COFFEE AND ROLLS NO GOOD FOR BREAKFAST

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18012, 24 November 1926, Page 4

COFFEE AND ROLLS NO GOOD FOR BREAKFAST

N.Z. FOOTBALLERS LOST MUCH WEIGHT. RUGBY, SOCCER AND GOLF NOTES FROM U.K. (Special to the “ Star. ") LONDON. October 14. Without creating any marked impression, tne Maori Kugoy players won ail tneir matches in t ranee until the lafet. Last week-end they were beaten by a Pans team. In this game tne tourists gave their worst dispiay, and it was evident that they were much below ; lorm. Whilst they hav£ enjoyed their i stay in France, tne New Zealanders have not had good health, most ot the men having lose considcraoly in weight, and they attributed their aeieat in Paris to staleness. The chict trouble has been to get the right sort oi lood. Coffee and a roll is not the breaktast that these giants are accustomed to, and, instead of all the fancy dishes mat were presented to them, tl\ey would have preierred a substantial cut of beef or a steak. So they were not sorry to say goodbye to b ranee this week, and tome to London, where during the past few days tney have been practising for their tour which opens this wee K-end against Somerset. French critics say that the English clubs will beat the Maoris owing to their lack oi soundness. They are too venturesome in attack, they declare, and, as a result, fatal lauits develop in the defence. But, even though they are not so formidable a team as the All blacks ot a year ago, tne Maoris are a taacinatnig suae, if only because of the aanuraoie spirit in which they play tho game. Their object is not merely to go back home unbeaten, unless they can achieve this distinction by merit. Wales and the New Scrum Law. Happily, as already announced, Xhe Maoris have withdrawn their objection to playing matches in Wales under the new scrummage law, wmch lays it down that a member of the opposition shall not advance beyond tne front row of the scrummage (pefore the ball is out at the other siuc. But the introduction oi this change, which, ot course, only applies to matches in Wales, is apparently to cause a good deal of trouble. For example, when the New South Wales team pay their visit next year, all their matches will be decided under the rules of the International Board. This has already been settled, so that, if Wales want to meet the tourists, they will have to scrap one of their own rules. They will, of course, be able to avoid this if in the meantime they can convert the International Board to their view that the scrummage law needs to be changed, but though they might possibly succeed in the case of the English authorities, it is known that botn Scotland and Ireland will not tolerate any tinkering with the game. It is evident, too, so lar as this season is concerned, that there may be trouble. When the new rule was adopted it was understood that English visiting teams would not be expected to play under it. Wales, however, insist that it should be observed, and it is reported that qge of the leading London clubs have declined to do so, add that there is a prospect of others following their example. It would be a calamity if all fixtures between the clubs of the two countries were cancelled, and it is not likely to come to that, but it is obvious that English players will be greatly handicapped, as the New Zealanders will be, by being compelled to play under a rule of which they know nothing. Advance of French Golf. The development of golf in France has been Slow. Eighteen years ago a Frenchman, Amaud Massey, won the British Championship, but he owed most of his profic-

iency in the game to English or Scottish training. There have been one or two other first-class professionals, but on the whole the men golfers of France, amateurs as well as professionals, have been very disappointing. But to-aay the game is growing fast. Clubs are coiinted in their

hundreds, and on the feminine side at least there are several young plhvers of the highest promise. The most outstanding is Mile. Simone Thion de la Chaume, who first appeared . in this country a year ago whilst still at school, and won the girls’ championship. This year the same title has been captured by another French plaj-er, Mile. Di&na Esmond, and she has a lister Sibil, who is perhaps a better player, though more temperamental. These three girls, and Several Others, are at present on a visit to London to compete in two events, first a foursome tournament, in which are two hundred competitors, and second a mixed foursome competition. Mile, de la Chaume is a wonderful little golfer, so easy and graceful of style, and so masterful as a match winner, that she has been called the Lenglen of the links. The Esmond girls are the daughters of a Paris financier, and the whole family have been coached by George Duncan. Monsieur Esmond in about three years has reduced his handicap to three as a member of the Royal and Ancient Club, St Andrews, and the two girls have made a surprising advance. Still another French girl. Mile, le Blan, has shown form above the ordinary. She hits the ball terrifically hard, ar.d Arnaud Massey declares that she can drive further than any other woman the game has known. Her short game is not of the. same standard, but she. too, is in her teens, and only on the threshold of her career. ,

First of the Soccer Internationals. The English Association football authorities must start afresh to build up a national team. Since the game was resumed after the war, the record is a melancholy one. only seven of twenty-one matches having been won. It. used to be taken for granted th*t both Ireland and Wales would retdily be beaten, but even these countries, who have to borrow #o many of their men from English. Scottish and Welsh cjubs, are now able to hold tHeir own. The first of the season’s internatibnals, that with Ireland, takes place at Liverpool next week, and the England team has just been chosen. It must have been a big temptation for the Selection Committee to include several amateurs, after the display given by a representative side against the team of professionals who toured Canada during the summer and won every match. In this game the amateurs quickly lost two goals, but afterwards completely outplayed their opponents, and broke through their defence as many

as six times. It was a startling result. But amateurs have often been tried before. and there has not been a single, man who was successful enough to deserve to be picked a second time. In these circurristances the selectors have chosen an all-professional team to meet, Ireland, and they have called upon most of the old hands. There is a new goalkeeper in M'lnroy, Of Sunderland, and two fresh forwards in Brown, the Huddersfield inside right, and his wing partner, Spence, of Manchester United. Curiously enough, Spence is at present appearing at centre forward for his club. As it appears on paper, the team is good enough to win, but the half-backs are chiefly notable for their defence, and, because of their lack of resource in attack, the forwards, as they have done so often before for the same reason, may suffer. Ireland have been able to find only one man at home good enough for a place in the side. All the others have l->een drawn from English. Welsh and Scottish clubs. But it is stjpnger than on many occasions, because. owing to the fact that the match is to be played in mid-week men have been released by their clubs. Hendren the Footballer. For ten years or more, as soon as cricket, has been over, Hendren has, plunged straight into football. lie is an outside left, and is a member of the Brentford team. To play cricket and football all the year round is hard work, but the Middlesex batsman is a hardy little fellow, and he has withstood the strain very well. Last winter he added a new burden, going into partnership with Purston, the Middlesex fast t>owler, in running an indoor cricket school. But Hendren now feels that he cannot. carry out all these duties, and this is to be his last season of League football. Still, if he had not been so engaged, he would probablv have gone abroad, as he has been offered coaching engagements in South Africa, India and New Zealand. A Another item of cricket news concerns Harry Howell, the fast bowler who went with the last M.C.C. team to Australia. He has left the Lancashire League, and returned to his home at Birmingham, and it was expected that he would resume playing for Warwickshire. As a matter of fact he took part in three or four games at the end of the season. But there has been a hitch in the arrangements. Howell has become manager of licensed premises, and, whilst holding that position, the Warwickshire club do not think it desirable that he should stay in the team.