at the conference beinc called directly at tho instance of the Canterbury Rugby Uaion. The game was all in ' favour of the Petone team in the early stages, the suburban team losing ono try owing to ithe last man in the rush being off-side over tho goal line. Nicholls,. the halfback, shortly afterwards mado a fine opening, Corn or scoring the try. This reverse woke up tho College boys, and tho play became lively. Another Nicholls—-a younger brother of the Petone half mado a beautiful straight! run through the and in the succeeding play Donald, the College wing-forward, scored a try in such a good position that Scott had no difficulty in registering tho goal. This was I tiiu i'ljJU uxtout of tlie snoring in thej

first half of tho game, although both sides had moro than one narrow escape. When ends were changed, Petone monopolised tho attacking for a full quarter of an hour, registering a try in the period from a passing rush, m which Nicholls, Coles, Cowio and W. Thomas all took part, tho last-named grounding the ball over the chalk-mark. And then !the fun waxed fast and furious. Tho College boys got well into their stride, and attacked with a persistency that was truly exhilarating. Ihe Pdtono fellows, also, wo in their humour, and counter-attacked with a determination that caused their opponents to put forth It heir best efforts. Tho next score came as tho result or a fine piece of play by Scott, the College second five-eighth. After lie had gone some distance with the ball Donald cairied it on, and following some loose forward plav Emerson picked up the ball and dived across tho line fecottconverted the try, and the tally was.lo-4 in College's favour. Petone were not bea'fcen yet, however, and .shortly as the result of a combined rush Bowers scored. The kick by Coles was a pom one, and College still led, though onl s %W P timo"went steadily on until the only thing that prevented the bell, ben g rung was it'he fact that the ball was still in play. A kick by the Wellington Colleß* full-back did ™* J™ reach touch, Petone's . CD Tliomas) centring in line svue. Kom this movement Corner ■ emerged wLllh iflie ball an his possession, tmee, of Wow* men outside of him, and only two College lads in front It looked all Lombard fetreat to an orange that a try would b* scored, but you never can tell at a gam© of }{. U crby. After one or two passes, Y>. Thomls got the ball and divod. for the line. Davidson tackled him m hue. stvle, and as th« pair fell to the groun.l the ball slipped out of Thomas s hands under his arms, where Davidson promptly made it dead. And then the bell rang with the College team winners of a game wnicti, in its final stages, had worked the, players and spectators up to a great pitch of excitement. Hand-clapping, Greetings and arguments followed in plenty, and for a time one hardly knew whore he was, although, personally 1 wius Jiaflpy in that a gamo of lUigty had happened in which so much enthusiasm could be worked up. As to tho referee's decision in awarding a, touch-down there can bo'no argument. To score a try the ball, hand and ground must! be in contact o« onq and tho sarnie time. Tho fact that, a man. is lying on the ball does not constitute a try—tho ball itsok must be touched bv the hand of the player nq whoso possession it is whilei the ball is on the ground. The results of the various gaiws played on. Saturday were:—Wellington Collego 10 (tries by Donald and Emerson, both converted by Scott), Petone J (tries by Corner, W. Thomas and Bowers); University 26, Oriental 3; Poneke 12, Old Boys 9. There was one. pi ceo of play by a College boy on Saturday that lifted mo out of rav usual staidnoss. Ho was the smallest "lad on tho field—DalrympJia by name On ono ocasion he was jammed close to th e touch-line, and by skilful mancDiivring ho dribbled tho ball past tho opposing players with neat turns of the righ loot in which the ball nevler got; beyond his roach. Directly ho got clear he centred to his forwards. It was a delightful piece of play to which one cannot do* justice with the pen. By the way, this Dalrymple lad plays live-eighth for the College second fifteen. Out of the first 81 points scored by his team 'this season he got 44 himself, so that he is a iino player in tho making. . . I thought of commenting on the individual showings in the Oollege-Petono game, but space these days is at a premium. Occasionally I feel like 'indulging in one of my old-time talks about the players, but the most of them are youths "in the moulding process, and many of them are unfamiliar to me by name, although 1 am getting to know them all fairly well. With a lad a wriV.r of experience is diffident in making comments. If you praise over-much the boy may get a false idea of his own powers, and want to enlarge the size of his hats; if you condemn for a failure or two, a good player in the making may be discouraged and lost to the game. "When I was a player myself I. delighted to sec my name in print--and no doubt my failing in this direction is a familiar one, but these days things arc different, as the future of Rugby football depends on how the lads are encouraged on right lines to develop into great'"phiyers. And with this thought over befoVe me I am fain to let well alone, and, while congratulating