RUGBY NOTES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17026, 27 April 1923, Page 3

RUGBY NOTES.

THE GAME HERE AND ELSEWHERE. There were no competition matches last Saturday, the Rugby Union having postponed their matches on account of the vVild West Show held at Addington by the Canterbury A. and P. Association. All matches will be resumed toOn the oval at Lancaster Park Linv\ ood i\ ill play Old Boys and a keen contest should result. A slight indication od' Limvood’s strength was gained last week when they met and defeated ;Via rists at the Shew Grounds in a iriendh match in oonuection with the ild v\e«t programme. The weather conditions, however, were all against good football, and suited the style of play usually adopted by Linwood teams, coupled w:th this fact Ma,lists were below strength, as two or three of t-hc.r leading players did not journey out of the Show Grounds, thinking the heavy rain would cnusfe a postponement. As it wa-s, however, the game was very evenly contested and Linwood owed their victory to a penalty goal. ft is difficult to say whether Linwood would have won on a dry ground, but if they can beat- M a lists under perfect conditions—which the writer is verv much inclined to doubt they should he able to account for Old Boys to-morrow. The result of ro monw's match depends to a great, extent on the abiln\ of tlie Old Boys' forwards to hold the Linwood pack. If they can do this the whites should win the match as their backs will probably prove too speedy and clever for the Linwood rearguard. On the other baud, if the Linwood forwards, are able t-o el iminate the plav tiicn it is hard to sav what their side "'ll by. (The Old Boys- tean- will be the same as that which gave Marists such a great game a. fortnight ago, and j r,K * Linwood team will be the same as , that which defeated Marists last SuitI urday. A great game should therefore | result on the Oval to-morrow. ; Another good game should result* at ; Lancaster Park to-morrow in the meetimg of Christchurch and Alarists. The ; lat«nr'.s all-round strength is v. ell i known as they have suffered onlv one ! defeat in four years in . ir.ipipetition j games. They may not appear quite so ’ strong this year, but this i.s clue to the ! fact that rh<* other teams have nn- ! proved. Since the war Marists have i had things practical! v all their own i way, but now the other club teams are : nearly back to pre-war standard and ! the Greens can expect some tougner | games than they have been accustomed ! to. Kirwan. their lmli‘. is in town ; again and will strengthen the backs. | Christchurch proved that 1 hev were a good side at Easter time by defeating | both the Wellington and Pirates (Drinj edin) clubs. Following- on these «uc- } cesses they accounted for ’Varsity in ! their opening match, though by the i narrow margin of one point. Christ - I church are a team of great, possibilities and if tQ-merrow i<= one of their days or. j instead of the “ off ” we have become j used to then they should extend Mar--5 ists to the full. In forecasting a result, however, one cannot very well pass the team with the most consistent performances to their credit, and when the bell rings the writer expects to see Marists a few-—not many—points to the good.

■Still a third ding dong go should re suit in tlie meeting of ’Varsity and Alerivale. varsity arc a pretty fair j side taken all round. Their forwards are of the dashing type and three of their J number Jackson, Craven and Lang bein. are provincial representatives. ’Varsity defeated Old Boys in a scratch game before the season opened and then in their first competition match they went under to Christchurch. being beaten by Hut one point. Incidentally they would have won this match easily had they possessed a goal kicker of the Campbell type.

Tt i-s difficult' at the moment to guage Men vale’s strength accurately, that is so far as actual play goes. On paper the team looks quite a good one. being but little changed from the side which defeated Marists last year. Doreen. who played for the country fifteen last year and Al’Gade of Wellington fill the wing three-quarter positions occupied last season by W. A. and R. H. Ford. Tlie Merivale pack is a solid one and will perhaps prove a little too strong for 'Varsity, in which case the Blues should finish up a little in the lead. It will he seen that- the crowds which go to Lancaster Park to-morrow are gooiug to have their money’s worth. All three games should be exciting and evenly contested, and with the teams ha-rdlv vet settled into their best stri<l • anyt-liiiig may happen. Marists and Merival© should win on best form and so should Linwood. but unfortunatelyor should I say fortunately- form frequently upset at football, and it is no easy matter to pick a treble when the teams appear to lie so evenly matched. The fourth senior match will be playing to have their money's worth. All bion and Xortb Canterbury. Albion arc a much more experienced side and should easily hofl the country repre senta-tives. Ft North Canterbury cannot beat Albion they will have a poor chance of beating any of the other teams. Nobody would begrudge the R-angiora. men a win to-morrow, not even Albion themselves. M. Fogarty, the Taranaki and New Zealand representative forward and M. j

Malone, the Taranaki representative j forward, who played .such a good game against Canterbury at Lancaster Park season, have removed to Auckland I where they will play for College "Rifiev. ( The competitions wore commenced in ‘ Otago last week. A good game resulted j between Alhambra and University A. ! last, year’s winners, who had but three i points to spare at the finish. Kaikorai I ..am blistered a sound, thrashing to Southern, whom 'they defeated by 27 ! points to nil. tfow have the mighty j fallen ! The case of .Southern in Dunedin is on a. par. with that of Albion i in Christchurch. . Pet one and Poneke won their opening -matches very' easily in Wellington j last Saturday. Athletic and Berbam- ! pore had a keen contest at Athletic j lark Athletic winning by 8 points! (two potted goals) to 6. One of Atli- j letio s goals was . dropped by Svenson. j the New Zealand- representative, who i " as playing on the West Coast last’ year, but is now residing in Welling- ! There are 134 .teams playing in all ! grades in Wellington • this year, not including 47 school teams and over 20 j college teams, who conduct their own i football. Jack Mahoney; the ex-Sydenham C tub player and' Car.terpury representative. who has been residing in Wellington for some years past. has returned to Christchurch. He says lie can still hook as well as ever though , he is not keen on turning oirf again. j I here will bp general regret in foot- j ball circles that such a fine exponent j and judge of the game as G. I>. ! ( ' Doddy *’) Gray has found it neces- j snry to resign his position as a Can- J ter bury selector this year. H. E. XiehoUs, the Petone. Welling- j ton and New Zealand half-back, has j developed a. football knee which may cause his retirement from the game. Tf so his Jo-ss will be keenly felt.