RUGBY FOOTBALL.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1824, 9 August 1913, Page 12

RUGBY FOOTBALL.

, , -[Br »AaiflTOßUi,Tj3.] Mr. Meredith's Plain Statement, ./'There' is no one regrets the position ;,01 ore than I do," said Mr. V. B. Meredith" (sole selector for the Wellington liugby Union), referring to the non-in-clusion in. tho. team to tour California of Mitchinson. "I was surprised, to say the. least of it, to seo tho attitude Mr. Galbraith took. As a mattor of fact, I could uot nominate Mitchinson in time—no one uculd Lftvo conscientiously dono so. When 'hetostarted in to' play he was as fat as butter—his wftis't-lino had disappeared, and few. ivoftld have thought that there was,a chance of his 'coming hack.' But the unexpected happened. ; Ho did 'come back/ and as soon as I was sure that he cowld put up as attractive a game as ever.' ' I telegraphed Mynott nominating him. My fl'ction was 1 quite logical, quito'rational, anil quite fail' throughout. Knowing me, I think that the selectors of the Calii'ornian team should havo deliberated, on the inclusion' of'Mitchirisou, and T do 'not think that, Wellington should have been penalised by not having a representative on tho Selection Committee. That is not one for'myself—there are others who' could havo performed tho duties as well as myself. As things are, it appears that a union can only got a fair run by having a man on,'the .committee. The principle is not a good one,' as there should be absolute impartiality exercised, but as things, are at present it seems to 'me necessary for a b'ig union to bo' represented on the committee, if it is not to ba unrepreseuted on. the field. An};-' how, it will not concern me much longer; I'm getting out at the end of the year!" Mr. Meredith ! Don't I One," hopes—overvbody in fact will hope —that Mt. V.E;' Meredith will not cany out his present' iiltontion to throw over the seleotorship'at the entl of the year. It is ail. old and trite saying that "the : bast man can always be replaced," and 60, no;doubt, he can., But the fact is that most of us. do not wish .to see our "best man" replaced. We'have grown to respect his judgment''in the .selection of team.?, jand to admire his energy and ability in getting his .men together, whenever the oj»p6rtunity offered, arid'• coaching them so thajt on the actual day of battle ,thcy moved with something- like' clockwork. The proper advice 'lor Mr. Meredith at-this rather trying stage is merely Mr. Punch's celebrated advio? to those about to marry—''Don't" .Words Well Spoken,

Some word of congratulation—and a very hearty word, too—is duo to Messrs. ; ,Weir,. Little, Howe, and others- for both : the .matter and the manner of their ; . .speeches at the last meoting of the Wellington Rugby Union in dealing with 1 tho , • selection of thte team fori California. They i not.only had the right word to say, but ; they said it in. a way that every discerning reader must have felt to lie just right. ' l Wellington, they memtioned had set a high ■, - .standard; That was very true., Welling.'ton was second province. . True again, i .Wellington *hadi been penalised- through .setting that high standard. One is afraid that this is indisputable. ' Then, too, it Was 'mentioned—derisively ~.. . mentioned— that'Otago had nominated ho ~less, than seventeen men. That is a fairly ancient Otago- device. The principle ' worked on is: "Nominate a million, and you may get. two-in." The amuisdng part about it is tha/fr Mr. Y. G. Cavanagh, and some others of our southern friends, 'are inclined to think that such tactics are i what they call "clever." They may be, but the cleverness, does not .appear to ; i - V Jiioitjragh-ajidnj;. §pwt. ' .

