Rugby.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18466, 18 May 1928, Page 14

Rugby.

KEEN RIVALRY SOMETIMES TOO KEEN. The senior A competition of the Canterbury Rugby Union promises to be most interesting this season. The competition is now well under way, four aeries of matches having been played, but opinion is very divided as to which aide is likely to come out on top. So far as the competition has gone, the teams seem to be more evenly matched than has been the case- for several seasons. Perhaps this is due to the fact that leading teams have suffered losses through some of their best players being away with the All Blacks, but, in any case, it is all to the good of the game that there should be keen competition. It is only to be hoped that the spirit of keen rivalry will not be marred by rough tactics, which were altogether too noticeable in the oval game at Lancaster Park last Saturday. Tactics of this sort do no good for the code, and in the interests of Rugby, which has long been regarded as the national game of New Zealand, theyshould be firmly suppressed. To-morrow the senior A competition will be advanced another stage, when the fifth series of matches in the first round will be played. The games set down for decision are:— Merivale v. Christchurch. Albion v. Old x>oyt>. Technical v. Linwood. The match which is exciting the greatest amount of interest is that between Merivale and Christchurch, and this is to be played on the oval. It is d ;fiC icult to sav which side will win After their meritorious draw against

Old Boys last Saturday (it was generally expected that Old Boys would have won this game), the Red and Blacks have gone up in public estimation. In addition to this Merivale, for various reasons, will not be able to field their strongest side to-morrow, and it looks as if they will find Christchurch a hard proposition. However, whichever side wins, the game should be closely contested. Old Boys should be able to gain the decision over Albion, in spite of the fact that they will be a bit below strength to-morrow. Albion have not been going too well this season, and they do not appear to be nearly so difficult a proposition as they were last season. However, in spite of this, Old Boys would be ill-advised to take them too lightly. Albion and Old Boys will meet on the south ground, and the game between Linwood and Technical will be" played on the west ground at the park. This game should result in a win for Linwood. The results to date have shown that Technical are, by a considerable margin, the weakest side in the competition. In addition to this, Linwood undoubtedly have a better team than was the case last season. They may upset the Calculations of some of the leaders before the season is over. It is true that Linwood have had only one win out of three games this season, but, in the two games in which they were beaten, they ran Varsity and Christchurch, both strong teams, closelv. Linwood have a fine pack of forwards. They are a bit on the light side, but for their weight they are perhaps the best in the competition. MERIVALE v. CHRISTCHURCH. While Merivale have a very promising set of backs, they have been unfortunate that for practically every match this season they have, through various causes, had to make changes in their rearguard. Merivale will have . the services of R. Norrie again tomorrow. Norrie was injured in the game against Old Boys in the second series of matches of the season, and he was unable to play either against Technical or Varsity. However, he is fit again, and he is to play for Merivale to-morrow, at full-back. H. Goodman, Merivale wing three-

quarter, is on the injured list as a result of last Saturday’s game, and he will not be available to-morrow. His place on the wing is to be taken by G. Rhodes, but it is doubtful how he will shape as he is essentially an inside back. Merivale are likely to miss Goodman a good deal. He is a bit on the light side, but his great turn of speed makes him a dangerous man on attack. N. Brosnan, -who stood down last week, will be centre three-quarter for Merivale to-morrow. He is also playing out of his position. Last season he played half-back, and, with C. Oliver available, it is difficult to see why the Merivale selectors should prefer Brosnan for the centre three-quarter position. Oliver certainly seems the ideal man for the job. Oliver will be one of the five-eighths and T. Davies the other. W. Oliver will again be behind the Merivale scrum. He has improved a good deal since the opening of the season, and is shaping in the direction of making a first-class half. His defensive work is particularly solid. Having lost J. Jeffries and T. Rountree, Merivale have had to make some changes in their forwards. G. Suckling is to play again to-morrow, and he will be in the front row with J. Kirkland. P- Serra -will lock the scrum in place of Jeffries, and the side-rankers will be K. Kearney and W. Crofts, with L. I.faginness and O. May at the back of the scrum. O. Walker will, as usual, be wing forward. As far as the backs are concerned, the Christchurch team is the same as that which did so well against Old Boys last Saturday. If Christchurch put up an equally good performance to-morrow it is quite possible that they will win the match. G. D. Hart is still on the injured list, and he will not be able to take the field to-mor-row. Christchurch have been unfortunate in losing such a fine three-quar-ter. H. L. Stephenson will play fullback, and the three-quarter line will be 'the same as last week, B. Bibby, M. Meilcle and J. Robilliard, B. Marshall and W. Teape will be the fiveeighths, with T. F. Mullan half-back. As far as is known, there will be only one change in the Christchurch

