RUGBY FOOTBALL.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1752, 17 May 1913, Page 12

RUGBY FOOTBALL.

[Bi Aeistobuwjs.l . A .Triumph of Organisation. on such a ground as the Athletic Piirk was last Saturday a team whoso effort is properly controlled and directed will,always beat an almost equally good team whose energies aro promiscuously misdirected. The success ot Petone over Melrose proved this rather than that the Dark Blues were a better side. Always .when they had an advantage the Petone men strove as one man to push homo tho attack, aiul it was duo to their united jiard work,'to their watchfulness, and, most of all, to their bursts of unusual .vigour when they wore , within striking Vlisfcanco that they mrulo ifc so liarcl for Melrose to get out of a tight corner, having onco allowed.themselves to get;there. In the open field there was very littlo to choose between the two forward packs, but when tho Dark Blues called up their reserves of strength and speed at critical times they could generally account for tho J{ed and Blues. Behind the scrum tho Petone men were i at least as safe in taking and getting rid of tho ball as the Melrose rearguard, and thev had. the additional attribute of systematised methods of attack. If there was an opening, a. Petono back needed not to look for his colleagues. If a man set off, bis supporters fell into their places and the echelon of backs wcro racing together on tho instant. They will show Bome good passing bouts before the season ends if tho grounds favour the development of their; game. Every one of the backs, except Roger Dansey, is a young player, and Dausoy .is as speedy as most .of the youngsters. They are a fart lotas oven a.lot as are associated in any (Wellington team this season. Mainly About M'Kenzie. i Of them all M'Kenzie shows the most .promiso of becoming a great back, if he lias not already deserved to be classed amongst great five-eighths. On his games at the end of last season and this season (ho is certainly the . best m iWellington. In defence he is sound always, and very often, he effects brilliant (saves from apparently hopeless positions. 'M'Kenzie. was invariably the man who came from nowhere to stop a rush. He Was übiquitous. _ It is his . faculty for teeping very wide awake which makes him' so valuable.' Whether tho work on hand bo attacking or defending to nerer pisses, an opportunity. ' Eamsden, his partner, was overshadowed' in. the match, but io made no mistakes, and gave a very good account of himself.- 'E. -Eyan, at centre, played bis best game of tho year. His great run Fias already been remarked' upon, but his play was even and good all the time. Dansey 'rcas disappointing; ho could not hold the .greasy ball, nor could he keep a Secure foothold on tho greasy turf.

Pertinacious Melrose. Tho Melrose forwards wero remarkable jnostly for their pertinacity. If they win many Aatches this year it will bo by their capacity for playing hard right through a game. They never let up once pn. Saturday, and when Petono slackened H>eed, as they did from time to- time, tho lied and Blues at once pressed them back. Tho side, as a side, does not know how'to score tries. They, can, and last week actually did, got near to scoring repeatedly, but they have not the finish pf a really first-class match-winning combination. This is true of the whole team, inoro.of the backs than, of the forwards, fryhaps, but truo of. both, sections. Sulran" and Oakes wero tho pick of tho elroso scrummers. • Behind the scrum,' H.. Marshall, as ' half-back, .was. rather, a , failure—sound '•fnough defending, but;.too slow to lose, the ball when passing or kicking.- -The other backs wero never really given any fchances owing' to untoward delays close ,up to tho pack when the ball • shotdd have been flicked out sharply. Capper, full-back, was tho safe and altogether satisfactory man. be always is—a good man to be relied upon ,in danger. Never rattled, he did not once fail, and he was hard pressed very often. One man passed him with tho ball at toe, and-scored a try, but Capper could not reasonably Uavo been expected to stop .that rush:

Killed "League Game" With Kindness, Taranaki has done many a thing of note in tho-Bugby world. The latest accomplishmeivt it claims is tho annihilaJtion,of tho League game in its own pro.vince. ''..The writer was talking with an officer in the Taranaki Rugby Union a few days ago when the supporter of the Amber and Black remarked: "We havo killed tho Lcagu? game in Taranaki—killed it with Kindness."

"With., kindness!- Kindness in vfhat form ?" I "Just straight out kindness. We never iought themi at all. If they had a fimatch on we never clashed with it if wo could avoid doing so; in fact, wo took tho opposite attitudo. Wc let tho public seo ■their game as woll as ours, and .left it to tho public to judge for themsolves. - And tho rcswlt i 3 that iho League garno is done k'or in Taranaki.

i "Last year, wliten wo played Wellington at Now Plymouth, they arranged to 'have *he Now'-South Wales League team play (there on tho sanuo day. They set their match down very early, and no doubt thought that thoy would get tho crowd and kcop thorn away from our match. Wo Hidn't enter into competition with them, jibut sot our match' back so that it commenced about fivo minutes after theaTS finished. That gavo people .timo to walk from ground to ground.

! "Well, their gate was ,£32, and ours— tCUO." \ You each charged the same price at iho gato? • "Yes. And this year they can't Taiso % single Leaguo team in I'aTanaki."ißathor Poor Teams. Victoria College made a poorer Rowing jagainst Wellington last Saturday than anyone expected tlrem to. Wellington {held the upper hand during the greater portion of tho game. It was only at tho tail-end of th» matoh that Wellington scored, but they would have been unlucky in a draw. Doth teams, after all, were ■gather middling on the day's form.

Poneke, .and he may bo seen out this afternoon. Mltchinson is reported to have definitely decided to play regularly, and will bo seen out with Poneko for the rest of the season. Tilyard, who has been on the injured list, will be doing battle for Poneko again to-day. Several of tho players who toured Ainorica with tho last Australian combination say that wasting of time has crept into tho game there to such an extent, especially in the taking of kicks, and in signalling, as to completely spoil the pleasure of a game from the Australian point of view. . Hodge, of Wairarapa, who played for Petono in the forward ranks, has gone homo again. A great cheer went up at tho Petone gymnasium on Thursday night when "Bill" Heady (H-stono forward) walked in with his bundle of "togs." He will play in the match against Oriental this afternoon. Nunn, Petone's half-back will not play to-day, owing to an injury to 'his shoulder, which, ho received last Saturday. M'Farlane, of Petone, has been "training" at' the Oringi Camp all the week with the mounted men. Levick, the hard-working forward so useful in the Athletic pack last season, will be out with the Black and Blues today. Ho has been -unable to take the field lately, owing to a disabled foot. Poneke had bad luck about their default to 'Athletic last week. The fact was that two men who missed the train to Petone. took a cab and arrived on tho ground a minute or two after tho side had agreed to forfeit, otherwise the Poneko captain would certa-inly have played the match. Supporters of the old team will be glad to know that Poneke are not. as was rumoured, likely to throw in tho sponge and retire from tho contest altogether.