RUGBY FOOTBALL.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1788, 28 June 1913, Page 12

RUGBY FOOTBALL.

— f £Bx Abistobulus.]

Drifting at the Park. Any believer ill the decline and fall of Rugby football could have obtained the material for a very fino discourse at Athletic Park oa Saturday. The "star" {amc, considered as such, was a farco, but not at all a funny farce. In fact, it liad no positive quality at all. It iva9 mild, and thero was no variation, in tho mildness. That iiftoen hundred members .of the long-suffering public,"-after enduring such an infliction, should refrain from demanding back at least eightpenco apieco of their gate-money, says a great deal for 1 their kindly toleration. If the Rugby Union, were at all a sensitive body it .would have posted officials at the gates to distribute a reiund to its patrons as they passed out. To say things about Oriental and St. James on the score of what they did and failed to do on Saturday would be hardly fair, for both teams have cut a vastly better figure, on an average, in their past appearances. If they were trained they gave no evidence of it, and if they were not trained they should have been. Considering that the ground was perfectly dry, the drifting match they put oh was a masterpiece of ineptitude. There was a stiff cross-breeze, but a light and lively ball should be no trouble to men who • have learned their trade as footballers. Next time Oriental and St. James feel capable of repeating Saturday's., mister-, piece they should either stop at homo or play their game at night. Staged in pategreen limelight and labelled "the spectral drift, the thing might take on. One or Two Exceptions. Considered as a game of football, Saturday's "star" ' event at the Park is ■ really-not worth talking about. Heketa ; was the one player who showed up to great advantage against the drab- nack- ., {round of the match. He has a happy triacfc of pouncing unexpectedly on tiie ■ oall, and leaving in a hurry for parts unknown. In such excursions on sev- ■ sral occasions he covered nerirly half the length of the field oil Saturday, and it' ihe other St. James backs had played up to anything like the form displayed by their contre-three-quarter, a useful crop i >f points would have resulted. As it . was, Heketa's surprise, movements seemed to- surprise )ua own side nearly as much as they did the enemy, and so were thrown away. His best work, .■ as indi- ' cated, .wa3 done 'in attacks 'Which.' broke down because they were poorly supported, but >ho was good also in defence. , He averted at least one score by a quick force, and was never far away from tho point of ; danger. After Heketa—a good, long way aftermention might bo made of Best and Gillespie, who headed one or two forward : rushes in good style. Their opening play was bright, but in tho main they travelled along : in "the prevailing drift,' end only a very occasional' diish' 1 marked them out from the generality. Amongst the Oriental backs, Kinvig played as. good a game as any. He is nearly always sound and reliable, but on this occasion le was restricted in the aiain to defensive play. Three Proud ,and Pleased Men. Messrs.. J. Burns.. G. Spencer, and Colin Campbell, who-have showh keen interest in "the welfare of the Melrose footballers . {or, many years; pasty must feel exceed-, ingly pleased with the inannor in'which " the. club has Tallied from the last stages of 'ill-health.'-'to -its robust condition. ..The sinior teafiPtensdono romnrk- , ably well this season, and nothing but sheer misfortune has prevented it from winning more matches. In the early season all of the men played with great • dash,, but they are nearly all young, and have not' been able to take all the bard - knocks without feeling the effects. One , or. two- players have, had to' stand down • through injuries, and there has been • a ' consequent' loss of combination. One .: cannot help noting tho general improve- • ment that 'has taKon place in the Mel- . rose play, notwithstanding all their bad ;, luck, and if they :"cling together," and "think racially"—so to speak—there must ' be a futuro auead ot' them nest yeas. Twomey is a real star with a splendid, ■swerve and a clever side-step, and will certainly be wanted again in big football. Indeed, the'Melrose men, and others beside, maintain that he should never have been dropped by the selector. ' On their general record, several of the . Melrdso players are worthy of consideration when representative teams are being ihosen. •. .The Surprlso Sprung by Wellington With the ball flying like a thistledown ia a gusty wind, everything tended to dis- , organise tho game between Wellington and Melrose last week. No well-plotted movements had a chance of success on Buch a day, and the team who won were successful because they were tho most watchful for such ciiances as accident or 'hard 'work brought them, and because they were tho most energetic in jiursuing, those chances. It had to be a forwards' game, and the \team that can beat tho Wellington forwards in this kind of game is a very fcood team indeed. The' simple fact is that they beat Melrose very badly, and they conceded to Melrose this handicap— that the black and gold backs were not nearly so safe as the blue and red rearguard. But the Wellington forwards ,were amongst, the opposing backs al- , |Ways, and generally they did damage \when they got there. ■ One notable performance of the day should have a paragraph to itself—it was •Jlackay's goal from Wellington's only try. Shot from tho touch-line in the teeth of the wind, it was, the best goal kicked at the Park this season. j Another incident: Miller was undeniably prevented! from scoring by being deliberately .helcl by a Melrose player. He .was held for only about a sccond, but that second was far more time than ho required to poiinco on the ball, resting just out of his reach over tho goal-line. Ho was held back, and, of course, the ball was forced, but if tho referee had seen the occurrence he could quite fairly have awarded the try. .Victoria College Coming On. Victoria College footballers are better this year than they havo been for some time past, and the senior team has performed creditably in all its matches this season. The lack of good scoring material, however, has been seriously felt . by tho club. Many clear openings havo not been made the. most of from time to time, but if the club can only keep its present linen together, scoring ability will develop as tho players gain experience. Without doubt, the club has now got tho correct material to work upon, Another Referee "Offended," Still another referee spoke of resigning Jrom the Reforoes' Association during the •meeting of that body on Monday night. Somebody ha 4 said something,' so he ;th jught that ho ought to do this particu- • 1 thing. No prwsure, however, was .'necessary to prevent him taking the threatened step. A remark or two by ..i'thex members ta the effect that there km "no need to resign" ended the matter. A Qcod Interpretation. "Nowadays wo have not to be strict. We havo to look for the advantage rule all tho si mo. Wo can oven be slow with the *histle 'to allow the advantage to work." Tin; above is a remark made at the last i..cotin'g of the. Wellington .Referees' As»>ciniion by Mr. 1). M'Kenzio. The idea behind it is an excellent one, which'is sometimes forgotten by referees. Th.i' whistle is frequently blown, and Bl'ter play has stopped it is seen that the ~ivin.l. broach was of no advantage to the riliendiiig sidii, arid that had the man with 'tie whistle not been so prompt tho game wM-.WVt have been brought to a standstill. unnecessary stoppages are ono of ■•;tl>* ailments of Itugby. Nails! Nails I! " An important resolution :was arrived at on':ifonday nizht« Scene: .Weikly meotiie

Referees! Association. Trouble: No nails for players to hang clothes on in the dressing barn at Athletic Pork. Resolution (in effect): That the Wellington Union should be asked to provide nails, etc., at the Athletic Park dressing-shed. Chorus: "They had to come down for nails." Captains and the Rules "Should a referee order a captain off for persistent appealing?" This question was asked by Mr. W. J. Meredith at the last mooting of the Wellington Referees' Association. Tho chairman of the association (Mr. D. M'Kenzie) answered: If lie thinks the appealing was dono with tho object of harassing him in his work. The captain is only a member of the team. Mr. Meredith said that he had in mind a case in which the persistent appellant said that his objeflt 'in constantly asking questions was merely to learn the rUJes. • Ono would think that a team would elect as captain someone who had enough enthusiasm to learn tho rules at ;tho proper time and place. To a Contributor. Re report of Horowhenua v. Rangitikci, regret not space for so long an account.