forwards. W. G. Boddington is suffering from an attack of influenza, and he will not be able to play. His place at the back of the scrum will probably be taken by B. Taylor, who played wing forward for Christchurch last week. This is, however, not certain, as it may be decided to play J Bell in the back of the scrum and Taylor at wing iforward. If Taylor is selected as one o£ the back-row men, Bell will he wing forward. The other Christchurch forwards will be the same as last week: E. V. Moore and A. J. Cot> trell (hookers), A. G. Rogers (lock), H. B. Godfrey and J. Manchester (siderankers) and A. J. Stewart, one of the back-rankers. OLD BOYS v. ALBION. Old Boys, who have one or two men on the injured list, will not be able to field their best side, against Albion. Their most serious loks is 11. Ogie,r, v ho sustained a bad injtiry to his knee last Saturday, and had to be carried off the field. It is possible that Ogier will not be available for some time. For a footballer, knee injuries are liable to be serious, and they require careful attention. On attack Ogier is one of the best backs for Old Boys, and they are sure to miss him a lot to-morrow. His place at centre is to be taken by J. Trist, a promoted player, who is said to be promising. Another absentee from the Old Boys back division to-morrow will be G. Mortlock, who is away on holiday. His place on the wing will be filled by C. Armstrong, who has played full-back previous!}' this season. W. E. Merritt will be on the other wing. A doubtful starter is G. Mehrtens, who was injured last Saturday. Mehrtens has been unfortunate this season. He was injured in a practice game before the competition began, and it was only last Saturday that he was able to play again. If Mehrtens is available, he will play second fiveeighths. In the event of Mehrtens being unable to play, J. H. Harris may be moved from the full-back position to five-eighths. D. Hay will, as usual, be first five-eighths, with G. Cox halfback. The Old Boys forwards will be the

same as last week. While the Old Boys pack is a bit on the light side, they should be getting into their stride fairly well by now, and they ought to be able to hold the Albion forwards. The Old Boys pack will consist of F. Clark, E. Turgis, N. Corsbie, I. Smith, C. Speight, F. B.owes, S. Baird, with J. Low wing forward.

Albion suffered a serious loss last Saturday, when J. Steel sustained a broken collarbone. He was easily the best back on their side, being very useful to them on attack and defence. Another useful three-quarter, who will probably be missing from Albion tomorrow, is A. Laing. He is a vefy speedy back and a dangerous attacking winger. C. Worsley is proving a useful full-back for Albion, and he will fill that position to-morrow. The threequarter line will consist of M. Lilburne, K. Smith and M. Eaglesome. Generally they will be playipg out of their usual places, and perhaps they will not be able to give of their best. The fiveeighths will be G. Mortlock and Preston. The latter is a new player for Albion. T. Hodgkinson will again be half-back. The Albion forwards will be the same as last week. Their pack will consist of J. O’Connor. O. Jaggers, X. Wylie, J\ Middleton, R. Calder, S. Polaschek and A. Fletcher. D. Finnegan will be wing forward. LINWOOD v. TECHNICAL. For their game against Technical tomorrow, Linwood will be practically at full strength. They should be able to win fairly comfortably, though the good spoiling tactics of Technical may upset calculations to some extent. N. Wogan, who was injured a fortnight ago, is still unable to play, and his place on the wing will be taken by J. Harley, who played for Linwood last season. The other two three-quarters will be J. Payne and S. Price. Payne, at centre, has been playing well for Linwood this season, and Technical will probably have to watch him closely tomorrow, as he is a dangerous man on attack. The inside backs for Linwood will be as usual, S. O’Brien half-back, with C. Smart and A. Harley fiveeights. A. M’Duff, who has been on the injust list, will be playing again for Linwood to-morrow. He will take the place of F. Read on the side of the scrum. Read will be one of the emergencies. The other scrum men for Linwood will be J. White, J. Entwhistle, J. Manihera, E. Young, J. Nelson and E. Heatley. J. Turpin will be the wing for-

