THE WORLD OF SPORT.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 834, 4 June 1910, Page 12

THE WORLD OF SPORT.

A WEEKLY RECORD OF SPO3TS AND OTHER PASTIMES.

FOOTBALL.

RUGBY. (By Amstobtjmis.) The action of the authorities in allowing the Poncke-St. James contest to continue after the half-spell (at which stage tlio father- of one of the players, who was a spectator, died suddenly) has been called in question in some quarters. Whilst deep sympathy could not help being folt for the player nnd other relatives, it will generally bo recognised that it could not bo expected that the gamo would bo abandoned. There 'was, howBver, room for objection owing to the fact that the contest was resumed straight »way. It must naturally have hurt the ■feelings of the relatives when they heard the unbounded applause on account of Bt James's first score—a minuto or two after the recommencement—as they-were removing the body to their residence. 'Attention is now called to the matter ' only because of the need for some appropriate rule which could be followed in the future on the occasion of any similar happening.. Nothing better could be arranged, perhaps, than that a game should be suspended for five or ten minutes. "Play the Game!" Poneke must be agreed that on the day they met a better team than themselves in St. James last Saturday. It. is true that Poneke got well within striking distance several times in the first spell, and twice in the second half, but even had not some of their chances been badly Jpoiled it does not at all follow that they ,-would have scored, for defence was a strong feature 'of the display by St. James. That there 6hould have been'a bit of "roughing" early in the game is to be, regretted, and in this connection the referee is to be commended upon his notion in sending two of tho offenders off .the field. It niust not/be supposed for a moment that the playere in question were the only. ones whose methods were not -above- suspicion, for on one occasion it was'quite plain that the referee was administering a caution to' another prominent player. That the suspension of the two players from further participation in the game had a good effect was quickly apparent. It is to be sincerely hoped that no other incident of a similar na- " tare will again. happen this season. If all. the players "play the game" it won't. '■ Followers of the game who take seats in the grandstand at the Athletic Part nave a real grievance against the Management Committee of the W.R.F.U. It consists in this: Just as the gamo is com"'ing to an end—and maybe has reached its most interesting jlhase—numerous other patrons of the stand who do not wish to ■wait longer, spoil their view of the game by' filing out of the ground along the front of the structure. By personal suaBion, the officials have tried to abate the ." nuisance, but they might just as well try and sweep back the tide with a pitchfork us'hope for success as a result of the means which they have adopted. "Aristobulus" would suggest that if the police who are in attendance' are not sufficient to cope with the difficulty, the officials , Bhould.open the exit to .the street in the middle of the stand, and lock the inside cate to the field of play until the match is over. Something will have to be done at an early' date to settle the difficulty, and the Booner it is. done the better. ■ Another Matter, for Reform. Most of those who go to see the games ■ et'Athletio Park will agree that an attempt should be made-to get the matches pver before it becomes as dark as it was, for, instance, lust Saturday, when the Poneke-St. James contest came to an end. Of course when Petone is one of. the teams engaged at the Athletic Park, it •would not be reasonable. to Btart, the games earlier, but what is to prevent this being done on all other occasions? In Borne other centres the principal matches ore timed to start by 2.45, and they have a chance of concluding in daylight, even though there may be lost time owing to mishaps. Then, agnin, is it not time that the interval should be kept within bounds? As a rulo the teams are absent for at least a quarter of an hour, whilst two Saturdays ago half-time occupied. no less than 22 minutes! No harm would be done even if it were found necessary to shorten the spells by five minutes each on a particularly ■ dull day. Playing in the dark cannot" be satisfactory to the players, and it certainly gives no pleasure to the' spectators to try and follow the game. Petone-Southern, MTarlane. and Dent were the two best forwards on the ground in the ■SouthernPetone match last Saturday. ' Southern started off splendidly, but near the closing stages of the game they were thoroughly disorganised. Although Petone won by '.' a handsome margin, combination is still sadly needed before they can expect to irin some of their harder games. Individually, tho team is fair, but a lot of practice together is absolutely essential. Southern's pronounced weakness is in the back division, who seldom attempt any- '■ thing in the passing, apparently their one object is to take the ball, and then kick. . . '" ' The Contest at Karori. Hard luck befell Sl'Kcnzie, of the ('Athletic team, last Saturday, in the ■match against .Melroso at Karori. It was his first match for the year, and ho bad his thumb rather badly fractured before the first spell was over, but not before he had converted the only try scored in the match. 31'Keuzie played for the team last season, but has been . away from Wellington for a time. Ho was associated with Evenson on the fiveeighths line last Saturday. A sounding smack on the face was re-\ ceived by Gibson, wing three-quarter for Athletic, during an attack by his side a few minutes after play began. This, it need hardly be said, is not Rugby. Lateness in starting' the match at Karori meant that the final stages .of :tho gamo had to be fought out in semtdarkness. The Melroso team arrived late, /and a good deal of valuable time was iwasted in consequence. The senior Kugby match was the last to finish, all of the other grounds on the reserve having been vacated for some minutes before tho final ■whistle sounded in the Athletic-Melrose match. Teams drawn to play at Karori should remember that tho journey to •the suburban ground takes moro than ■ a few minutes, and should allow araplo time therefor. . ■ British Team for Africa. The British Rugby Union team has left for South A'frica Mr. Wm. Gail, a past president of the R.U., and now hon. treasurer, is manager, and Mr. W. E. Keep, the secretary of the Welsh Rugby Union, goes out as "joint manager." The programme will open on June JS and end on September 3. Among the guarantees arc:—Transvaal, six matches, ,£1200; -Western Province, six matches, .£1000;. Griqualand West, four mutches, JJCOO; Eastern Province, three matches (one test), .£SOO. -ASSOCIATION. (By. Centre-Half.) The two leading teams in the first division, Diamonds and Swifts, both held ■their positions last Saturday, a win by a margin of one goal being recorded in each case. The positions of the various teams aro now as under:— Team. g jj g *. '% pS J O o^ Diamonds 5 4 10 8 Swifts 4 3 10 0 Bainblers 4 2 2 0 4 Y.M.C.A 5 13 13 Thistle ' 112 1 3 ©overs -. 4 0 2 2 2

