FOOTBALL.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume VII, Issue 316, 13 August 1896, Page 2

FOOTBALL.

WELLINGTON FOOTBALL TOUR. August IS—Taranaki, at New Plymouth August 22—Auckland August 27 —Hawke’s Bay, at Napier OTAGO FOOTBALL TOUR. August 26 —Oamaru August 29—Canterbury September I—Taranaki1 —Taranaki (at Hawera) September s—Auckland5 —Auckland September 9—Hawke’s Bay * September 12—Wellington QUEENSLAND FOOTBALL TOUR. Thursday, August 13—Wellington. Saturday, August 15—New Zealand match, at Wellington. Thursday, August 20- Canterbury, at Christchurch Saturday, August 22—Otago match, at Dunedin. Tuesday, August 25—Southland, at Bluff. AUCKLAND v. QUEENSLAND. Auckland win by 9 points—The Queenslanders play well—The slippery ground in favour of Auckland — Queenslanders good on defence— McCowan, D. J. Nelson, Rundle, and Evans good men—Milne and McCowan sc ore for the visitors—Auckland's play not up to expectation—Wilson, Braund, McLean, and Absolum score—Difference in reading rules — Referee Symes decides correctly on our rules —The N.Z. team—Four Aucklanders selected.

The first outside match of any note this season was that of last Saturday between the chosen fifteen of Queensland and the Auckland representatives at Potter’s Paddock, Epsom. The weather in the morning was wet and dirty, but, as the hour of play approached, eased up a good deal, and at 2 o’clock a fine afternoon was certain. Encouraged by the promising outlook, and the expectation of a good game, some five thousand enthusiasts and followers of the game visited the deciding ground, only, however, to meet with a certain amount of disappointmen on the latter score. The home team won, and of course this gave a measure of satisfaction, though the game all through was not by any means as interesting as had been anticipated The visitors were ’ a fast, willing lot, and strong in defence, but this was counterbalanced by the undeniable weakness in passing tactics — a department of the game on which success generally hinges. In this respect they were far and away below what I had been led to expect from them ; and times out of number chances that might have resulted successfully, had they shown the necessary skill, were thrown away by ill-directed or erratic passing. But they have not yet been seen at their best, and I feel confident that, if they take the necessary care of themselves, they will improve as they go on through the colony. The local players’ exhibition in the back divison was decidedly disappointing, but their forwards worked in good style, and proved themselves a clever lot, beating the visitors for the ball four times out of six and doing good work in the open. The cause of the weak display amongst the rear rank is due in a great measure to the faulty play on the part of Elliott at five-eighths. Often he could not take the ball at all (though it must not be forgotten that he never could take the oval when it came out with anything like pace —and it did sometimes on Saturday) ; but for this I do not blame him as much as for what he did do with it on the occasions on which he was successful in securing it. Time after time he either rushed into the thick of his opponents before attempting to transfer it to his three-quarters, and at others his pass was ill-directed, and more than one chance of adding to the score was lost. Mr Geo Symes, of Hawera, acted as referee, and the teams w ere as under : — Queensland (maroon). —R. McCowan, fullback ; D. J. Nelson, W. J. Rundle, and H. Hawkins, three-quarters; W. Evans, five-eight ; E. Currie, half-back ; S. Cockcroft (captain), J. Higginson, F. Pollard, W. H. Austin, W. H. Tanner, H. Scarr, D. Milne, forwards; R. Nelson and Doyle, wing forwards. Auckland (blue and white). —R. Masefield, full-back; F. Surman, D. Clayton, and H. Absolum, three-quarters; W. Elliott, five-eight; A. Braund, half-back; C. Brady, J. Swindley, Wilson, F. Murray, J. McLean, D. Gallagher, S. Brown, forwards; I. Mills and Laing, wing forwards.