the. bovs on their excellent displays, deter from referring to them individually. This is how I feel in thinking over the principal match at tho Athletic Park last Saturday afternoon. The representatives of Auckland and Wellington—all players under t-Avonty years of age—are to meet in Auckland this week-end. The Auckland Pugby Union has appointed a sub-committee to consider and suggest alferaTions for improving the playing of the gamo of Rugby, and probably at the suggestion of this body a request has been mado and agreed to that this game bo played without Aving-forwards. Shades of Davy Gallahcr, George Gillett, Jack Arneil, Billy Meldrum, "Off-side-" M'Konzie, " 'Ard " Kelly, T. R. Ellison, and many of tho other great Aving-forwards, what do you think of thus? When the late T. P. Ellison first thought out the wing-forward game his idea was to throAv these players into tho game as 7 protection for his halfback. The Poneke Club in those days—the late eighties—Avero notable for the brilliance of the back gamp they played, and because their opponents were Avont to detach men from the scrummage to spoil the passing tactics Ellison evolved the wing-forward. NoAvadays the howl i.s that the man on the side of the scrummage does exactly what he ay as introduced to prevent. , I am willing to admit that tno pre-sent-day wing-forward i.s an obstructionist pure and simple, his main objective being to get the bettor, if he can, in an exhibition of catch-as-cateh-can Avrostling Avith the man opposite him. This could be avoided by placing the two men on different .sides of tho scrummage. The scheme adopted by tho Auckland Rugby Union, is not a romedy, for it has selected two halfbacks, tAvo five-eighths and three threequarters in its team. J. am willing to wager, before the game on Saturday is long m progress, that both these half-backs Avill become wing-f'onvards whenever the Wellington bovs get pos« session of the ball. If the Aucklanders wer 0 sincere in their wish to abolish the wing-forward they would have done what the ' Wellington selectors have, A-iz., put the extra, man in the threequarter line. .My opinion is that the experiment avi'll not prove a success, for the simplo reason that the wingforward -will be there, if not knoivn by his usual name. By the ivay, I am told that each of the Wellington boys is paying £3 toAvards his touring expenses, and thati tho Avhole side aatll be billeted by the Aucklanders. This i.s something new in connection Avith the touring of representativo teams, and is welL worth noting. The billetting in connection with. the schoolboy representative games is one of the pleasing features to the boys in connection with those matches, and there is no reason why it should not prove equally enjoyable for the lads only a few vears beyond their school days.

RUGBY GAME

Rugby football came into its own ngain when Marists and Limvood met at tho Shaw Grounds on Saturday last. The day was perfect, and the-.largo crowd Ithat gathered contained a larger proportion of partisans than, spectators. As would bo i expected in those circumstances tho match was played to an accompaniment of cheers and roars of delight from it ho supporters as their Fancied team gained an advantage' that reminded one of th e golden ago of football in Canterbury. Much depended on, this match, for a AA'in for Linwood Avould have meant the end of all' interest in the competition. Instead of this, their defeat by Marist means increased interest Avith (three teams prac:ically level, and increased revenue for tho Rugby Union officials avlio had abandoned all-hope of a gato • for this season. Though the gamo Avas largely confined to the fonvards it contained movement enough to satisfy the most exacting. Thero was hardly a, dull moment in cither spell, and a large part of the) credit is due to tho high qualities of endeavour shown by both packs. Their weight, pace, and persistency made the game difficult to folloAv Avitli its lightning "attacks and counter-at-tacks, for at one moment a side would be defending its goal line, when with startling suddrness a forward rush Avould carry the ball to the other end and defence had become a vigorous attack". Any attempt at system in the play of the backs on boith sides, Avas conspicuously lacking. There Avere good pieces of individual play, and the, few occasions on which the, hacks moved as a sido only served to throAv into prominence the barrenness of their efforts in combined play. They are not asked to shoulder all the blame, for neither set of forwards shewed much inclination to trust those behind them, by seeing that the ball went out when a favourable opportunity presented itself. It is almost, impossible to understand the tactics of Limvood in starving a back like Fortune, Avho had proved his worth by his strong, gritty running in the match against Morivalo A. It would be safe to say that not once during the match on *Saturday Avas die bah pint into his hands as tho result of a combined effort of his side. There is more excuse for Marist making so little use of their wings, as any movements Rinong the backs usually broke down at, the centre. That Linwood at least had given no thought to the phiy of the backs was evident from the Aveird positions they took up in attack. Jf their