RUGBY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1551, 21 September 1912, Page 12

RUGBY.

CBr Asistobulwl ft, Letter Which Sufficiently Explafns It- .'■•■. .self—r"ln Committee, Gentlemen! 11 One thing which makes good Rugby men pauso and hold, heads is tho quantity of important business which tho various Rugby unions transact in camera. Somo years .ago at least one very stun-.] ning thing—it would havo made New Zea- - land think hard if it had been taken in open mooting—was thrashed out by tho committee- of tho New Zealand Union in camera, and the public never got to hear anything of it at all. To-day tho "camera", business still reigns, and a smaller matter—tho state of certain things in Hawke's Bay—is an illustration. Both bodies concerned (N.Z.R.U. and H.8.E.U.) are etill at it■in camera. During the week "Aristobulus?' wrote to a reliable Hawke's Bay source, and, in reply, received the following:— '.. '■ .Since the recent dispute between the Rugby Union and tho League regarding the .use of tho grandstand for the Hawko's Bay-Now South Wales match a- good deal of attention has been given locally to tho merits of tho two codes, and it must be eaid that the LeagUo game has received a great ad- ■ yertisement in this district. Interest has been consequently re- : vived with regard to the attitude of the Rugby Union toward players who ■•'. have taken part ■in Loague matches. Much comment has been caused by • ■' tho .fact that several ex-Rugby player's who havo played League football have been- readmitted to the union ranks without that disqualification . presumed to bo attendant on such a ■ course of action. . I Approached regarding the. matter, 'the secretary of tho Hawkes Bay Eugby Union admitted such to be the case, "and stated that this course had been taken with tho approval of tho , N.Z.E.U., in view of "special cir- . cumstances." ■ , , It is clear, however, that several players have alternately taken part in both games, and aro now playing Eugby. The attitude of the Hawke s Bay Union in regard to theso players is that they "have not been intentionally guilty of any act of professionalism, and that a player' cannot be suspended until ho has. received notico t» appear before a meeting and show" cause why,ho should not be suspendWhy such notices have not been sent to snch players as M'Vay, MTilwan Crowley, irCarthy, Anderson, and • others has not been explained, beyond •the statement that it-was not deemed expedient. Many other players, who .havegbne over to the new game have teen disqualified by the Rugby Union, . -whoso action iii readmitting others is I quite unoxplainable. : The affair appears tohavobeen fixed up in camera locally, and .in Wellington. . .-. . . The English Affront to the All Blacks. Tlio following is the'text of a cable message from London published through- . out New Zealand on' Tuesday morning, having reference to the priority given to South Africa over New Zealand in the matter of international visits:— : " <■ '"London! September\ls. ■ ■ The sporting journal, the "Referee,",commenting ,on tho coming visit of a South African Rugby team to England, says the "All. Blacks' had a, prior olaim, and it is, therefore, Tβ-• grettablo that merely because the ■ i South Africans are excellent pen to ' meet off and on the field an affront should have been placed on anothor - jpart ofi'tWlknpiTo.i ~-,., ■ 'Correspondonco. publißh«l ; in/ The Dominion has already passed, between the New Zealand Eugby Union, its representative in London (Mr. C. Wray PalJiser); and Mr. Harriott (secretary of the English Eiigby Union). From that correspondence ono conld only deduce that the preferenco was given to South Africa onaccount of certain vogue objections to the "All Blacks'" "methods of play - the phraso used by Mr. Marriott, but as already hHnted, the cause of the preference lay deeper than the methods adopted, which tho above cable message endorses. ■ Some members of tho "All Black" team in.': Wellington take strong objection to the affront implied in the cable message, and state that the matter should not be. allowed to rest where it is.

Opinion of "Mr. Mona Thomson," "Mona" Thomson, eaid that the "All Black" team, of which he was a member, was quite .exemplary ,in its conduct throughout the tour,' and frequent 'cornmoat was made in the English papers to that effect. Tho whole of the team was subjected to the strictest discipline, and on no occasion was there anything which anyone ooulil possibly take* exception to. ■Hβ thought it was a matter for the New ■Zealand Eugby Union to take up, and already, he and Mr. JbVed. Roberto' had waited on tho chairman (Mr. Neil Gal■braith) with that end in view. Such a message going out to the world would imply that the New Zealand men had not • 'been playing the game," whereas precisely the■ contrary 'was the case. ■''••■ • Opinion; of Roberts. ; , - "Tho selectors of the 'All Blacks,' " eaid Mr. Roberts when approached, "carefully considered the character of ' every man offered for inclusion, and many good players were .'turned down' 'because it was not'considered that they could be absolutely depended on to conduct themselves properly on all occasions. Wβ were banqueted all over tho country, and I cannot .recall any occasion where one of our men.'-;forgot > himself. '-It 'we did hare a[ bit of fun at times, it was always amongst ourselves, and in our own rooms. .That could hardly be said of either Harding's or: Bedell-Siovwrightfß teams. Some of them' were very 'hot stuff/ and on occasions ;;Jiad walked tho tables' before a banquet;.- had gone very, far, and there were individual' : cases of , conduct well known :to those behind tho scenes which could bo laid against the 'All Blacks.'- There was no comparison between their ways and ours off tho playIng field; The ?All .Blacks' were the best benaved/team I'have travelled with, and sfr. George Dixon's report on the tour will show; that' the codduct of the men. was exceptionally good throughout." Sand and Obituary. ptago farrived playing their own band. 1 Otago departed groaning its own obituary. They came from their suburb of Scotland with a- big and growing idea, of their own Rugby value. They left with a hazy notion.that their self deified Wallaces had run across a Rugby team somcwhere.in the .vicinity of a cosmopolitan village called .Wellington. j '' 1 On the Park and on the Quay.

