SIDELIGHTS OF RUGBY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 876, 23 July 1910, Page 12

SIDELIGHTS OF RUGBY.

THE RED-HANDED SPOILER.

(By Off-side Mac.)

Reading tho report of tho WellingtonAmerican Universities' match, played on Saturday, one noticed the frequency with which the visitors were when their opponents feinted to pass. , Tho error on the part .of tho American:), is quite ex-cusable--they have never been taught the A B C of the game, the knowledge and practical exposition of which would never permit them .to perpetrate such mistakes as allowing opponents to "feint. pass them," Boiled. down, the whole thing again resolves itself into a case of man for man. If a man has the ball, put him out of action. He may pass, but if he has not done so, when tho would : be tackier flies at him, it is his funeral; that is, of course, if he is ts.ckled. If ho feints to pass and does not do so, the would-ba tackier still flies at him, and is safe in any respect. It is quite proper for a player to attempt the feint pass trick on an opponent, but no_ first-class opponent of the game should allow himself to be fooled in this way. Footballers have no doubt read for years in Sydney "Referee" reports that Sniith went through his opponents "feint-passing beautifully," whereas had the critic pointed out that a system of determined tackling, man for man, was required, he would have strangled the weak, ineffective methods of the individual whom Smith used to beat with such ridiculous ease, ami, in addition, would have been the means of considerably improving the standard of play. Tho Australians play good football, but usually very good football only by accident. Therein lies the difference between the New Zealanders and themselves. The sanio stahwient applies in a general sense to amateur Rugby in England to-day, and the whole weakness is attributable to ignorance of dutail, and an inadequate knowledge of the elemental rules of. practical Rugby. Rolling up the Backs. The system of man for man is a sound system. It may not be brilliant, but it is wonderfully effective, and to a way very demoralising upon tho attacking side. It may be put into operation in defensive tactics, right from the five-eighth line, and carried to the full-back. It certainly sometimes happens that a great fullback, faced by two men, will place his wits against theirs, and collar them both. Such occurrences, however, are rare, and a'back can always fee! that if he has accounted for oiw of the enemy everything else being equal, he has done his duty. There have been players in the five-eighth line of to-day, or the half-back line of the late eighties, who frequently collared all tho attacking backs out to the outside wing-three-quarter line. Such a five-eighth lor instance, was Duncan, who, owing to his superior speed, adopted the Napoleonic plan of attacking his each attacker on tho flank. By thoso means ho rolled them all up, one after another on to the touch-line, and smashed down Hie whole iittack. The writer frequently pursued the same tactics, and at times with some success. When foiling Uμ the attack in this manner, Duncan sometimes ;nado a practice of pushing each man who had the ball. In this way, he placed them

out of action, and saved himself every timo to continue his work as a destroying angel. A Great Half-Back, In tho years 1880-1893, thero was a defensive half-back, Baumber, who was quite as effective in smashing up a back attack as was Duncan. In fact, he was more so. Baumber was a veritable pocket Hercules, with tremendous dash for a short distance. The day the Englishmen played Wairarapa in 1888, this player grassed Andertou, Burnley, and Nolan time and again. Owing to his being so short, Baumber could almost stand up and take a man by the hips. His tackling was very destructive, and in his day there waa hardly a mai. who eould pass him. Ho would grab his man, and give him a twist, as if the victim were a sack of chaff, and stand him on his head. Baiunber's best days were from 18Sli, when as a boy of fifteen lib scored a try against New South Wales, to 1893, when he played against Nelson for Wellington and ruined several perambulators through pelting Kiose vehicles on the touch-line with several unhappy Nelson backs who happened to come within reach of. liis iron grasp. He was a fine pot shot, and on one occasion the writer saw him place-kick a goal from a , distance of fifty-six yards, and right on the touch-line.- When we are writing about the game it is a good thing to remember what some players have done. Baumber was one of the giants of his day, as were H. ond. W. Roberts, Gage, and F. Fairbrother. He and they, ond others, have drifted to the past, but it is well to remember their efforts. The veterans are always going, and -their places are being taken by younger and fresher men; their own turn will come only too quickly. "The old ones retire, and the young ones, arising, Forget that we once were as good men as they; ; But the time will arrive, with a quickness surprising, When they'll own the truth of—"Each dog lias his day'." This verso has nwn written before, but it will bear repetition. The Tackling Forward. Reverting again to some of the A.B.C. unwritten laws of the game, the man-to-man theory is put into practice by the fast following and sure tackling forward—a rara avis. We read of. what Seeling and one or two others accomplish in this respect. Their principle was to go right into the man with the ball. 'This is a system which must lead' to the success of the initiators, and the demoralisation of the other side. If there were always four'forwards instead of one or two who would follow up and tackle in this mniiur.r, .they would bo worth almost thoir weight in gold to their back division. It is an . axiom to remember that~the attacking powers of tho backs arc regulated by the attacking virility ot their forward*. Shock Tactics. This leads to an explanation of thu value of forwards, in shock tactics. Shock tactics are aggressive forward attacks on the opposing back division. They can be engineered in the fast following" up of high punts, or by dribbling en masse; and if pursued systematically by good ■men they , will smash 'up all but the best backs in tlie world. Thu lofty thirty-hve or forty yards'' punt, to the weakest three-quarter back in the opposing division, iollowed up by forwards of the Seeling and "Hanji" Wilson type, who charge into the uuloiluimtv jiisl us he is about to take the ball, ore enough to try the courage of any pla.ver. It says a great deal for' some backs that they can stand and wait in these circumstances for the leather, knowing all the time they are going to . receive roughtreatment, and yet succeed. They take the- ball perhaps a second before they are bowled over, mak« their mark, and receive the general tribute for pluck and resourcefulness. However, it is a • very Kood back who can stand up Miccesshilly to thefe repeated attacks, the frequency of which na-s n> eliect in ueai.enIng the powers of those who are being experimented upon. A Grim Gami>. Dribbling en masse, i.e., :fourorfive forivurde bunched, with the ball. amongst them and rushing along at full speed, has. been practised by Wellington forwards with some success. As each man (•ets in front of the leather he retires, and comes in' again at the back. The iush. is a sort of avalanche, and instead of one forward. tr. tua back has four or five. Three or four onslaughts of this description have a most demoralising effect upon the backs. Sometimes the?e men, with the courage born of despair, will stay the rush by throwing themselves upon the leather. If the referee does not penalise them immediately for not getting up, the phalanx of forwards »impiy pick the umortunato up by the most * convenient portion of him. and dra.g him along the ground until ho drops the ball; or they might carry him. This is a grim sort of game which usually provokes applause when put into operation by the home team, and sulphurous execrations if practised by the visitors.