RUGBY SIDELIGHTS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 869, 16 July 1910, Page 12

RUGBY SIDELIGHTS.

MODERN PLATERS DEFENDED.

(By Off-side Mac.)

. A somewhat large order, in the shape of an ' inquest on the game, was given to the writer the o'ther day by "Seen tho Old 'Uns," in The' Dominion of July , 9. Sound criticism is always of value,', ,-whether it applies to sport or business or any profession, and the threshing out of opinions usually moans enlightenment to somebody. Tho suries of fiucstions have been sot out .and"answered to the best of my ability, but possibly some other-practical..Rugby man would like to take a hand. Modern Teams Do Train. (1) Is there one club team, eithei . in Wellington or the Dominion, that - is trained, as fit to last a fast game as tho players were from, suy, ISOI- -

Ponsonby, Auckland, is one of the clubs which from "reports trains well, and should cerhiinly Is able to last out a I'asl game. Last year the City Club, of which Seeling was a member, commenced its training before Easter in tenmile walks and sharp sprints. This season Tukapa Club, New Plymouth, indulged in weeks of open-air treatment before the.season .started.. The members of the teams went down lo the seaside, and lived there in tents. Played in the sun on the s:iml» until their bodies werea deep half-cisto brown." In Waituna anil Apiti, backbiocks places, where enthusiasm but not- skilful play is mostly in evidenced there are no gymnasiums, and the players take to the fields on moonlight night.-:, just as we used to do in the country when we were boys. Tlii'i'tr should i!» auiui- trains in each of the centres which train sufficiently lo la«t out a f.\st gaiiie, . but even in the time of "IS9I-ISB6, and som* years before then, it was only a few- premier teams who made a religion of the pastimel "Sid." Nicholls, one-time skipper of the .'Poneke Club, when it had its victorious career in .the late eighties, will possibly tell any inquirer that his team simply won because they were practically the only team in the city which met and trained and talked three or four, nights a week. ' In those days, when Poneke had' such men as H. Roberts, D. Gage, A. Morktt, '«. Williams, M'lutyre, Ellison, and K. Taiaroa, and others, they had .almost, a monopoly of. the. Wellington representative team. It'is said that the St. James team follow out principles of training very well, and that they propound the, Oliver Cromwell Ironside s.vs? tern to the. best of their belief, at. the same time both trusting in Providence and also wearing shinpads. This is evidence of enthusiasm, which must eventually win its reward. All through foot.ball history it is noticed that there are only a few teams which resort to vigorous and absolute training. M'Clcary, the old Alhambra skipper, Duncan, of ■ Kaikorai, -White, of Christchurch.. and Elliott: and A!I«• BrauuJ. of Auckla.i-.ii, aIP tell tho same story. Following the custom of these old-timers. F. Roberts and W. Wallace carried the' gospel of their game in tlieir breast pockets, and quoted case law and every other sort of Jaw to the mental perturbation of nearly any individual who had the temerity to argue with them on the laws of the game. Blackboard Work. (2) Is there a city team here thai is ever trained in scientific theory (blackboard, eto.) as the players were in the time mentioned?. Do not know, but should say that Hie College teams at least are schooled in blackboard, theory. Stoddart's team is supposed to have introduced blackboard teaching, into Mew Zealand, but it was never adopted by any' players as it might have been. done. Much depends upon the instructor. Numbers of footballers know what should be done in certain positions, but they usually have not the pow;er to explain themselves. It has always been the case that the greatest amount of illustrating has been performed by way of post-mortems on Saturday nights, when arguments are strong, and-the; pavements did duty as a blackboard. .(3)'lsn't it a fact that a thirtyyards kick into touch is clapped nowadays, While a sixty-yards kick would have excited no remark in. the years alluded to? Wrong, I think. Gage, in- his best days, could piint 50 or GO y>rds. D'Arcy, Hugh Good, and W. tlru could drop-kick that distance," and the writer has seen J. Baumber place-kick a goal from the halfway flag right on .-. the touch-line. These were all good kicks, but they have been, equalled, if not' beaten, in later years. "Don" Fisher, of Wellington, was the mightiest punter who ever kicked a ball, and he played after lSflB. Wallace -could punt as far as Gage,. he came after ISflfi. E. M'Kenzic could;, drop-kick •farther than D'Arcy, and almost as far' as Uru, he came after 1696.. In the.pre.sent day, J. Stohr, the Taranaki- threequarter back, kicks goals from halfway, and can punt and drop-kick over fifty J'ards. - ' . .» Straight Running by Backs. (4) Isn't it past dispute that the art of straight-running by backs-has been lost, and, for every, passing riish that gets through nowadays^-'about 1008 ' are driven on to .the Ice shore of , touch? ■ I admit that there may be a good deal of truth in this statement, but every team has not a Duncan or a Woods to open up a game in the approved