Sjvifts last Saturday reaped the full harvest of tho disadvantages which can overtake a team which plays men with unsound limbs. A few minutes utter tho start of the Swifts v. Y.M.C.A. g.uno, Norman, whose knee had given him trouble the previous week, again came to grief. He played on for somo time, but later hnd 'to retire. Saunders, another sufferer from a football knee, also had to retire. As a result of these two .accidents, Swifts played • half tho gamo with only niuo men. Vessey, the solid little Swifts player, is in great form just now, and his fitness stood Swifts in good stead on Satur'day wlion they had oiily nine men v to do the work of elevcif. Vessey was here, there, and everywhere, and got through an immense amount of work with apparently no effort. Tho changes in tho placing* of the Swifts team last Saturday 'were not given a fair trial, on account of the accidents \to Norman and Saunders.' Several keen followers of the club, however, were not satisfied with what they did see of the new combination. Vessey, as stated above, niayed a fino game for Swifts, aiid so <lid founders until he had to retiro. Tho outstanding fault of tho Swifts side was their high lobbing pussee, \vhich' enabled two or three men to surround tho man to whom the ball was intended to go, before the leather reached tho ground. Saonders will probably never play again, and Norman will have to take a rest for a time. : Without Timperley, Phillips, and Hollis, Y.M.C.A. would be in a , sorry plight this year. The other members of the team worked hard in their own positions last Saturday, but there was no ."devil" in their play. Mr. Duncan, the newly-appointed Wednesday representative on the Management Committee, was present at this week's meeting. From the few remarks he had to say, I should imagine he will prove a very useful addition' to the managerial ranks. ■ ■ Boys' Certificates. The school ago certificate rule supposed to be used by all clubs for their boys' teams, is working in a most unsatisfactory mnnncr, and it was subjected to a good deal of adverse criticism at this week's meeting of the W.F.A., especially after the secretary had stated that quite two-thirds of the boy players are not properly signed on. The weakness of the present rule appears to bo in tho fact that boys themselves are not required to sign tho form, whilo on the other hand the parent may be approached to sign the form without the boy's consent. Several members of the committee were strongly of opinion that a now registration form is .needed, and instructions were given to the Rules Revision Committee to draft a new rule on the subject. Two members of the Examination Board when out at Miramar last Saturday examining the work pf certain, new referees on the field get landed into officiating in. boys' matches, when they had visions of seeing the Second spell of tho Swifts-Y.3I.CA. match on the Basin Reserve. Whether.; they.'..:.were' disappointed or not does not matter much now, but the. boys, .appreciated getting their games when they might 'have had to 'stand idle through the appointed referees -not putting in an appearance. I , '. Oldnall, who was Wellington's representative goalkeeper Inst season, is guarding tho sticks for tho Ponsonby Club in Auckland this season, and is said to be in very good form. It was mentioned at this week's meeting of the Keferees' Association that somo referees hud refused to allow tho goalkeeper to bo' changed ' when a penalty kictwas being- tuken.• 'This is quite wrong, as the laws say>that-the goalkeeper may ,be changed during the game, but notice of such change must first be given to tho referee. It is not generally known by "players that if. they leave .the field of play during the..pi-ogress of .a' game without the conseut of the referee (except, of course, through accident) they will be deemed guilty of misconduct, and are liable to bo'penalised for such. This Week's Wednesday v. Saturday game has brought to light some, exrepresentative 'players on the Wednesday side, and if they strike form and are available for Brown Shield matches the position of the Wellington selectors should bu considerably strengthened. , ,Mouat and O'Shea would be two very useful men to havo available if at all in form. Tho "soccer" gamo in Hawke's Bay docs not seem, to bo flourishing this season. The Napier Club is said to be minus a ground, while tho Hastings Club is receiving very poor support. The old bugbear, ; grounds, seems to bo causing a lot of trouble in some of the country districts, and I am afraid little headway will bo made until. permanent fields are secured. ' Thu Rev. F. G. Masters, who will be remembered as one of tho best half-backs that ever kicked a "soccer" ball on local football 'grounds, is now refereeing- in British Association games in Melbourne. Inferior Senior Play. Generally speaking, the senior contest between Rovers and Diamonds at Kelburne Park last Saturday lacked what may suggestively bo described as "ginger. The conspicuous features of the game were erratio passing, weak kicknig by the Rover backs, nnd the "monopolist tactics of Gibson, Rovers' centreforward. Gibson ought to let the wings do tho work and conserve his energies for tho decisive moment. As each of tho Rover forwards apparently considered himself' entitled to at. least one "decisive moment," so to spent, the usual result of weak combination followed. Another conspicuous feature of the match was the lackadaisical character of tho play during the second spell. There is a well-known poem which exhorts all and sundry to "Play up boys, and play the game." Well, the '"boys" on this particular occasion were playing on a greasy ground, they were manifestly tired, and those who fell to.earth—they were many —got up languidly. Under tho circumstances, one should not complain, perhaps. Anyway, the referee's whistle was a cheery noto when the game ended. Hathaway made his first appearance this season, and played a willing game for Diamonds. Mr. Lon Whyte, being unable to act as treasurer for the New Zealand Football Association, it has been arranged' that Mr. J. M. Oilier will take over the duties.