efforts were directed towards getting as far rvay from ono another as possible without getting outside the field of play, they succeeded admirably. One illustration will explain this grotesque formation. By aggressive, play their forwards carried the ball to within a few feet of the Marists lino, and nearly at the corner. Th 0 attacking backs, who should have been close up for a, c)nm,-i bined effort on their opponents' line, were strung out. across the field with a gap of thirty yards" between the centre three-quarter and tho hack on tho outskta, Avhilo this Aving Avas only a few yards in front of the half-way flag and within ten yanks of the opposite sideline. Such a position is a burlesque of .back play. "When one calls, to. mind the meeting r>f these teams at Limvood Pjirk earlier in the season, and tho unenviable reputation for unnecessary roughness that each earned, it is pleasing to bo able to .say that while th> play "of Saturday last Avas strenuous it rarely presented objectionable practices. " Isolated cases happened where a man who had got rid of th c ball. Avas vigorously "dumped," and Avlicro too strenuous application of boot to the man on the ground showed lack of menial balance through over-excite-ment, but neither sidp held a monop I nf these transgressions. The Marist player who throw the ball out on thri line-out needs som 0 careful and painstaking practice to enable him to <-ot it a little .straighter. No one could accuse, him of rashness, for he throAv underhand and oarofulh- deliberated ' before he let the ball go; vet in spitp of ill this care he throw it a couple of feet from the straight five times out of every six efforts. Strangely en ouch, this accident alwavs happened to tho disadvantage of Linwood. One try scored hv Marists gave rise lo a hostile demonstration, and has been the- subject, of much discussion since the match. Lill'-'- (Y ot the ball in front of the grandstand, and raced along tho lino toAvards tho eastern goal, with the opposing backs hopelessly out nf position, excepting Fortune, who cut across to intercept Lilley. But K.houri had joined in, and be ran shoulder to shoulder with his club-mate; in fact, they Avere never separated by a clear : oot at any time. This manoeuvre placed Fortune in the position that ho could not get at the man in possession on account of Khouri. AVhether he could have tackled him or whether tho try would have been scored in any case is merely a matter of conjecture. But Khouri."s attitude in the matter can b?i vicAved in two ways. Ho may have been backing up in the hope of a pass, and that is perfectly justifiable; but he has been playing long enough to knoAV that the most effective place to outwit the single defending plaver -was anywhere but" right alongside Lilley. If ho had been looking for a pass, three, or foun vards in-field was hi s position. Iho verv fact of his he : '<" between Lillov nnd" Fortune, precluded any chance of the pass coming to him; lor that would have given Fortune a much better chance by bringing the man nn possession a foot or two nearer Ho him. It Khouri honestlv thought that he was supporting his club-mate, and hoped for a- pass in "the position be took up, then his conception of Rugby back play :s puerile in the extreme. The other vicav In the discussion is that he deliberately " shepherded " Lilley. Mr J. F. Peake gave the try, and he is such a capable referee that it would be interesting to know his views on the occurrence. With both sets of forwards playing so well, it would bo impossible to pick out individuals for special commendation. Linwood bad more streng'th in the scrum, and, managed to get the ball when they Avarited it, but that makes the neglect of their backs, excepting on very rare occasions, all tho more inexplicable. Marists fought like, tiger-cats in defence, and their rushes had jus't as much vehemence as those shown' by their opponents, Avho havo made a name for themselves Avith the pace ;uid vigour of their forward Avork. It Avas a splendid exhibition between tAvo wellmatched packs who made no effort to close tho gamo up, but -who were equally at homo with steam roller tactics as with the more attractive, onslaughts of A Avell-combinod attack in the open. Among the backs, Fitzgerald, tho fijEdf of the Marist team, stood *>atlistlterl lirdt. He took more than $p ©rnary share of hard knocks Avi;i|\ a philosophic calm that makes hl.m a model of good sportsmanship. His deFence was excellent, but his alertness when near an opponent's line makes bim the most dangerous back playing in the competition. Not only is this alertness a bodily quality, but he is ftnaniulU as well. His agile foot-

i. i n rt' o ci "K £3 s !> Q J CW II.S. Old Boys . 12 12 — — 12 Lin wood A . ]l R — 3 S Lincoln Col logo . •11 7 2 2 8 Boys' JTIigh .School T2 8 — 4 8 Christ's College . D 1) 1 2 r>\ Marists .11 G 1 4 «s Sydenham . . , 12 4 — 8 4 Limvood B . , 8 1 1 <; 1 Belfast . . 10 1 .— 9 1 Christchurch , 11 — 1 10 01 ' Vjirsity • 3 — ~ 3 Third ClrRde. Technical Colloge <12 11 1 _ Hi Lyttolton 12 10 1 1 10", Svdonham . 11 8 1 2 P): Boys' High School A 11 r> 1 a oh Marists . 10 o o 6 3 Christ's College A , 8 3 — 5 3 "West Christchurch D.H.S. . . •10 2 1 7 24 Christ's College K 8 1 1 fi n Boys' High School B 10 — — 10