RUGBY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1521, 17 August 1912, Page 12

RUGBY.

CBt AhISTOBBLCS ] Inierprovincial Fixtures. WELLINGTON. ". • August 24.-Play Auckland'at Auckland. August 29—Play Taranaki at Now Plymouth. August 31.—Play Wnnganni at Wanga'nui. ; September U.—Play Otago at Wellington. . . TARANAKI. August 17.-Play Auckland at Auckland. ■August 22.—Play. Southland. August 29—Play Wellington. , September 4.—Play Otago. September 12.—Play Canterbury, : ; CANTERBURY., August 81.—Play Otago: at ,Christchurch. September 7.—Play Wellington at AVel- .-\ ' lirigton.. .'p. September 12,.—Play Taranaki at Taranaki. '•' ~ September 14.—Play Wanganui. at Wanganui. OTAGO. 'August 17—Play West Coast at Dunedin. August 28.—Play South. .Canterbury at Timaru. ' 31.—Play Canterbury at Christchurch. <■' . • September 4—Play Taranaki at Hawera. ; . September 7;— Play Auckland at Au'okland. September 11.—Play Wanganui at Wanga- ■'; - ■ ■ nui. September 14.—Play Wellington at Wel- . '-lington. S ! . \ SOUTHLAND. . August 17.—Play Auckland at Auckland. At Last: The City's Best Backs. Lost Wednesday's representative fixturo, Wellington v. Southland, brought to light circumstances which are pleasing to all ; Wellihgtonians. The.selector, Mr., V. B. Meredith, seems to havo hit upon the •bestback combination which the city can .■■•'' prpduce. It is unfortunate that several- ' of,' ; tho selected have to be marked as ;'-. .doubtful starters in the northern, tour.. I\'Roberts, J. Ryan, and G; Murray are '. the- uncertainties. However, experienced and good as these men are, Wellington would still havo a formidable back team . ~ if.'.E. Roberts (half), E. Ryan (centre three-quarter), and a good full-back were . ; included in tho team. Judging E. Ryan !.■•:. by one or two of his recent games in big i.. ..company, ho is Murray's superior; but it i' iSiSometimes dangerous, to assess.a man's f ■■' .value on a. couple of games.

E, ! Ryan's Gfeat'Try. '. . It was by the excellence of their back play, that Wellington scored 27 points against Southland in the second spell. . • Tuo'.passing, right from the half-back to •.-" thp '.wing three-quarter, was. delightful. The'pace of tho 'three-quarters was far too, great, for thq visitors, and. M'Kenzie, ; Rhrhsden, and K. Ryan baffled them completely, at times in creating openings for .. the outside men. Young's wonderful turn • of-speed marked him, as a wing .threequarter of considerable merit. Ho.simplv -" passed the Southland backs as though they were standing stock •still. Grace, too, was. faster than his opponents. The finest , _ pieco of .back play in tho match was E. . "Ryatrjs first, try,, .to obtain which the Petone, boy. threaded a path through the thick'of. the. whole' Southland rearguard. ' Tho Wellington , forwards ,-played particularly well, and gave the'backs the ball almost whenever they wanted it.

.The Taranaki Challengers. The Taranaki team /which is to play Auckland -for. the shiel,d>;tti-day is not as Ktron.g"on paper'as. tho'A'ihber and Black fifteen of a few years ago, but it looks a good team, and certainly one that no other team can take any chances with. Tho backs include several North Island representatives, and more than one man who has worn the New Zealand jersey.' ■■ J.-.Colman. is.!;the selected fullback. The throe-quarters aro. J.. Stohr, R. Roberts, and D. Cameron. H, Cameron and M'Lood are : the."' .and Brown is. the half.: Except, that Colman ■and H. Cameron have replaced Hill.and Mynott, tho backs ai'o tho same as those who gave such a brilliant displav on Athletic Park last year, .when Taranaki defeated Wellington. Colman is a world of improvement on Hill, but it is doubtful if tho youthful, though promising, H: Cameron will excel Mynott. Mynott ? s mere presence in a young team was of value. Tho Taranaki forwards are a good lot, but there docs not seem to bo any particular reason to assume that they will vanquish tho Auckland forwards if tho northerners are,as good as' they usually are. ' Shades of the Amber and Black. Auckland has had more than one narrow escape from losing the shield, and Taranaki has done its share towards providing awkward moments for the team which grows in "the green city on the slopes of the green hills which overlook the rippling Waitemnta." A few seasons back Taranaki had, practically, a team of New Zealand representative backs to put in the field. Their full-back was A. Hardgravo. Tho writer .remembers an occasion on which the sensational linekicking of Hardgravo brought about tho downfall of the northern team. : ' All through the match Hardgravo found the ■lino. at.a gain to his side of nearly half the length of'tho field. His accuracy was marvellous, for the ball never foil more than a .yard over the line. And, moreover, tho. ball, was soaking wet. The Auckland forwards were run off their legs, and the. game fell to Taranaki. But that was not a shield match. The Amber and Black three-quarter lino included D. Cameron; tho five-eighths were J. Hunter and H. Mynott; and J. Colman was half, the great strength of the older teams was tho * five-eigths combination of Mynott and Hunter; the principal'weakness of to-day's team may•']» the lack of a, first-rate pair of five-eighths.