The Play.—First Spell. The Queenslanders won the toss, and opened with a strong breeze and the sun behind their backs, from the western goal. Murray kicked off for Auckland, and the local players proceeded to force things, in spite of the wind, right fr.im tho jump. The forwards got the ball out of the scrum nearly every lime, and two or three nice dribbling rushes by this

division, assisted by an odd passing run or two on the part of Clayton, Surman, and Absolum, kept the Queenslanders busy defending their line, and this they did in fine style. Murray took a shot at goal from a penalty, and made a very good shot, and a few minutes afterwards the local men were rewarded for their efforts. Murray took the ball from a throw-in close to the Queensland s 25, and after a short dash sent it on to Laing, who reached the Queensland fullback, McCowan, and transferred to Wilson, who crossed the line and registered Auckland's first try. Murray took the shot at goal, but was unsuccessful — Auckland 3, Queensland 0. Loose play followed the kick-off, Auckland having continuously the best of it, though the visitors eventually drove them down to their 25, only, however, to be driven back again to half-way. The maroons showed signs of rallying, and a free kick awarded them in a dangerous position saw McCowan send the ball over the bar and equalise matters —Queensland 3, Auckland 3. This apparently freshened them up considerably, and though no further score was added in the first half, the invaders quite held their own. Second Spell. After having somewhat the best of it in the first half, it was only to be expected that Auckland would outclass the Queenslanders in the second spell, and so it proved. A good run by Evans and D. Nelson took the ball to the Auckland 25, but a capital rush (in which McLean, Elliott, and Brown were prominent) carried the ball back again. After several dribbles and rushes by the blue and white’s forwards, R. Nelson came away in good style, and Rundle assisted by a dodgy run to the local 25, where Swindley, for Auckland, and R. Nelson, for Queensland, put in some good work for their respective sides. Eventually a rush, headed by Laing and Brown, brought Auckland into the maroon’s 25, and a passing run by Braund, Clayton, and Surman ended in the last-mentioned getting over. The ball was brought back, however, for hand-ball. Lively play ensued, Auckland nearly getting in more than once. The local forwards finally pushed their opponents back to the line, and McLean scored. Murray failed to convert — Auckland 6, Queensland 3. Passing runs followed between Braund, Elliott, Clayton, Surman, and Absolum, and in two instances the last-mentioned player reached to within a yard of the line, where he was pushed out of touch. Auckland continued the attack, and Swindley, Mills, and Brown got in several clever bits of work. Murray, after a great run from near centre, succeeded in getting over, but the ball was brought back and a scrum ordered near the line In the ensuing play several forwards got across, and McLean scored. No goal resulted. Auckland 9, Queensland 3. Shortly after the kick-off several of the maroon forwards, R. Nelson leading, started a dribbling rush at centre, and Nelson, passing the full-back, ran to near the line,-where he was overtaken and brought down. Milne, however, secured and got behind the posts. McCowan was entrusted with the place, but owing to a misunderstanding relative to the placing of the ball, the kick was not allowed, the rules of the visitors being different on this point to those in force here. Hence the disallowance. Queensland 6, Auckland 9. Hawkins fumbling the kick from a mark by Auckland, play was carried into Queensland’s 25, where it remained for some time. A great passing run by Braund, Elliott, Clayton, Surman, and Absolum, enabled the latter to reach the corner flag, and from a free kick near the touch line shortly after Absolum kicked a splendid goal. Auckland 12, Queensland 6. The Auckland backs continued the aggressive, and several nice runs were initiated. Laing made a great dash towards the goal line, and all but succeeded in getting in, and in the ensuing play near the 25 line, Elliott securing a pass from Braund, made a dodgy run for some distance and passed to Clayton, but a good chance of scoring was not taken by Surman failing to accept from the latter, the pass being a trifle wide. A moment later, however, Braund succeeded in getting over near the corner flag Absolum took the shot at goal, and although the kick was a good one, he failed to convert. The bell rang shortly after this, without further score. Auckland 15, Queensland 6.

INTER-PROVINCIAL MATCHES. Otago v. Southland. — The interprovincial match, Southland v. Otago, played on the Caledonian Ground at Dunedin on Saturday, was won by Otago, who scored 3 points. The Southlanders failed to score.

Nelson v. Manawatu. —The football match between Nelson and Manawatu, played at Palmerston North on Saturday, ended in a draw, neither side scoring. Wellington v. Canterbury.—The inter-provincial match, played at Wellington on Saturday between Wellington and Canterbury, resulted in a win for Wellington by 12 points to 3.

South Canterbury v. Southland. —The rep. match between South Canterbury and Southland was played at Timaru on Thursday last, the Southland team winning by two tries no nil. Royds, one of the Southland team, had his ankle dislocated.

