THE WORLD OF SPORT.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 924, 17 September 1910, Page 12

THE WORLD OF SPORT.

Jt-WEEKLY RECORD OF SPORTS AND OTHER PASTIMES.

FOOTBALL.

RUGBY. CBr Ajubtobomjs.J The ; Fivo Yards Throw-in. Tho telegram from Dunedin which tells ■ 11s tiiit "the Otago Union intend to appeal against the penalty goal obtained by : Wellington .in tho match .Wellington v. Otago—whore tlio ball was not thrown in five ycards," is ;an ' interesting : one. . It v will be reuwmbored that the amended rule'providing for the "five yards, throw- ' in" only came into force this season. It was i fully discussed at a meeting of tho ' . .Wellington Eeferees' Association, and that'body,' canw to tho conclusion, that if , the -ruloWas 'going to .servo its. purpose y that' referees - would have to -.award , a. free-kick :in every ctfse; for the ' : first I breach. '• A resolutiou wns - passed to that oli'ccf. Since then it has been apparent. !S that ...the penalty has not always beenen- ■ .forced in' lower grade matches, but it was . ■ generally l , reckoned ; that., all', senior ? referees .were carrying out tlu> association's .. instruction....Several, of tho- senior reofferees ' adopted the. .very : satisfactory, method of pacing five yard 3 at-!overy lincout and standing , oli : tho : mark, facing outwards. Thus, whilo tbo referee .could seo-all. that would: when tho ball, !■-, ; was thrown in properly, lie could at-oiicu'

'■ judgp":when ~it.;was*';hut -thrown- iii,. fiyo yards,- and :thero: could, bo" no excuse for I the ;niah\ .in to 'break vthe\.Tulc.; In the Itarlboroiigli-Wellington B match, at Athletic Park it was.noticed that Mr.

. F.' Laws , did not pact) ujl\ tho. distance, s "- andpooiilevwcro',asking ■ How- ho [could -bo ' eure -if the" rule'was The same thing • wits noticed.; in' the Wellington- ' Otago match last Saturday, uud when Mr.'Francis'awarded 1 ' a frce-kick against

Otago for a breach of thu. rulo tho-opm-ioti was; expressed, .that the' decision wast /.based more ur lf.ss on: guesswork. Wtaeu, free-kick,.is awarded' it is to bo takeiv ;.ten-'yards'iii from; tho toacli-Une..- Foot-' bailers are iti tho meantime anxious', to know on what particular points -til© Otasro -■Onion's appeal is based., : ■

Auckland not to be Asked, to Visit. ' - Everyone is agree'd.'that if the Auckland -J- Rugby representatives (with full strength), v could he- induced to : meet , tho Wellington • • representative , 011. Atliletio . Pni'k , this : ■inohth tbat it would draw a .bigger crowd toeether .than hns been 'seen: in Wellin};ton for a 'considerable time. Moreover, it would -'bo certain to provide a contest ' that-would satisfy tho most ■ porters-'of lowl. ilugby. Thero has been, a good deal this seasou'.td give' Wellington - football': a set-bnclt. It is' badly in. need -: : of. a : stimulus' or!: two,' butit :is,no i, to v get one'; in the shape' of,. an Auckland- ■: Wellington match.- Mr;' S. S. Brown : brought tho, qwstion up.lll an'' informal jnanucr at Ihiv Inst mooting of the Kugby 'VXlnion .Committee,'.remarking, that he ; had .!■■: been asked if it was likely that tho Auck- : - ' laiid team cfiiild bo brought 'down, but '■t be did hot think the matter was pracfacable. Other members .expressed the; fipm- !. ion that tho teain' could not be' induced • to travel, nnd! that: soto'o inenibers would, -■ be',engaged in. connection with the North • v.': South' match,: Thß discussion nzsled out withoilt any motion being iput to the meeting.. ;' ' '.. -.. .: ■