Athletic's Attack: Mclroso's Defence. Quality in two different brandies- of tho gamo was shown )>y both teams in tho Athlctic-Melroso encounter on Saturday last Tho Athletic attack was particularly good, and the Mclroso defence was excellent Tho attack of the Athletic tracks was better than tho Blue rearguard is. usually credited with being callable of. Tho defonco of the Molroso team was at its height. Time- after timo thoAthletic backs seemed lo have tho Melrose backs beaten, but on almost every occasion tho Newtown team kept the enemy, out. • The collaring of Alelroso was deadly; it was gTand. That was tho feature of tlio game, and more need not be said about it. Dunedin Club Prcmierships. The Dunedin club premiership contest Las just closed with Southern on top. Appended is tho list of Dunodin premiership winners sinco 1885. The record of tho Kaikorai Club in 1891 is, as will ba: noticed, a vory remarkable one, tho only Boore against them during a wholo season being a potted goal;— I I . I I ' , - 1 • . 5 $ 43 j? | % % | |.. S tS p (5 pS 1885—Dunodin ... b 5 fl 2 41 8 1886-Piratcs 10 8 0 2 61 1 IWf.iT-Un:»u 10 7 1 2 30 15 1888-Kaikorai ... 7 6 0 1 20' 3 18«9—Kaikorai ... 9 0 0 3 59 13 1890-Union 10 8 1 1 52 , 9 1891-Alhambra... 9 9 0 0 70 11 18!>2—Alhambra ... 10 9 1 0 117 24 ISB-Knikurai ... 13 13 0 0 153 4 JSM-Kaikorai ... 13 13 0 0 260 1 1895-Kaikorai ... 8 0 0 2 157 6 1898-Kaikorai ... 8 8 0 0 107 7 1597-Knibrai ... 10 9 1 0 102 23 ISQfI-Kuikorai ... 9 7 11 8-t 17 1899-Kuikorai ... 12 9 1 2 100 211 ISfiO-Alhambra 12 9 1 2 108 34 19111-Knikorni ... i) 7 2 0 57 20 1902-Alhambia 12 12 0 II 150 5 1903-Alhambra 10 « 0 0 81 13 Mill-Southern ... 11 8 1 1 -10 25' 1905-Alhaml.ira 11 8 2 1 80 55 1911G—University 13 11 1 1 121 45 1907-Umversity II! II 2 3 301 09 190S-T.)micelin ... 12 11 1 0 143 45 1909-Allmmbra 15 15 0 0 100 53 min-Alhambrii 13 11 1 1 105 52 1811-IJnivcrsitY H 12 2 0 126 85 1912-Southern ... 13 11 2 0 179 58

Tho Unexpected Plight of Southern This Year.

In conversation regarding tho Southern Football. Club's, iodiiicrent showing this year, tho club's secretary stated that ho would like to add .a. word or two on tho form of several ol' tho players, as they have not had so far a chance of making themselves known \to tho public, this being principally owyiig to tho fact that in every match (exctept two) thoy havo been asked to play i\ut of town. "On account of ha'ring to do so," the secretary continued,' ' v tho club 'has suffered the loss of several players, as thoy did not consider it fair ou the part of the Rugby Union to) subject a weaker team, to. such treatment, and I think it is far from tho. corredt thing to do to send a team continually out' of town merely because it happeias to bo weak. "No doubt wo would (not bo an attraction as far as tho 'gqto' is concerned,, but' to play on No. 2 ait tho park would not effect tho receipts) in the slightest degree, as the majority) of the spectators go to- tho park with I the intention of ■seeing tho yamo takes place on No. I—and that game.pnly." The secretary went ion to state that the season had been 'Icommenced with hopes of a successful It was, in fact, thought that tho-Reason 1912 would be tho, best which Soutjnern would havo had sirico its formationj "Our.first match was/our downfall. W T e lost to Melrose by 14 -.points to nil. In tho first place, our players were not sufficiently trained, and by not having the services of a coach*wo were severely handicapped. "Several attempts were, made to secure the services- of a coach v bitt the club was unsuccessful in this ventatro, and without a coach tho majority of -tho players did not consider it necessary \to train. There wero several accidents to taembers of tho seniors, and this considerably weakened the team. Players leaving the district was also a drawback.

"The junior teams have shown great enthusiasm, especially the fourth-class team, and. on'nearly every 'gym.' night the whole teanr has put in tho evening at s>lid training. Training is responsible for the position which this team holds at present. . "Regarding, players, the club was unfortunnto in. loosing tho services of W. Houlihan mid Batty, who left the district, and also Bradley, who went over to the League. "He limSi't been playing half :the game he did last year,' added the secretary.

Another loss was that of J. Johnson, who was injured in the se\>en-a-sido tournament, and has .not been playing »inco. He was a sure tuckler, and m tnis department Southern aro weak.. The best tackier in the clrtj> is H, Capper, and his line-kicking is splendid. The senior forwards aro a goouc lot, and with hacks of equal, standing they would he a tough proposition for any senior team. The best of the pack is. E. Perry, who is a young and smart player. Houlihan, Osborne, and Keeney aro also good, and the latter player has the makings of a .first-class forward. He played for St. j Patrick's College Inst year, and this is his iirst year in senior Rugby. The only two players worthy oj' mention in the backs .are Capper and the former ■ being the makings iof a first-class rep. player. Finlayson's '.kicking is his chief : point, and he has saved the forwards considerably with his'' high; long puut."