HILARIOUS GROUPS OF TARTANED SCOTS PAINT LONDON RED.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17836, 3 May 1926, Page 12

HILARIOUS GROUPS OF TARTANED SCOTS PAINT LONDON RED.

ENGLAND BEATEN IN THRILLING RUGBY BATTLE —BACKS WERE VERY POOR.

Below, the “ Star’s ” hondon correspondent tells how Scotland beat England at Rugby, and what happened afterwards :

LONDON, March 25. j There was a record crowd at Twickenham last Saturday for the grand finale of the Rugger season—the match between Scotland and England for the Calcutta Cup. The King was looking on from his Royal Box, and a good j proportion of the fifty thousand spectators were sturdy Scots. None of them can have grudged the expense of travelling to see the match, because, they got a rare bag. Scotland won the match quite decisively, carried off the Calcutta Cup in triumph, asserted their right to share the laurel crown of championship with Ireland, and completely Shattered the far-famed Twickenham tradition. Little wonder . that after the match hilarious groups j of young and old Scots, in plus-fours : and tartan tarns, danced highland reels ! in mid-arena, and later proceeded to ; paint the West-end of London in bright J vermilion.

England are well content to have lost the Twickenham tradition. It was an embarrassing* white elephant that had to die some day and will be mourned by no . English skipper. But we would have preferred that the debacle should have been a less humiliating one. It was not a really great game, though it proceeded by dramatic stages. England started with tremendous elan. The forwards, led by Wakefield and Voycc, swept the ball towards the Scottish goal-line, and then gave Young, at scrum-half, ample opportunities to feed his three-quarters. Three times in as many minutes the ball was passed along the line to Francis, and his wing man. Day, of Leicester, playing as substitute for Devitt, had a clear run. But each time Francis preferred to attempt his favourite- coup of cutting inward, and each time he failed ignominiouslv. Immediately afterwards. Dykes dropped a beautiful goal for Scotland. From that moment the Scottish team rallied strongly, and proceeded to win comfortably by seventeen points to nine. A GREAT PACK.

It was terribly hard lines on Wakefield and one of the finest forward packs that ever took the field for England. Good as the Scottish forwards were, they were beaten by the Englishmen, whose play was both more polished and more brilliant, in the scrum, in the line out, and in the loose. Moreover, England's scrum-half, Young, was on top of his form, and, with adequate support behind him, would have pulled any game out of the fire. But there England’s supremacy ended. The Scottish wings, Boyd and Smith, were, yards faster than Wickes and Day, and Waddell, their stand-off half, completely eclipsed Kittermaster. Aslett was the only one of England’s backs who made any show at all. The rest were almost comically weak in attack, and in defence. Never in the history -of big Rugger, I suppose, has such lame and impotent back-play thrown away the heroic fruits of so fine a team of forwards. Three Scottish tries were scored as the result of Smith’s quick sprinting and the English full-back’s fumbling with the ball. It was so bad that laughter sounded round the arena. The efforts of Wakefield and his forwards to save the game were worth y ahnost of epic verse. Time and again they stormed the Scottish line, and three times one of them scored a try, but they got no support from England’s mediocre backs, and the Scots tackled magnificently. Voyce, England’s wing-forward, played the game of his life. He scored one fine try, and once nearly dropped a goal from beyond the halfway line. Twice, at least, Wakefield almost forced his way over the line. But it was not to be. No forwards unaided could have pulled the game round against, the Scottish backs, and Scotland's victory was thoroughly well deserved. The real villains of the piece are the English Selection Committee, who seem unaccountably blind to the fact that there are, up and down the country, some promising young three-quarters who possess the essential virtue of real speed and dash.