Referees Again. '' « ' • 'At last • Wednesday's meeting or. the Management Committee of: tho Welling- -■ •" ton Kugby Union a letter was received : from the Selwytt Football Club, asking for o refund 1 of the\expenses'the -i 'third- . '.class .' team had incurred./> travelling to v- Karori on Soptember 3, oy tho St. Patrick's College team, drawn to play Selwyn,=did- not put: in an 'appearance.; Tho . • Rugby .Union secretary explained to tho meeting that 'he■ had'. told the-: St. Patrick's ' team that it would be no use going as a referee was not available. He; would have told tho Selwyn Club not to go, but htj could not get hold of.thei;; oien'ii*Ki. • lu: ■'. further explanation':- of tho position,: the secretary stated that Mr. ,! I '.:Laws had l - been drawn .. for - the. match; "but had -de- . dined to -take: it.--.There were only a few championship matches that day;"but. all v." efforts- to secure a referee proved un- ' availing. In the circumstances, the Rugby .Union agreed' that .there was - nothing for it but "to" grant the refund due to tho Selwyn Club, bT»t all present at tho • meeting.'.-agreed. that _ there was 'something radically wrong with- the Referees' Association when no could ' be' found to take one of these champion- ' ship; matches, 'while a dozen or more re- ;. -ferees 'intrudedvthemselves round about V- the dressing-sheds at Athletic' Park ■on the same afternoon. It was proposed ■; that a letter should be/wri'tte'ii-ito-vthe.'as-' . ? -go'ciation; about; the quesiori, -but eventu- '. ally' it-was' decided to' first, get a- stated. .the 'circumstances' from the ' chairman'of'.tho Appointment . Board;,

A. "Wallaby" t Plays for Britain; ; •\-T/ J. 'lEicliards'/: one of the;: best-known v forwards of the' "Wallaby" footballers, • who toured Great 7 Britain and America in 1903-9, has * appeared in a new role. •' Hes represented Britain in . the test match t; ■ South-Africa recently,• 'and played,ably. ■ In a: letter to Mr. W. W. Hill, secretary . ' *•of; 1 the; New South Wales Rugby -Union, '• /. he mentioned that, he had met, the British team, and-as , they ,had invited him to. join themVhe /had^decided-to/do-so.' ',y, The flatter .team',,had- suffered, greatly- ' from, men being, disabled, and was hard e'ossed ;.to place -a/team in the . field, owever, ,it comes as a great surp'rise'to footballers in Australia to learn of /Richards playing(says ' /the '/"Sydney: / Morning Herald")fas .he can hardly •/ be ■ said 'to;haTe.qiialifiod for Great Britain, High State of Perfection. V, - Football in . Australia and iNew. Zealand has reached, as -high a, state of. perfection . as it has in any :< place in the world: /./■ (writes C. A. Phleger,/ who • accompanied - vthe/'American Universities' Kugby team. v . to; Australia, in a, Vancouver exchange)., . The games between Australia and New Zealand were-; eye-openers to us. One .- who has . not seen ..such -games, cannot imagine that football. can . be': so ' fast.'. /'Every man'lms his and always, / / no. matter ( what ■ may bo the - stress. of. the :• .play, is found in that position. .; ■ Miscellaneous, ': 'A' New Plymouth writer says that S. i Mynott has stated definitely that he will , play no more football, and so the second- ' half of the-famous Hunter-Mynott five-: eighths combination is to disappear from. , the active ranks. There is some talk ■ of- a place-kicking, competition between Paton (Otago), : Stohr (Taranaki), .and O'Brien (Marl- :. borough), to take place at Christchurch on the same Saturday that the North v. South match is to be played. All three men have fine records in dub football, and also in representative matches, and eachprovince holds that its man is the best.place-Xick in the Dominion. A competition to test them would bo; sure, to arouse, a great amount of interest. , 'Watson, who scored for Otago against Wellington last Saturday, registered the • second try that has been scored against ■ the Wellington A representatives this season. Since the-iteam'left for Auckland last month, it has played three matches, on tour and_ two in the -city.' It : has scored 117 points, and only 18 points .have been scored against it, : made up' of four goals, and two unconverted tries. This • must be. considered a very : creditable performance to date. AVhen it was noticed last Saturday that Mr. J. Francis, referee: in the WellingtonOtago match, indicated with his hand when the ball toiichcd the ground in the case of , a place-kick, some curiosity was aroused, for this system is quite out of. date, it was .stated at last .Monday's meeting of the Referees' Association that Mt. Francis adopted the method at the.request of the Otago skipper (Paton), . and with the concurrence of the Wellirig«nn can tain. .

