RUGBY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1527, 24 August 1912, Page 12

RUGBY.

tßx AEISTOBTJMjs 1

■ Auckland v. Wellington; Past Record. _ Much interest centres in tho l?anfurly Shield match—Auckland v. Wellington—to. bo played at Auckland to-day. Locally, tlio Wellington team aro being supported at even money, but it is generally considered that in 'tho north the odds will bo on Auckland—it always is in those latitudes.- Tlio majority of the Wellin'g- •': tonians in Auckland, however, aver that-Wellington-wilt c'apturo the shield for the second time, In this connection'it is interesting ,to note that only once sinco 189G .-' has Wellington won at Auckland. Tho. match in 1910 was drawn. The twentytwo matches between tho provinces have resulted as follow:— ,'.IBBO ; — L At Auckland, Wellington won, s,'to nil. , , . ■1883—At Wellington. Drawn, 5 points each. . ; 1886 —At Auckland. Auckland won, 1 to 2. • 1889—At Wellington. Wellington won, 9.t0 1. , ;:1891 —At Auckland. Wellington won, 13 to nil. 1805—At Wellington.' Wellington won, 9;to 5, . -189G—At' Auckland. : Wellington won, . 8;to nil.. . '1897—At Wellington. Auckland won, 11 ' . to 4. ~ , <1898—At Auckland.- Auckland won, 13 • to nil.'' "1899—At .Wellington, Auckland won, 14 to 3. ■ • , ' - •' 1900—At' Auckland. Auckland won, 14 to 4.1901—At .Wellington. Auckland won, 9 " ■ to 3.,' ■1902—At Auckland. Auckland won, 18 to 5. .... At Wellington. . Wellington won, -• *4 * to. 3." ■ At Auckland. Wellington won, G to 3. . ■ .1905—At Wellington.' Auckland won, 10 to G. •1900—At Auckland, Auckland won, 11 to 8; ''' ■' 1907—At Wellington. Wellington won, 11 to 3. x 1908—At. Auckland. Auckland won, 14. to 5. .. . ■' i —At Wellington. Auckland won, 3 to nil. 'V • , -1910-rAt .Auckland. Drawn, 3 points each.• •1911—At -Wellington! Auckland won, 1G to 9. ' Played, 22. Auckland won 12, Wellington won 8, drawn two. ' Interesting Letter From Wanganui, _ y 'A contributor writing from Wanganui has something of interest • to say of the , state of,tho'game there. Ho writes:—, - _ "Great" interest is being taken locally in the 'forthcoming College tournament to'; commence on Monday between Christ's College, Wellington College, and tho Wanganui Collegiate School. The Wanganui boys are in good fettle and will extend their opponents to the utmost. ■ The Rev. iW. 8,.- Scott, sole selector of : tho Wanganui Rugby Union, has been asked and ■has consented to act as referee for the tournament.'.. 1 ■ j ", , . • "Tho-solo selector of the Wanganui Union-, (the .Rev. W. B. Scott)' hopes .to : , ' placo a team in the field, on August 31, that will give the Wellington rebresentattvcs.a run for their money," although it j is; not expected by the most'optimistic that Wangaimi • can succeed in scoring -a .win. .It'is . just , n question' of how small ..they, can keep the score to bo recorded against.-thein'. '-The team is a lieht. one. The backs average lOst. 81b. and tfie whole 4team, something under'l2st.- The final selection'' will not be mhdo' till after the match with 'Nelson to-day (Saturday), but tho following well-known- Wellington. players will- 'I>b .'included: .Tilyard, -. E. ; .Leahy, and 7 MitchinBon (if 1 he can be induced. to strip); A record 'gate' is. anticipated for this match. '.: •.- . "J'ugby ' football lias bepn very ■'keen ln.Wanganui this-year... -The 'gates' at the . various matches -have been good. Lastyear's Cup -winners. (Pirates) in 'the early . part of the season, earned all before them and 'seemed a certaintv. But ■ a change : "S', o '®,® scene.?'. Under the'tuition of . Myard Wanganui came to light and , defeated Kaierau and Pirates in-successionl • In the.final: round Wanganui went down to Pirates by 9 points to G, thus leaving ; Pirates: and Kaierau level.. The plav-off resulted m a win for Kaierau by 13 points to- ( 9. and they hold the Cup foT 1912."' Tilyaxd, the ex-Wellingtoniaii, isskip- . per \of the Wanganui Club, and also of the Wanganui-representatives". ' Will We Win the Shield? - JilhWelliigtoajii the shield: to-dar? "j- iI3 i: ? ucs n,: This evening tne > • Q'splay , boards will . answer . it. The '' chances have been much discussed in the i i?, ~ da -7?' n , fttl proprietary interest tnougli Auckland seems to have in the . trophy, everyone at this end of the -arßul 5- .J? of .being able to go to - - -•' ■ I tobacconist! s window and- - • view - the shield tho day after the 'Blacks, come . . Jbome. • •• •, Auckland's Has-beens. • , , , One, of . course, has to do -a good deal or'guessing in the matter, but there seems ito-be a good deal of reason on tho sido ot those who urge that Wellington will ' ?'