ward. Manihera, at lock, has been playing good football this season, much better than he did after his return from the overseas tour of the Maori team last season. In the opinion of some, he is a likely man for the position of lock of the Canterbury team. The Technical team will, as far as the backs are concerned, be the same as that which met Albion last Saturday. There will, however, probably be one change in the forwards, French replacing A. Christejisen^ NOTES. In view of the fact that half the proceeds of the Rugby matches at Lancaster Park to-morrow week are to be devoted to the Christchurch jubilee funds, the Rugby Union was desirous of having as interesting matches as possible played at the park that day. Unfortunately, the original draw for May 26 comprised a rather uninteresting series of matches—Technical v. Christchurch, Linwood v. Old Boys and Albion v. Varsity. The suggestion was made that the matches set down for June 2—Linwood v. Merivale, Old Boys v. Varsity and Christchurch v. Albion —should be transferred io May 26. However, under the rules this could not be done unless all the teams consented. In view of the fact that May 26 falls in the college vacation. Varsity would not agree to the alteration, as it would have meant that they would have had to meet OJd Boys with perhaps a somewhat weakened team. The original draw will therefore have to stand.

_ , The new stand at Lancaster Park was somewhat better patronised last Saturday than has been the case previously. • However, it was by no means full, and this in spite of the fact that quite a number of people were standing in the enclosure. A portion of the new stand is reserved for holders of members’ tickets, but it is perhaps not generally known that there is seating accommodation on the stand for ordinary patrons who pay to get inside. 55 K Following is the list of big fixtures to be played at Lancaster Park this season. If Canterbury manage to ward off the earlier challenges for the shield, there may be a few others:— July 18—r\Vairarapa v. Canterbury. August 4—Auckland v. Canterbury. August 11—Manawhenua v. Canterbury. August 18—North Island v. South Island. September 15—New South Wales v. New Zealand (third test). September 22—Wellington v. Canterbury. Canterbury will also play the following interprovincial matches away from home:— Aiigust 22—V. South Canterbury, at Timaru. August 25—V. Otago, at Dunedin. August 29—V. Southland, at Invercargill. September I—Payne Trophy match, at Dunedin. 55 » # It is probable that there will be no available date for the annual Town Country match before Canterbury’s! first interprovincial fixture, against Wairarapa on July 18. This is unfortunate, because the Town v. Country game gives any likely country players a chance of gaining a place in the representative team.