style. In tho vears 1591-1506. one of the weaknesses of Wellington back play was the fact that tliere was too much running oh to .the ■ touch-line. In the present day. when he has the opportunity. F. Roberts onens up the game well. H. Kelly and J; Bennett, old Wellington five-eighths, were also straight runners in their day, but the trouble was' in tho three-quarter line. Is Heeling Out As Clever As It Was? (5) Is it'not true that the ball, used to come out from the old-time scrum . like ' clock-work, and now it mostly staggers out of the modern jumble with the gait and pace of a* drunk man? ' . •>- , This may be so generally in club football, -ft-lnch.. is never on the same grade as representative games. There is some reason.to believe that the present faulty packing is. due to the ideas on the sub-ject-brought back by the."All Blacks." This team- was so much superior all round to the British combinations, that it was enabled to set. any of the recognised ' A.B.C. theories of-the game at defiance and win. For instance the "All Blacks" resurrected the old system of obtaining possession in the scrum generally with the inside feet, instead-of using. the outside sweep first introduced by Ellison; and with .which, knowledge Wellington were easily first' for years. Then the "All Blacks" demonstrated that it was not necessary for the outside scrum supports to arrange themselves so that tlieir weight bore'on a diagonal line to the pivot. There was tho same "higgledepiircrledy" in the back row, and,now the result is'a cry that the 2-3-2 scrum formation is -wrong. It is not the format;qn which is wrong, but tho administration. By the irony of Fate, at the same time that the demand has gone up for the' English formation, Dodd, Ellison's front-rank pupil, and a resurrection, is included in the Wellington representative team, and.it will be for him to demonstrate which is the better' system. The English players knew absolutely nothing of the science of scrum formation until the past few years. The writer has a memorandum beforo him from the Rev. Mr. Mullineux, wherein the athletic parson condemned the system of scrum specialists." "Pointing." (6) Could it be contradicted that in every scrum you see at the Athletic Park (or any other park for that mattor) on Saturdays, four out of the' seven men in it are resting instead of pushing? Even if I believed this, my insurance nolicy is not large enough for me to take tho consequences of uttering a confirming "pinion. There ore "passengers" and "vampers" in every team, but hardly to tho "extent of 5G per cent. (7) Is it not solemn fact that, in every team to-day, a certain portion •do little more than walk after the play, saving themselves for an opportune spurt in the open when the play gets near the line, or the grandstand, or the reporters? Possibly, but it has been' always tfio same. When a player has attained, a reputation there are three places-in the field where ho considers it necessary for him to work very hard, namely, in his own twenty-fivo, in his opponents' twentyfive, and, near tho reporters and Selection Committw. He reasons thusly: "Tho reporters cannot see everything, neither can tho Selection Committee. Some of my work is bound to be missed by them when I am in. the distance. In the limelight, therefore, I must play, and play my best." Still an nbsoluto loafer gets few chances, of selection or of newspaper publicity, which by the way usually sets the standard of reputation. It is tho newspapers which set the standard of reputation, and the player tries to play up to it. so thai be cannot be forgotten. Same thing in politics. , (S) Would forwards of that kind have been tolerated a day iu an 1891-tlo team ? - There may not have been room for them in an 1801-1895 Wellington representative team, which was then of a par-

ticularly high standard, but they were tolerated in other representative teams iu those years. ■. The Tangle in the Rules. (9) Aren't the rules now in such a hopeless tangle that no referee today can enforce them? Tho rules have always been in a tangle, so much so that one wonders and admires the time given to-, the business by the referees themselves. Tho writer is of the opinion that all referees should be paid lor their services, and that such, pay should be governed by their knowledge and ability. . (10) Isn't a referee therefore dependent On the good will of the barrackers and, press, and has to trim his sails accordingly, with bad results for the game? I honestly believe that referees do their best always, although it must be admitted that some of them have curious' ideas of the game and players, and are in addition rather too conservative in their ideas. With reference to the last question, regarding a team of Gages, Ellisons, and the writer beating creation, the query is hardly fair to footballers generally. Select a forward team of men like Seeling, Francis, Drake, Cross, Swindley, M'Donald, Pauling, and backs all Smiths, Wallaces, Roberts or Camerons, and the result would be'just- the same.- Proficiency at the game . seems to run in cycles. At the same time, perfection can only bo attained by constant practice. Pace, dash, skill, condition, and combination . are the absolute requisites for firstclass Rugby.