Tho match alluded to was played at 'Athletic; Park between. 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. on last y Saturday afternoon by Wellington and Otago, nnd on Lambtou Quay between R'p.m. and 10.55 p.m., on Saturday eveningby Otago. Tho boat on which the Bruce and. Wallace brigade went away sailed'at 11 p.m. ,' The Requiem Missed. The publio has since been informed that owing to a misunclerstniidinß. which is certain .to form the subject of a. Royal Commission, or a school committee, inquiry, no special train mot tho "Blues" at Lyttelton, with the result that tho brigade failed to reach Otago in time to be present at the reqniem service. We saegest that tho railway porter who is TCSpoßsiblo for this bungle should bo compelled to spend half an hour in tho visitors' gallery at tho House of Parliament. ■ .Their Respective Victories, The results of , the two matches was that Wollington won on the park and Otago were victorious in tho evening on the Quay. We congratulate tho southeners on their win, and frank* ly admit that; even had Wellington been present the result would not have heen otherwise. As to tho less important affair rhjch transpired on Athletic Park it may bo worth while remarking that Wellington won in such n manner 03 to opparoutly leave no excuses for Otaso to

make. * Nevertheless, Otago made them. Tho Wellington forwards outclassed the southerners, who pulverised Auckland, and the Wellington backs again'gave tho impression that they aro capable of better things than tho majority of the rearguards whjch thoy have mot this season. The Lagoon or the Opponent, The bad stato of the ground*is claimed by tho visitors to hnve been the cause of Otago's downfall. It may havo been the ground, but the general impression is that it was Wellington. Another welU founded idea hero is that AVolliugton would have vpn. wet or dry. That remark applies to park contests, not Lambtou Quay aftermaths. Otago were in their element in the wet on Lambton Quay. "A Man's a Man —" However, the Blues made a very good gauio of it in tho lagoon, and even if Wellington have not sufficiently apologised for winning, there may still be truth in the observation of tho national poot of tho Shetland and other islands (Tommy Burns): "A. man's a man for a,' that." < The Cup Final. l This afternoon last year's Cup winners (Athletic) will attempt to again win the title from the redoubtable Petone team, which has not won the championship for three years now. The Athletic team, it is reported, will be at its full strength today and all the mombors of the team are well and oonfident of victory. Supporters of the team look to E. Roberts to surpass himself behind the scrum today, as he has been showing fine form in the recent representative matches. \ With regard to the match, our Petone< correspondent states that very great interest is being taken in the Hutt Valley, and tho Petone players havo been indulging in hard training. The Pctono team will bo as follows:—Full-back, G. Parker; three-quarters, Daley, E. Ryan, Boyd; five-eighths, Ramsdcn, ATKeazie; half, Nunn; wing, Arrowsmith; forwards, Ready, Parker, W. Ryan, M'Parlane, Parranti Price, and Tnplin. Daley replaces Jas. Ryan, who is still laid up with a bad ankle. Sports! Please Remember. In .connection with tho cup final to-day, would it be too much to ask local "sports" to remember what shocking luck the Wellington Eugby Union havo had in the matter of weather this season. One good bumper "gate" would be a right pleasant thing to chronicle. And tho Wellington Union both ,need and deserve such a ."gate." . . . An Amusing Communication. An ex-Otago man, who states that he "endured" twenty-five years of existence in Dunedin, writes:— "Can anyone tell me whether Scottish are phagocytoslys or isobars? I.ask the question because, to my way of thinking, players are broadly divided into three isobars, and sports. I put the query on account of a calamity which befel me as I was going home through Manners Street last Saturday evening. ' "I was slapped on the back with the force of a shower of brickwork, and, before I could recover my breath, was asked as follows: (1) What was I doing now? (2) How much a week did I get? (3) What was my wife's maiden-name? (4) About ten other intimate and personal questions. "I knew at once what had struck me, and we got, presently, to discussing the match. ' . . ■ . ■ "I won't say what I said, except stating that I thought that the margin of Wellington's win was a somewhat substantial ono. They replied: (1) If it had been a dry day, etc.; (2) If tho referee hadn't favoured Wellington, etc.; (3) If they had played as they did against Auckland, etc.; OD'-If the. wind' hadn't-'done';sbniethin"g:' which it shouldn't have done at halftime, etc.; (5) It wasn't^their true football, and—well, goodness knows what else. I left bewildered.

"Having bad several days to Tecover my Beases, I return to my original premises. As I say, all players are divided into three classes—phagocytoslys, isobars, and sports; Now; can anyone tell a distressed inquirer after truth whether Scottish are phagooytoslys or isobars? I rulo the other part of the problem out. —I am, etc., . "ENDURED THEM."