TO-MORROW’S MATCHES. The chief attraction to-morrow will be the game between Merivale and Christchurch on the Oval at Lancaster Park. Both teams have good hard-work-ing sets of forwards, and there should be a great tussle between them for supremacy. In the Christchurch van are Oodfrej', Cottrell and Manchester, and in the Merivale. Kirkland, Suckling and Maginness, several of whom should find places in the Canterbury team this season. In the "backs Merivale appear to have an advantage, with W. Oliver, Davies, C. Oliver, Dorreon and Goodman, but the Christchurch backs with Teape at first five-eighths, are a much improved combination. Mullan, too, has been showing more of his old form, while Marshall and Robilliard have plenty of pace. The game should be evenly contested, as both teams are in the running for the championship, but cannot afford another loss this round. On the South Ground; Old Boys will play Albion, and a fast spectacular game shiuld result. The Albion forwards, among whom are Calder, Middleton, Polaschek and Wylie are a fast hunting pack and will keep Old Boys busy. Their backs, too, are individually good and are combining better. In C. Worsley, the the team has a very promising full-back. Old Boys have a young pack with plenty of speed, and provided they give their backs plenty of ball, the team should make a good showing of spectacular Rugby. In Hay. Mehrtens, Ogier, Merritt and Harris, Old Boys have a clever back team. Technical and Linwood will play on the West Ground, where the improving Technical team should keep Linwood at their best to win. Both teams have good forwards, and the side which combines best in the backs should win, LINWOOD CLUB. Seniors v. Technical Old Boys, at Lancaster Park—J. Edmonds, J. Harley, J. Payne, S. Price, O. Smart, A. Harley. S. O'Brien, J. Turpin, J. Entwhistle, J. White, J. Manihera. E. Young, A. M’Duff, J. Nelson, E. Heatley, N. Wogan. F. Reid. Senior B v. Merivale B, at Linwood Park—S. Wilson, N. Austin, A. Heslip, A. O’Brien, L. Webb, B. Penrose, R. Sullivan, C. Murray, I>. Ennis, E. Simmonds, C. Quaid, F. Thompson, N. Barber, R. Noonan, J. Dawson, A. Pashby, J. King, E. Butterworth. , Juniors v. Old Boys, at W oolston Park—W. LafCey, C. Priest, 0.0. Fordon, S. Mooar, G. Howell, L. M Intosh, C. Gordon, S. Strong, V. Boundy, P. S. Thompson, B. Vine, W. Thompson, J. O’Connor, L. H. Logan, A. C. Rippen, L. Patterson, G. Dixon. Third Grade v. Aranui. at No. 26 South Park—H. H. H. Pedd, A. Martin, A. Clapshaw, N. Maxell, R. Mallech. J. Reidy, R. Scott, R. Fahey, C. G. Moss, G. Smith, F. K. Bartlett, F. J. Lester, W. Ormandy, J. Johns, E. Walker, N. M'Naughton, R. Todd, E. Atkinson, S. Shackel. , _ _ Under Nineteen—Win by default. Under Eighteen v. Boys 'High School, at Y.M.C.A. Ground No. 23 North Park —N. Priest, W. J. Marker, N. Dunshean. M. Costello. R. Stafford, V. Harper, S. Calvert, H. Keenan, A. \\ right, A. Erricson. A. Iggo, L. Booth. G. Mansfield, F. Richardson, E. Betts, S. Shackle, J. Hobson. Under Seventeen A v. Sydenham, at South Park No 7—C. Williams, H. Topping, P. Allsopp, H. Bourgeois, S. Barker, S. Whiteford, J. M’Alister, W. Hobson, R. Thompson, R. Boyce, I. Elstob, G. Herman. W. Bartley, W. Blood. W. M’Jannott, H. Sykes, F. Exton, W. Ling. Under Seventeen B—A bye. Under Fifteen and a Half v. Technical B, at Lancaster Park West, 1.30 p.m.—C. M’Kenzle, C. Davenport, L. A. Strong, G. Harris, A. Clapshaw. T. Blood, A. Kimber, C. Williams, R. Woodham, H. Barker, N. Sandford, A. E. Edwards, D. Webb, L. Williams, G. Jones, H. Flitcroft. CHRISTCHURCH CLUB. Senior A v. Merivale, at Lancaster Park—Stephenson, Bibby, Meikle, Robilliard, Marshall, Teape, Mullan, Taylor, Cottrell, Moore, Godfrey, Rogers, Manchester, A. Stewart, J. Bell; emergencies, Bell, Mardon. Senior B v. Albion, at Show Grounds— Ogllvie, Lattimore, Milsom, H. G. Smith, Frater, Cocks, A. Smith, F. S. Taylor, M’Lean, Scott, Swan, Withell, Wilders, Crombie, Gordon; emergencies, Pengelly, Ilea do. Juniors v. Albion, at Polo Ground No. 2, South Park—Brown, Scott, Hopkinson, E. M’Kay. Turnwald, Roy, E. Young. Gasson, Menzies, Hallewell. Thornton, Lewis, D" Auvergne, M’Kenzie, M'Kay; emergencies, Barrett, Drewe, J. B. Stewart. Third A v. Old Collegians, at St Albans Park No. 2—Darby, Mally. Bock. Deyell, Nicliolls, Seager, Stringer, Winchester, Midgley. May, Collett, Conroy, Barrett, Anderson, Drizzle, Nash, Corrigan. Shields. Third B v. Halswell, at Halswell (bus leaves Hereford Court. 2 p.m.)—Upton, Undrill, Garbutt, A'Court. A. Mather, O’Brien, Williamson, Radburnd, Scott, Carroll, W. Claxton, Wilson. Adorian, Coates. Mather, Corrigan; emergencies, Ha.igh, Pither. Under 20 v. High School, at No. 2."» ground. North Park—C. Woodham, W. Fleming, H. Davis, D. Mitchell, G. Brown, A. GaUetly. H. Smith. A. Flitcroft, W. Smith, H. Hobbs, Ilosking, R. » Fraser, F. Woolcock. J. Gough. W. Bates; emergencies, L. Taylor, U. H. M’Cracken, J. C. Paw son.