Short Runs And Byes.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 376, 18 March 1932, Page 11

Short Runs And Byes.

Latest football song: “Dumping Days are Over,” or “ The Wingforward’s Lament.” v. There will be many regrets, but with all the other Rugby nations hostile to him New Zealand’s lonely rover could not expect to exist for ever. When one prominent ex-player was told that the wing-forward was to be banned, ex-communicated and abolished, all he said was: “No chance. . . They’ll just change the name.” England’s breakaways from the back of the scrummage are spoilers of the first (or worst) water, and it takes a good referee to keep them on-side. Ask Ivor Jones. ti ti a However, if the Dominion adopts the 3-2-3 scrum, it should certainly show a little bit of backbone and stand out for concessions elsewhere. The up-to-date line-kicking rule that penalises unlimited and senseless punting into touch ought not to have been discarded simply because the conservative English Union frowned on it. Many of last season’s important matches were spoiled by safety-first methods. Frequently the side that got ahead booted the ball out at every opportunity and waited patiently for time. New Zealand football is at its best when it has fire, dash and zest from whistle to whistle. Our Rugby administrators should bear that in mind. The die-hards and stalwarts of the Sydenham Rugby Football Club are celebrating their jubilee year with hearty jollification, and the cheers are justified. Sydenham’s revival after dark and depressing years is a Rugby epic, a credit to members old and new, and a bracing tonic to other clubs who may experience similar vicissitudes. There is wide and strong support among footballers for the statement expressed by a member of the Canterbury Rugby Union concerning unnecessary visits to Australia and vice versa. Touring, when overdone, defeats its own ends. The senior cricket semi-finals in Christchurch last Saturday were full of dreariness, bad batting and poor fielding. The final, commencing to-morrow between Old Boys and Sydenham, will have to be livelier to attract interest. S. A. Black, of Taranaki, proved the most dazzling star at the New Zealand athletic championships. His. record tirr.3 of 48 2-ssec in the final of the quarter-mile shows that he is absolutely up to Olympic standard. Alan J. Elliott, the crack Auckland sprinter, was another to produce fireworks. Two ex-All Blacks, Teddy Roberts and H. E. Nicholls, are playing senior cricket for Petone in the Wellington competition. The side suffered a heavy defeat from Varsity last Saturday. M $$ 55 Hutt still lead with 35 points in the Wellington cricket competition. Kilbirnie and Institute have 30 points each. A surprise last Saturday was the defeat of Hutt by Kilbirnie, thanks mainly to a dazzling century by Herb Lambert. Oxford and Cambridge will fight out their annual boat race on the Thames to-morrow. There are two Australians, Luxton and Sambell, in the Cambridge crew, who are again favourites.

C. C. Dacre, the ex-New Zealand professional cricketer, now with Gloucestershire, is a member of Lionel Tennyson’s English eleven which is bumping snags in the West Indies. Bowley is also there. One of the features of the Sydney bridge celebrations to-morrow will be the appearance in the opening procession of Hubert Opperman, the famous Australian cyclist, riding his favourite machine, while alongside will be an oldtime “ penny-farthing.” Charlie Angas again holds the singles championship of the United Club. He did not take many risks in the final against Barnett last evening, and the tennis was not spectacular, but the winner produced classic shots out of the locker when he wanted them. Cliff Porter, speaking in Wellington on scrum formation, said that he had always found it best for many reasons to play the formation with two men in the front row. New Zealand owed a great deal to the rover type of player, and he did not say this because he had played in the position. “ You cannot abolish the * wing-forward,” he said. “ The referee is the only man who can stop him. There is no rule in the game to bar him.” G. Bridson, Auckland and New Zealand champion sprint swimmer, will endeavour to break the Dominion record for 100 yards at the University swimming championships at Auckland next Tuesday evening. There is a possibility of Don Evans competing at the New’Zealand University championship meeting in Wellington on Easter Monday in a special 880vds event wijth T. G. Broadway, of Canterbury, who won the New Zealand half-mile championship at Auckland, and W. Ogg (Wellington), runner-up to Broadway. Commenting on the athletic championships a northern writer says:—Once again, as he did when the New Zealand championship meeting was held in Wanganui in 1930, F. J. Grose (Canterbury) scooped the pool in the cycling section, winning the half-mile, one-mile and three miles cycling championships. He supplied the lie direct to the assertion that he had slipped. Fleetwood Smith, Victoria’s new slow bowler, goes from success to success. Against South Australia, he took seven for 101 in 24 overs. He is a bowler of wonderful test match possibilities. He knows the art of flighting the ball, turns both ways sharply, and his chief merit lies in the fact that he -whips off the pitch at a rare bat. Just promoted to the position of assistant-manager of railways for Auckland district, Mr W. A. Woodger was Australasian and New Zealand champion for 100 and 220 yards when he went to London for the first Empire Games in 1911. He didn’t get acclimatised—in fact he went down with double pneumonia. 35 J 5 In a 100yds women’s handicap at Wellington this week, the result was: Miss M. Nelligan (Canterbury), 3yds, 1; Miss Callinan (Canterbury), scr, 2; Miss C. Millar (Wellington), scr, 3. Time, 11 3-ssec. Won by k yard and a half. The Linwood Rugby Club will open its season to-morrow at 3 p.m. on No. 24 ground, North Hagley Park (near the United tennis courts). Under-age members will attend at 2.30 p.m.