ASSOCIATION NOTES. TWO CRITICS SPEAK-OUT. .. (By CENTRE-HALFi)" ■ " Wellington's Defeat. ' "Argus" walks ■ into -the'/Wellington representative team as follows After withstanding several onslaughts bjr representative teams from three centres,, the Wellington team-allowed the coveted Brown Shield to leave Wellington for Auckland last Saturday, • aud' no more - worthier winners - could - have' '"been;-- found than the team which so ■ clearly demonstrated their superiority (over - the- local -"talent." The Aucklanders. were superior in every department of tho l game. They were trained to a high pitch, and in comparison tho. homo tetiui seemed somewhat slow and clumsy. alongside the sprinters from the. north. , Eor a team to be so de-. cisively-'beaten iJi'thp outfield, and then only! to : have two goals registered against it, shows , at. once that there was. some-thing,-amiss somewhere; -The/ Wellington players-were, out-classed and out-manoeu-vred in the outfield, but when it came to getting goals, then the fact, ns already pointed out; that' only two' goals were scored, was duo'i'ar mora-to the lack of finish about the visitors' front rank than to aiiy bright defenco of tho home team. More .often than not thn 'Wellington backs-were .seen-(living into space.. This, was a feature of. their'.play, which-, the writer.; for: one. certainly looked for. But' one ;caniibt .blame .. the.. team ..altogether, ■the- selectors.-must,.bear , some oi -the'' brunt;.. They, asked players to! play.; in positions which !they;weie,not accustomed ; to,'? and what is more-iniportaht : still is .this: What interest did tlie selectors,. as a' body, take : iu ; .the, : training, bl\tho, team f. many- of. .the -'team "turneil- up/ to go through ~their,' training?: 'It', was clearly; demdnstr'ated; by:' their'."tired'- 'methods' 'that; the playe'rßV-"had. ; bellows to mend" very, soon after .tho 'start,, of the 'game. • ; Webster,'in goal,' bad not .'much to do, but'he was playing behind two backs who I were anything but good, lie' could' not bn blamed for the two goals which passed hup. The first was from short range,. : and the second ought'to-have been cleared ! supported as ho should; have'.beeii. 'liopeatcdly he. called out to those in front of hini that he; would "take it," but instead 'of letting him' take.,' the -ball. it-' was wildly kicked . anywhere: This' wns undoubtedly the cause of the; second goal. I'ye-Smith ought to have kept tho oncoming forward !oft, and-allowed' Webster/to clear.

Horscs in Midstream,"

There was not, much ;to 'praise in the play of Wollingion's.backs. . They kicked fairly weir to begin with, but constant . pressure soon broke; them. down, and in the end tho. Auckland forwards had them at their mercy. Let us hope that the selectors have got sonie. recompense for their. experiment\:m'.''swopping, horses in midstream." the folly o£ playingßoberts left-back. must now -be apparent. When this. was. pointed-out to 'them before the match; one was met with the good old- oxcuse: "Oh, but 'be. his played therebefore." !■ Of course ho has, but it does not foliovrthat a player 'can fill any, position which- he "once" played in; Both. ■backs .were .at sixes ;and sevens.What possessed Robert's to go up ."and kick that -.corner '.- in•; tho first v half f-'Siiroly. 'there was a forward amongst, the..representatives of . doing the trick. It very nearly'cost his side a goal. • . ' The; half-backs were 'an!;indifferent lot. Even.- ICirschberg, who usually,, can bo depended on to do:well,-- was no better than his. colleagues. l 'They/would persist ■ in dallying with the f ball,, instead :of slip-; >ping c it on.';.B^adburyliwas'very;weak in-;' deed; ■ He did not "feed-his,.forwards id. "all. iWheh . he was in possession -of (ho ball he parted with- it; b/rmnans of a strong kick. Hence- tho reason that tbo ivisiting backs'jhad ,'so'' ; m.any7free-kicksi Paget struggled'on,' but. bp.'was.no 'match for the wing man opposed to; him..: • The writer does, not ;consider7that !he; was an improvement l on,-Jackson; - N ' > His - .risky", method of tackling rcsulted'in him being - disabled temporarily. - It was the only, result he could ■ expect'.from. such an "apprentice" 'charge. vlurschberg was below his usual'form; and did not seem to fake, any'interest in.; thei progress. of the game, '.- Especially, was this "noticeable in the .second'half,-V-.One looks in Vyain for some'redeeming featnre.in the 'forward play, ■ but even' with /tho aid of a'miscroscopo. it cannot be found. .The right-wing was.all at sea.' Trevethick was very,; very, poor, ill his support 'of- Ve'sseyr and- tho :latterr of-courso, did hot ehine'fas'a.'conseguence...The"inside man ; was-extreinely,:.slow:in accepting his chances. Me lpst.a" splendid chance in the first spell, wlipn:thb northerners''goal was empty. ' Gibson '.was tritally- eclipsed by' Marshall. The visiting centre-half had him beaten. Gibson's worst fault was his habit of facing his own goal wheh waiting for, the ball. Times without number Marshall' nipped' in'in front, of him, and whipped- the ball, away. ei;e':,Gibson'-kiiew, jvhat ■ was going On. ; TKe^eft-wiflg' was, the : .better of the' two. : Mouatt brothers combined - well; ■'but-their;-work: was -lost on tbo other forwards. They had the "star" performer of the day opposed to them; : but .in..spite; of . this >-they ..put'•in many deft 1 touches.':and good runs/,. ; ,- Tho Other Side,- . 1 How different is Ntho' stbrT,;,when". we oome to look at; the other Bide. Oldnall, in'goai, was good, but he had a slice of 1 luck-in keeping his record dean.'! He :made : two 'glaring. mistakes; both ; times when he ran out from goal and lost the •ball. Only the , slowness .of the*home forwards prevented goals being .registered on > both occasions; :, Sale'arid 'his partner, Ritchie,' . played "extremely.,.vvell. ■ Both wei'o ; Mund;in'kickirig-anil tackling, hav-. ing no-difficulty, in overhauling ; any, of the.home forwards wheii they, did get away.