; ; "The Second Province." ' As to Wellington's position as "second province" a word perhaps is due. It would certainly not have been mentioned but for events that have happejifd this week. It • ' . has, however, to be stated that Welling-, ton would, in all human probability, of captured the shield but for the mistake made by "Ranji" Wilson ill directing his backs to , find the line nvlian his side wero playing with thp wind. With all due respect, to the Wellington captain, one-can ; ondy regret that such an experienced "old l . ■ hand"\shoiild have made such an error of judgment. - \ . -.. . S. if. —i. . . : ; If .'.Athletic beat St. James to-day,-they i ■ win the championship for 1913. It seems likely that they will defeat St. James, i though', quito a number of enthusiasts ..' reckon St. James capable of making a ' draw of . the coptest, A win will mean ! 1 - three successive years aa. champions— ; . H9ll-12-13. A draw will (providing Petone - (wins its match) placo Athletic ahd Petone ■ on, an equal footing, and they will have to play oft .fort V. [The Champions Outclassed. Athlotic's showing against Petone last : Saturday w-aa not the best the redoubt- ' -V. able Blue and Blacks have turned on '■ this season. Tlicy played hard aud well, .. ■ ibilt- they were outclassed, and could not muster that dash which- haa won them bo many games. Athletic ore 6uch good finishers that one did not feel that Petone liad a safe win until tho very end of the game. . ' . , ' 1 iTho-Tcity I .' :teamTeiideavoured 'to , make it-a .forward game nearly, all the way, while tho .suburban' men wero not in the least particular;whether forwards or backs or both-were doing the .work. V The Petone forwards swarmed over the '■■Athletic vanguard, and got in among the ■•city backs with- great effect.- A notable •; feature was'.the deadly collaring of these ' -forwards, particularly Nankeville, rfho Centre Kick. r; 'iJhe value of the centre kick was demonstrated several times during the match. E. Ryan centred well from the wing on several occasions, and from- one of these punts of his a try was scored, while from . nil&ther Athletic forced only just in time. Nunn and "Jimmy." . 'Nunn, the Petone half, played a great same on Saturday. Oil his last few gamc3 •/lie is ft.n important rival of B. Roberts. • . Saturday saw' liim in. his element—right • jn tho thick of the heavy work. One of :the features of his play was his fine linekicking. The enthusiastic Petono crowd ever had their hands reody to applaud James Ryan, who wa9 trotted out for the occasion. Tho spelt from tho field has not dono "Jimmy" any harm. Judging by Satur- - day's play, he is as good as ever. His : fielding and kicking were the work of a . champion, and kia .try was very cleverly got. The Scramble. . The annual scramble between representatives of the Customs and Marine Departments on -the ono side and the Customhouse agents on the other is to take place on Saturday next (August 1G). Jt will bo the duty of the former to impose a stiff tariff (with an ndvnlorem kick) on the agents, and it will be tlio full intention of tho latter to dodge ad valorem and duty, and still grapple for a rebate. Players with a circumference of fifty inches or over will be. admitted d'aty free. A smoke concert will be held in St. Peter's Schoolroom . in the evening. Loveridge, In some notes on the inter-island match the Christchiurch "Press" says:— "Loveridge was the pick of the threequarter lino, and this young player shows signs of developing into a top-notcher. He is a beautiful Tunner, very fast, while better side-stepping than he is capable of has not been seen at Lancaster Park for a very long time. ' His attempt . to go through the. wholo South Island team at the finish was an effort worthy of only a champion. He was practically starved throughout the game, and was not given a chance' to prove his true worth. Roberts and Kiiivig went very well, but, like Loveridge, suffered through lack of opportunities. Roberts made several 'good'runS, but was unfortunate in roming in contact with Cuthill when tho latter was making a bee-line for the gonl-posts, with the result that ho re- , ' ceived a nasty knock,"-

Takings at the Big Match, The takings at the Petone Becreation Grounds last Saturday amounted to Ji8:! 8s„ out of whioh about .£2O (GO per cent,) goes to the Petone Borough Council. North v. South Matches, Tho following table" gives the results of matches played between the representatives of tlio iS'orth and South islands: 1897—At Wellington, North won by 1G to 3. 1902—At Wellington/ South won by 20 to 14. 1903—At Auckland, South hwon by 12 . fo 51901 At Dunedin, drawn, '3 ■ points each. 1905—At Wellington, North won by 2G •to'nil. , 1906—At Wellington, North won by 9 to 5. 1907—At Ghristchurch, North won by 11 to nil. ' 1908—At ..Wellington, North .won by 12 t0.5. ' . - . . 1903—At Wellington,, South won by 19 to 11. i 1910—At Christchurch, South won by - 11 to 10. • J9ll—At .Wellington, North won by 19 to 9. 1912—At Napier, North won by 12 to . 8. 1913—At Christchurch, South won by 25 to nil.