Punts and Passes.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 470, 3 June 1932, Page 11

Punts and Passes.

The 1932 All Blacks will be selected after the inter-island game to-morrow. jj $5 Billy Wallace and his men will sail from Wellington on June 17 for Sydney. If selection is confined to the men playing to-morrow, several stars of the first magnitude will be left to twdnkle at home. But that must always happen in a country with its centres of Rugby administration so widely scattered as they are in New Zealand. It is evident all the same that the visit to Australia is being made too early in the season, and that club football is once again being sadly disrupted at an interesting stage. These expensive tours to Australia have been overdone of past years, and nowadays most people regard tests against a Commonwealth side as of second-rate importance. By the way, a bombardment of hostile opposition was threatened when this matter came to be raised at the New Zealand Union’s annual meeting, but it fell as flat as a squib. Why? A sporting enthusiast now not too flush, asked yesterday what he fancied in coming events, said: “ Put a packet of cigarettes on Old Boys; all up on South, Saturday.” Should teams leave the field at halftime? Ask Gordon Coates, George Forbes and Downie Stewart. H. F. M’Lean, one of the North Island forwards to-morrow, has been playing great football in Wellington lately. He scored three tries in quick succession against Berhampore last Saturday. As the list of their successes this season grows Poneke are showing more and more the value of opportunism, which in many cases is another name for complete understanding between all players and departments (says a Rugby writer in the “Dominion”). This year's Kirk-Windeyer side is the youngest golf team that New Zealand has ever placed in the field, and it will be decidedly interesting to see how they come through the fiery ordeal of big match play against che leading amateurs of the Commonwealth.

Don Bradman, the international cricketer, who passed through Auckland by the Niagara on Monday, recorded the first vote in the Croydon electorate, which is being contested in New South Wales elections by the Premier, Mr Stevens. Mr Bradman is an elector of Croydon. Facilities for his postal vote were made available by the divisional returning officer before his departure from Sydney last Thursday.

Canterbury Soccer team plays Otago for the F.A. Trophy at Dunedin on J une 11. Last cricket season W. G. Kalaugher (New Zealand) was the most successful bowler for Oxfordshire, taking 65 wickets at an average of under 13 runs. Mr A. B. Rowlands, of South Canterbury, has been selected by the Appointment Board of the New Zealand Rugby Union as the referee for the interIsland match to-morrow-. Sydenham have a great side in fine fettle, said an old-timer to “ Onlooker,” but they require to think out some strategic moves to be sure of the championship. H. D. Brinsden. the Auckland representative in the New Zealand golf team, is a fine all-round athlete, also excelling at cricket, football, hockey and billiards. George Hart is still sprinting like a greyhound and giving everything a determined go. He should be able to produce fireworks in the big game tomorrow if the ball gets out to him in time. J. Steggall, the Queensland back, who played so brilliantly in the test in Auckland last year, displayed wonderful form against New South Wales at Brisbane. On the day he was one of the great men of the match. J. E. Lovelock’s case is similar to that of Dr A. E. Porritt, another New Zealand Rhodes Scholar, who, although doing nothing sensational on the track in New Zealand, was third to the Englishman, Dr H. Abrahams, in the 100 metres at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris. Porritt represented New Zealand. One of New Zealand's representatives in the Tourist Trophy races at the Isle of Man. Alf. Mattson, of Auckland, crashed while practising for the races on Thursday. A cable has been received by Mattson’s parents, which reads: “Have broken thumb, otherwise O.K. Not able to ride in races. Did two fast laps.” ♦.* Even crystal gazers are reported to be chary about picking the result of the Dunedin senior Rugby competition. Ivaikorai and Southern have a lead of two points, but how long can they retain it? Some surprise is expressed by Auckland writers that Batty, Corner and Heazelwood were not included in the North Island team before Caughey, whose form this season is described as somewhat inconsistent. Caughey, however, won general commendation for a welcome return to form in club matches in Auckland on Saturday.