RUGBY FOOTBALL.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1740, 3 May 1913, Page 14

RUGBY FOOTBALL.

Q3r Amsiobul'cs.'l An .Attack ;on the Now Zealand Union/ _ Characteristic grumbles -are again heard in'the sweet province of Otago, and there eooms to bo somo feeling there against tho mothods of tho now'union in conducting certain correspondence,', with tlio English Union a3 to All Black trips, visits'of English teams,. etc. ..■ In this case.... tlio. grumblo takes tho form of a letter to tho Otago Rugby Union. It is by an oxpresident (Mr. K H. Campbell),;and, is being forwarded to all. presidents of provincial unions. Tho letter, which is rather Idng to quoto in full, contains this passago':— •; il question vory muoh whether the■/affiliated unions aro in favour of send-. ■ ing a team to England, and I- am - ■ ' almost certain that they aro not very anxious for a visit of pn English team ; :.to;Now Zealand—certainly not such as wo have had on tho' occasion of'the .last two- visits. , - ■'. ■•' "Then tho letter concludes:—"As I have Boid for many years, I firmly believe that thelbest courso for New Zealand to adopt is ! to secede from the English Union, who have shown repeatedly thht"' they '"take" little or no intorest : in New Zealand football. _ There is far too much made of the question of loyalty to , tho Mother Coun--can control our own football quito woll, and if our play is good and odr'! methods are honest, there is no doubt that wo shall get all tho visits we warn, because the wholo English-speaking world knows that wo can play football. . That, however, .is not the object of this letter. 15 wish to.ishow. .thai;... .the New Zealand Union hav<>'' ( npted.', served to Slower tho land football;; cprdiam' '• appoal' Union hayo put '.tnenu6lvea:^itt».tho:-position of being you will ask! at theinext,.-annual meeting of the Nbw Zealiind vUnipn for tho production of tho'. correspondence -between Sir. NeilGalbraith (chtunnan of tho Now Zealand Union Managejiidgt Committee) and Mr. iWray Palliser-(representing the New Zealand Union ,in-.England) with reference to tlie; visit.of a'New Zealand team; to .England in 1912-or-1913 (tho - correspondence covers tho,period';.i'f.om.November ,17; . 1911, to .July 4, 1912)';- you will/- -I feel - sure, jtgreo :with' youVhavS'hcfird.'it'read, that, in tho Zealand Union 'htid no- right-'to'-aslsA'that-ft' ■ team should: bo . received'.'m 'lEnglaiid: liiitil they. V-had- - consulted' the whole •of tho' aEliittedHunjons; >'ah.d,;.'gQcdndly,' thai : ffie;Vttriosjs.;fl^ons*weih9- - ipntiflrf : ■what or&befcween' England iandi^ew'-Zealand:" - eight men.:iffi.vo :ho* right rtoVossumb* they land in tho'matter-' < 6f football-when'they Jiave taken "no ''steps'' to ' ascoMTn'''what" those-feelings are.—Yours faithfully, F. H. CAMPBELL, ex-president Otago Rugby .Union." ' Six-Wellington Teams in Field,'.! , " ?[Those ..enthusiasts who "held the Wellington Football Club ' together.', fn •' its strugglo for lit'o ton years ago must now feel: extremely pleased 1 with the progress made by the bellow and Black, contingent ■, during the last three seasons. Ten ye|afs ago tho -cliib was unable to place three, full, teams in tho playing field, but this season it has six teams ..out, and.a surplus of players offering. : 'The young players are as usual being afforded every oncouragoment ssvoral of tKe'iblub's veterans acting as coaches. Mr. o.' Iff. Kember is again looking after the (senior team, Mr. D. D. Weir the junior fifteen, Mr. H. It. Carey the third-class 'A, team, Sir.. .W. Irons, tbs third-class B team,' and' Mr. F. Turner the fourth-class players.. ' • ■ ■•/-.''' *•! n • ' Good as Units:iDeplorablb as a Sldo, ,'i'ho new season-.has already, brought, two crushing ilefeats to Pot)eke, and so far. as: figures go thp last was '-worst than, the' first. . Poneko has teaditllons which, do . licit :fit_ in with its position at the moment in championship football, and no doubt will start in presently to justify 'tlibjsaid traditions, but it hag an uphill task ahead. Saturday's experience bijj'ught .to,light once again, the fact that thetteam is badly lacking in cohesion. ; ,Sd far as individual players are concerned it showed up fairly woll against j/etono. \ Morris, J. Elliott, and other backs played quito a dashing game, and Mitchinson (who replaced' Tilyard after that player had met with, an accident that necessitated his departure from the acquitted himself in a way that did. iiistioe to his reputation as an experienced player to whom most points in tho gamo are familiar.