ENGLISH CUP SEMIFINALS. As the home of professional Soccer, It is noteworthy that three of the four surviving teams in the English Cup competition represent Lancashire, and, moreover, that at least one must appear in the final. Whether this will be Manchester United or Manchester City will be decided this week-end. when thev meet on the ground of the Sheffield United Club. The other semifinal is between Bolton Wanderes, the winners of the cup three years ago, and Swansea Town, and it is to take place at Tottenham. London. The choice, of these venues is unfortunate, but the law says that semi-final ties must be played on neutral grounds, and it is on this account that, the two Manchester teams have to go to Sheffield when they would have been prepared to toss for choice of grounds. The meeting of United and City will be a desperate affair, but, unless form is turned topsy turvy, the former will

In the other tie it is expected that the representatives of Wales will sue ceed. They were the “dark horse” of the competition from the start, but their capabilities are now thoroughly exposed, and in science and craft they are perhaps the best of the four sides. Bolton Wanderers, their opponents, have had luck on then: side all through the competition, but it now appears to have deserted them. Half a dozen of their men have been ill, and J. R. Smith, the centre forward, is so badly hurt that he cannot play. This will mean a re-arrangement of the forward line, and it may unsettle the team. It is noticable that the left wing of the Wanderers will be the same as played for the club fourteen years ago. It was then that Joe Smith and Vizard, the Welsh international wing man. began their association, and though both are thirty-seven years of age, they are almost as famous as ever. Indeed, no club to-day has a more effective wing, and if the Wanderers create a surprise, and win, there is little doubt that these men have played a big part in it.

’VARSITY GOLF MATCH. Once more the favourites were bea.t.en in the University golf match. On the links of the Burnham club in Somerset, Cambridge defeated Oxford, securing three games to twp in the foursomes, and six to four in the singles. All the matches were played over thir-ty-six holes. One stroke of ill-luck befell the Dark Blues. On the day before the start of the match. A. D. Cave, the captain, cut his hand most severely on some broken glass in. the clubhouse, and the injury prevent him playing. In the circumstances, last year’s captain, A, R. Nall Cain, had to lead the side, and a reserve was brought in. The contest took place under treacherous conditions. A bitter east wind swept the course, and it was so cold that some of the players wore their thick overcoats, only taking them off when they had to drive. Though woollen mittens were also worn, the fingers lost their feel, and, in the case of R. W. Hartley, they had to be massaged by J. H. Taylor, the old champion, who had gone to Burnham to see his son play for Oxford, and who refereed the match in. which Hartley opposed Nall Cain. It was notable that the best golf of the two days was played by the two tail men, •A. Fell, a Yorkshireman,. who was the last chosen for Cambridge, met O. J. Roy, who played for Oxford owing to the retirement of Cave, and, going the morning, Fell won as many as eleven holes, and finished the match by a margin of fourteen up and thirteen to play. Even more decisive was the victory of the Oxonian, V. S. Maxwell, over R. B. Gurden. He was ten up at the end of the first round, and he won by fifteen and thirteen. This is a record win for the University. Maxwell, whose family associations are In India, is a powerful player, and he overwhelmed his opponent in the long game. CAMBRIDGE WIN THE SPORTS. Though Oxford had a big array of Rhodes Scholars with fine athletic

performances t o their credit, they were beaten in the annual sports at Queen’s Club by Cambridge. The 1 latter were slight favourites but no one expected them to win by such a decisive margin as eight events to three. The Americans were very d i s a p p o‘ i n ting, though R. L. Hyatt, of Havard, competed in four events, and won

two—the pole jump with a record of lift lOin and the long jump at 21ft 9Ain. He was beaten in the high jump and in the weight. He adopted unusual tactics in the high jump, making no attempt until the bar was raised to 6ft. He was obviously reserving bis strength, but he failed, and it would probably have been better had he started at the height at which he carried off the event in the Oxford sports. Another record was made in the high hurdles by Lord* Burghley doing 15isec after he had gained the low hurdles, in which event he set up a record a year ago. The sprint was gained for Oxford by the New Zealander, A. E! Porritt, who completed the distance in even time. Another excellent performance was accomplished by R. S. Starr, who carried off both the mile and half mile. Starr had not intended to compete in the half mile, and did so’ only because the Cambridge first string. A. G. Marshall. had to withdraw; owing to illness. Yet he won in lmin 59 4-ssec after having won the mile in the good time of 4min 27 2-ssec.