?• , 4 u , ckla nd narrowly escaped being , defeated by Taranaki last Saturday, and •Taranaki does not appear to bo as strong as. usual this season. ?? 'the * writer's • mind "the great fault' ..with tho Auckland team which met Tara;naki was that the team , was picked oh ' thei principle of--including the has-beens and excluding the younger and better Achi.il performance is the only true qualification for representative football; reputation, which is necessarily a thing . of-the past, -will not get results. What is wanted is the fifteen, best, men, not the fifteen most renowned .players. i -Yet, some selectors will stick in hasbeens so long as they have a leg to run about on. I .. . • ' ■ ■ More About Ancients. -The Auckland team contained too'manjrMethuselas; The "oldest inhabitant" was present ia -'good force." Some of the forwards, probably, took the field wearing;; their Maori war medals, and others may have shown traces of hard experiences in the Crimea. Auckland one'e had an excellent forward team. ,Tho men who composed that forward team are now famous; but they are not excellent. They a™ still chosen to represent Auckland; but they aro selected because they arc famous, and not for their excellence, which has vanished with the-years. ' Mr." D. Gallagher may remodel the team before this afternoon, and it will bo well for Auckland if ho leaves somo' : • of tho old identities to enjoy tho privilege; of enjoying tho fun from tho Alexandra Park pavilion. . . • Faint-hearted Northern Backs. While Auckland has for many years had good forwards, it is a number of seasons ! Binco the Blue and White backs have been up to tho standard of New Zealand rearguards. Auckland lias far, too long been fond of the somewhat numerous person who is very fleet, but lacks other qualities. " For several seasons, Auckland played Wilson in the three-quarter lines and, others likn hi in in tho rear division—' men- who had not the faintest idea of ■real football and who would not make tho slightest attempt to play the gaino; men vrhose only value was speed, and who had not the heart-to employ oven that. Every Aucklander knows how inferior their backs were to the living team which Taranaki used to put in the field and : l.iie' backs which Wellington generally •< sent north. Kvery Aucklander knows that tho towards won tho Shield matches nt' the past. Can the Auckland forwards hold tho Shield to-day? Tlis Senior Semi-final. Tho senior semi-final which was played i on Athletic' Park last Saturday resulted, as most peoplo expected it to, in a victory for Athletic. Oriental were overtaken by | ill-luck at the eleventh hour, several of I the- regular members of tho team being '• unable to take the field. Athletic did not play, m well aga^.y.

I Oriental as they had done ngninst Melroso on the provious Saturday. Nevertheless Oriental were lucky to escape defeat by a dozen points or more. Timo after timo the Athletic backs had their opponents beaten, and tries were- lost through someone in the chain of attack bungling in a stylo which is quite uncommon in a first-class senior team. The Men Who Shone, . The play of tho two forward teams was first-rate. Oriental supporters have been bestowing a good deal of praiso on their forwards of late, and the bouquets have been well earned; but.the Oriental vanguard was not quite good enough, to deal with Atldetic's pack. There was, very little difference in the quality of the two fonrard divisions, but the Athletic was the better. ' The ono man who stood right out id tho Oriental forward rushes was Skinner. "Ranji" Wilson played just one of those frames which have made him famous. A few more Skinners and Wilsons, and Auckland would need a team of Seelings to hold Wellington.