: Tho; trouble that descended on Poneko . arose, and simply- froin an absenoe > 'ojfj Combination and generalship. Organised . assaulf.3 by the suburbanites were Itiiei; In scattered array pr . disarray, that (presented any number of- 'openings.. - fWhon Poneko were defending there..was. Jiearly always an unguarded flank ; or Boiiie other weak spot, lis! a standing lnvi- :.. tation to .tho -In attack it was' jauoh tho same. • Tho ij.umber : of passes .that went to v nobody or into the hands ,W.the enemy was, astonishing. ketone's Strong Men. That the Petono fifteen made amuoh hotter showing than in their match of 'a" week earlier against Victoria College was tlue ; . largely to the prpsenco of Jas. Kyain. Ho stiffened.' up tho defence of tho Potono rearguard very materially, and also; put somo life and system into their attack. Ho.was always on the spot when 'trouble was around, and made the Petone ■parsing-rushes 1 extremely, effectivo "by "'his . straight running and cuttin£-in. Invari- ■ ably he took a lot of stopping, and not a few Poneko 'ticklers had practical experi--tnco : of the.fact. " 1 ■ . .Tho work of the other Petono backs i „v,'(is bright, but patchy. They were a ppeedy lot while their 'condition lasted, but dropped a good many passes, and -frequently did injudicious things. Once or twice a Petone attack crumbled away through sheer fumbling with the ball, but : this''did not happen often. Dansey missed; a certain try on one • occasion 'by-a hjidly-givcn pass from 15. Ryan. Tha Man With tho "Straight Boot." ... ''Macfarlane was eaililv the best forward an. the,field and,.was good in all departments of tho game. When it cahio-to 1 passing, ho had few equals amongst the i>;icks. His goal-lrickfjig alone wa9 wonderful. . On Saturday ho put a very ' "straight hoot" into .ri'fiWAb.iSrbf kicks at difficultangles, and ' the few kicks he pilssed were missed by inches. What Hekota Sav/ Not. Of all -tho uninterestins' games >of Rugby football, the' St. James-Wellington' fixture at Petone last.Saturday, was ; the limit; The. result was always in the balance, and had' •Hekota, the St; JameS captain, endeavoured to organise his backs, honours would diavo coin'e hii way. ,ilowevor, when ..the. Slarooit and Whites; had ;qvery .chance, of .turning defeat into victory. Ileketa stayed dumb, and Wellington piled up the points. jht-r" was; however,' one bright spnrk of plav en the part of .Et: James, and this iusfc ilhistrated the point which Hekota failed to see. ' It took, tlie form of a try, pained after a fine'passing Tiislyinvvhich Utiku, Pa'ananga, and fleketa himself t0 was unfortunate in meeting with an accident,.which necessitated retirement bwi\ after play commenced. . • • . ; was irwl, but tho others were only middling. Tho Vfitermi, "Algy." as nciial had a lot of luck, which helped him tfimo' against tho heftv attacks of the •follow pack. His goal-kicking, however, « a f-aturo. Donaldson, Hills, and Tolni'-'OUwcrs n trio of ffljr forwards, but there" wore no Moite about, as far as ono oould see. A Much-improved Fifteen. ; Wellington aro a decidedly improved frw.n, and their forwards seem hustlers, pV'rie, Miller. M'Ka.v, and lorns being ; ab'iUt the best. I ; For soundness and safety, Lamhorr, at i full, wa< hard to beat, his line-kicking : wo'?rperfeer, and his place-kicking even ! b.itte;,r... •. . T , j Grivc©#-/ WGrcsoL'j Dune, and Dwycr