Nelson v. Wanganui. — The rep. match between Nelson and Wanganui was played at the latter place on Thursday last, and resulted in a win for Wanganui by 28 points to nil. Canterbury v. Manawatu. —This match was played at Palmerston North on Tuesday and resulted in a win for Canterbury by 8 points to 3. The captain of the winning team, White, had his collarbone broken during the second spell. THE N.Z. REP. TEAM. The undermentioned are the players selected by Messrs. Eache (Wellington), Evans (Canterbury), and Downes (Otago), to represent New Zealand in the inter-colonial match at Wellington next Saturday, 16th inst.: — Pullback, Orchard (Canterbury) ; wing threequarters, Surman (Auckland) and Roberts (Wellington) ; centre threequarter, Allan (Taranaki); five-eighths, White (Canterbury) ; half-back, Gage (Wellington); forwards, Watson (Taranaki), Kern (Canterbury), Murray and Swindley (Auckland), Young (Wellington), MeRobie (Southland), Watson(Wairarapa); wing forwards, McKenzie (Wellington) and Oliphant (Auckland). Emergencies: Three-quarters, McDonnell (Wanganui); forward, Hardcastle (Wellington), The committee regretted that Duncan, of Otago, was unable to take part in the match. Oliphant and Surman left for Wellington by the s.s. Gairloch on Monday, but it is understood that neither Swindley or Murray can make the journey. The selection committee at Wellington has wired that Erost, of Christchurch, has been appointed in place of Swindley. AUCKLAND v- TAURANGA. The following team has been selected to play against Tauranga at Potter’s Paddock on Saturday next: —Eull back, Sutherland ; three-quarters, Wynyard, Clayton, Absolum ; five-eight, D. Hay ; half, C. Hay; wings, J. Brady and I. Mills; forwards, C. Brady, Hancock, McLean, F. Murray, Wilson, S. Brown, Gallagher; emergencies, Masefield, G. Smith, Elliott, Braund, P. Murray, Whitley. ITEMS. The rep. match, Queensland v. Otago, has been cancelled by the N.Z. Hugby Union, owing to the Otago Union wishing to take 15 per cent of the gate money. As the New Zealand Union are taking all risks and paying the expenses of the tour they objected to this, and at a meeting adversely criticised the action of the southern union, as compared with that of other unions.

Many of the large crowd gathered at Potter’s Paddock on Saturday seemed to think that the Queensland team had probably been robbed out of two points, *by disallowing the kick at goal by McCowan, after Milne obtained the try in the second spell. The public, whether the rules permitted it or not, were in favour of the Queenslanders obtaining the benefit of the misunderstanding. This showed a desire on their part that the visitors should not be taken advantage of for any trifling breach of the rules, of which they probably were not aware, collectively. However, Referee SymeS'had no hesitation in giving his decision, as he was one of the many delegates who attended the Referee’s Conference in May last, and, strange to say, he proposed that if a player were allowed to handle the ball, he should also be allowed to place it for the purpose of taking a shot at goal; but his proposal was

uot entertained, and instead, it was decided expressly that this could not be done. That is the law as George Symes found it, and he correctly dispensed it in the same way. Some people claim that the Queenslanders not knowing about this rule they should have been allowed the kick after the ball had been placed on the ground. Cockroft, the captain of the team, and an ex-New Zealander, I I venture to say knows that such play is not allowed, but for the sake of argument we will say he had forgotten. How do the Queenslanders reconcile their attempt to place the ball, after asking the referee early in the game if such were allowed, and receiving a reply that such was not allowed by the New Zealand rules ? I think this settles the little misunderstanding effectually. The public, on behalf of the Queenslanders, really made nore noise about the point than the team did themselves. Fenton has beeen sentenced to three months’ imprisonment and fined £4, on a charge of assaulting the umpire in the recent football match at Collingwood (Vic.). This punishment is hardly sufficient. But where are all the other hoodlums that took part in this cowardly piece of business ? Was it only one man that caused all the disturbance ? Could not the authorities find one of the “ number of women ” that the cableman informed us took part in the melee. The “ new woman ” should take her stand in the dock alongside of “ brutal and horrid man.”

A team from North Shore visited Aratapu on Saturday, and scored a rather easy victory over a local team. The boys say they had a good time, and speak in glowing terms of the way they were treated in “ sawdust town.”