But the half-back line were the backbone of the team. I. venture to think that, few, if .any, .half, lines have ever equalled the jilay of' Rickaby, Marshall, and Scrivin/'./ It .;was'' an object lesson to tho'home halves.to see how. these three fed their forwards, and,occasionally, took a hand in' playing' tho -part of extra forwards. '."Amongst the vanguard, Webster and Whittlo were tho pick,, with the in-side-right not far behipd. These three raced and. passed,/; giving i'tfie 'home doferico. no quarter. Their shooting was, however,-not in keeping with their outfield' play. The whole front rank had a splendid understanding. - Tho exhibition put up by the Aucftlanders ought to do the'game hore a' lot of good, provided that players here Can . take a"''lesson. This game, from & spectator's point of vieiv, was well worth Tvatching, fastj -clean, and open. This was in no small way ,due to'the able manner m which. Mr. 11. Ycomans controlled tho play. . Another Criticism, ' ~ "Full-back"' writes:—'Undoubtedly the .Aucklanders were . superior to our selected at the Basiifyßeserve : :last Saturday, and no trua sport /should grudge them their win," more especially .so when they - gave us . such, a . fine oxhibi tion of the game. ~ //■:, / :-' '/■'• ' The' visitors/were; an all-round powerful combination who had-evidently played several games:''together.Webster, Gardner, 'and 'WhittlO'are; iine' forwards, and young Boyne is ,a"-really-' good shot. Rickaby was/the .pick ;6f/the'halves, ho being a finished half-back. " Marshall was too much' for Gibson. Sale and Ritchio were good, but - both played lucky games as tho ball nlways came their way. . Oldnall excelled himself, but plays to tho gallery- a lot. ; Of our. own men, Webster could not bo blamed for what beat him. Tho backs were only fair and Kirschberg was easily. the .best of .them, while none of our forwards, with, the exception of A. Mouat were up to representative form. But, of course, wc must make allowance for the fine middle line opposed to them. With the' young players which we havo coming on I fancy the - shield has only • gono lor a short holiday to tho Northern City. . /..'-„ j Stray Notes, ■ ; •-/ The boys' representative team which left Wellington by tho Maori on Wednb> day night for Dunedin played a game .against Burnham School on Thursday.

Our lads inflicted a severe defeat upon the southern boys by ten goals to nil. This performance seems a good omen f,qj; the match Otago v. Wellington at Dunedin to-day.

Next Saturday another team of bovs from. Wellington will be sent across the Strait to try' conclusion with the Marlborough , schools representatives. This idea of giving the lads who play. "soccer 1 a trip is a capital one. It is sure to bo tho means of swelling the, ranks of our players later on. To-day will seo the curtain fall on Wellington Association football. Swifts are down to piny Diamonds for the Charity Cup and as both teams feel' "fit" a very willing event is anticipated. If asked to pick the winners I think tho writer would favour the wearers of tho black shirts. But time will tell. A game is never/won until it is lost.

Mr. 11. .M'Kay, a prominent "soccer" enthusiast, has resigned from all positions which lie held under the different bodies connected with the game in Wellington. It is understood that Mr. M'Kay contemplates a trip to the Old Country. Now is tho time for the, NiZ.F.A. to strike while! the iron is hot:, and appoint Mr. M'Kay special delegate to confer .with Mr. Gibbes, the association's London representative as to ways and means of procuring a visit from an English team to these shores.

Why. is it that the secretary, of tho New Zealand Eeferees' Association will not call a meeting of the Executive when he has been requested to do so by delegates? ' '