were a fine chain of backs, who kept up tho attack all tho time. Metamorphosis of College. Although Athletic had a comfortable margin of points at tho end of tho match with Victoria College last Saturday, tho University team played a game that was quito attractive to those spectators who were present. They made such a good showing,- in fact, as to suggest that they were unlucky in meeting the two stroug teams of the competition in their opening matches. They did not look like defeating .Athletic at any stage of Saturday's game, but, nevertheless, had quito a lot to say in tho play at different stages. ■\Vhether the team mil improvo as much as it ought to do remains to bo seen, but if it" does, some victories should come its way. Tho scrummers aro a very likelylooking lot, and should hold their own with almost any forwards in tho competition-. ' . • Big Rugby Moves up till 1917. At the council meeting of the NewSouth Wales Rugby Union, held on April 21, the. principal business was tho receiving of tho,-report of the union secretary, Mr. W. W. Hill. Tho report dealt fully with tho relations of the New South Wales body with the other international "governing bodies. The international programmo covers a period, of iivo years. The Maori com--bi-nation,-under Air. W. T. Parata, will visit Australia during June and July, playing at Sydney, country centres, and Queensland. The Australian team will also resume tlio international games with New- Zealand this year, leaving Sydney on August 20. Next year will gee a return visit from Now .Zealand to New South Wales and Queensland, and probably the team from ■ thd/'Dominion will tour California and "British?" Columbia on. completion of its '■Sio6iißS,riie in Australia. 'I'ho Americans and'"Cnnadians have already proved their enthusiasm and keenness for tho game, and they propose inviting an .Australian team to their countries" in 'connection with tho great American national event of 1915, tlio ripening" of tho Panama Canal. During 1915 'a'team ftom tho United Kingdom slitfuld also be seen in action in Australia'and New Zealand, as, in all probability, a joint invitation will bo extended, 'by these two unions. If the -invitation- bo acccpted, football entliusi,asts,'in"tlicsb'.countries should bo rewarded- by' the-'prcs'shce! of a' team comprising iplayors from all the unions of England, ••Wslesrßcotlahd, and Ireland. '■'.'-llighi u'p'-t'o ,1917 the annual interchange .yiisijrs; with New Zealand-will bp'coni tinued." and. these games- should have a in; tho,, improvement '■ .of. the -standard of play here, and the bringing :.oftfho;»same'-.up to'the necessary internato- .compete, successfully football countries of'the 1916 will, perhaps, see the culmination of the union's efforts in a South African visit to Australia and Now Zealand; as a joint invitation will, in nil probability, he oxtended to the Springboks. , Whilst tho similarity of seasons and other matters render a visit from those famous exponents of the gamo most difficult .'to bring about, it is to be hoped that Australian and New Zealand players will at last have an opportunity of trying conclusions with tneso' finished and sporting players. On the other side of the picture the international board will, in all probability, follow up with an invitation to New Zealand to tour Great Britain and France during 1914, with a similar imitation to Australia for 191G or 1917.

Napoleonic Project—An Imperial Rugby Council. Certain, suggestions regarding tho Government of Itugby were embodied In Mr. Hill's recent report to the New South Wales Union and were adopted. Tho secretary's suggestions or© tho result of a conference held between representatives of New South . Wale?, South Africa, and' New Zealand in England, and call for the establishment of an Inipcrial Council, which shall sit under the chairmanship of the English Union president. " All tho big unions of the world—lingland, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, .France, California, British Columbia, South Africa, New South Wales, Queensland, and New Zealand would bo represented on such a council, with equal voting power for each nation. Tlio establishment of such a body as a controlling body for tho whole of the Rugby Union world with power to deal legislatively with the game Mn all its aspects—international tours, professionalism, laws 'of tho gamo, etc.—Would be an achievement of which any sport might well bo proud., ilost of the colonial and foreign unions are known to bo favourable to the suggestion, and it remains for the South African governing body' to assent. Then the British unions will be approached.

' The opinion in expressed that tho Springboks, though previously antagonistic to any alteration. in tho present constitution of the intornational board, are now favonraWo, and will agree to the proposals. 'Unanimity having been-secured, it is anticipated that tho home unions will'give, way, aud take steps for tho establishment .of the Imperial Council, as suggested. : Not tho least important duty of such a body would bo the arrangement of the finances of touring teams, and great beneiit would bo conferred in this direction alone. ,Wo would hot have a repetition of .the-strained feeling caused by the "All Black'.' tour of 1905. That alono would be worth while. 1

Tho New Scuth Wales Union is also forwarding a request to the English Union for separato representation on the sub-committee of laws. This sub-commit-tee deals with proposed alterations dn the laws of tho game, and as at present constituted, New Zealand and Australia have .one joint representative. If granted, the New South "Wales Union's request will provide for two representatives—one for xsacK'".Australia and New Zealand.