Sports and pastimes.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXIV, Issue 51, 23 April 1897, Page 28

Sports and pastimes.

INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL ; IEELAND'S VICTORY.

Once again, says an Irish contemporary, the flower of Irish footballers have successfully inaugurated their International campaign, for at Lansdowne road on Saturday, February 6, they gained a notable and decisive victory over the representatives of England. When the no-side whistle sounded the score was — Ireland, one goal from mark and two tries (13 points) ; England, two penalty gaols and one try (9 points). The result is exceedingly gratifying to Irish supporters of the game, and the fact that this is the third victory gained by the Shamrock over the Rose within the past four years is highly significant of the change that has taken place in the relative strength of the two countries. An undoubted deterioration in the English teams, due to some extent to the establishment of the new semi-professional Northern Union, may in some measure account for the altered condition of affairs, but the real reason is not so much that English players are any worse as that Irish players are considerably better than they used to be. Saturday's English team was certainly a moderate one, but it must be remembered that those of 1894 and 1896 were in turn dubbed " the best that England ever produced " ; yet the Irishmen in both these years fairly made " smithereens " of them. Accordingly Ireland is not to be robbed of any of her just merit by these arguments ; and in dealing- with Saturday's engagement it may be said that the Engli-h team would want to have been a very much better one indeed before it could have won the match. Ireland's majority of points, it is true, was not very large, but once they settled down to work our men had always the ireasure of their opponents, and after a certain point in the game the result was fairly safe, which seemed to induce a slackening in their efforts towards the close. It was a distinctly fine match to watch — one of the best international games we have been treated to at Lansdowne road, but the attraction of a match from a spectacular point of view is not always to be taken as a criterion of the merits of the teams. Judged from this standpoint. one would scarcely be right in extolling the excellence of either fifteen ; on the contrary, though the game was fast and interesting to witness, the impression conveyed on the whole was that there was nothing wonderful about either side. The Englibh team, at any rate, was not a strong one ; the Irish one certainly was fairly good, but there is no reason to be enthusiastic over it until we see it more highly tried. There was not very much to crow about in Saturday's achievement ; 'twill be time to do that when we have beaten Scotland. There is reason to hope that with more genuine scrummage work we can do so, but it will be far a harder task than Saturday's. As to the " triple crown," it is yet premature to express an opinion. even assuming that the match with Wales will be played ; but there is no denying that we stand a good chance, and it will be greatly enhanced if Gwynn assist in the other matches.