RUGBY FOOTBALL.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1830, 16 August 1913, Page 12

RUGBY FOOTBALL.

■; : [Bt. AniaTOßrivs.J > Astonishing Wobble, ■ Interteiiug'.'indecd'iwas tho information which ;the-footbail fraternity unexpectedly received 'oh ■Thursday morning. "M'Leod's suspension rescinded 1" was the exclamation of surprise. "Well, I never 1" Kugblites are at a loss to understand the action of the Wellington' Union, and the amusing pttrt about it is that the Management Cominittee do"Hot know themselves why they took this action. At the first inquiry, the Management Committee stood by the:, referee's .statement—quite a proper thing* itoVdo—a!hd they inflicted punishment', to 'meet'the case. Now they hold a little discussion in committee, and pass a resolution rescinding the sentences passed on TM/Leod and Osborne. The writer is not going to say what the sentences should have Been—the Rugby .Union ought to be in the position to know that. But there are things that one naturally would like to know. Has the referee sent in a fresh statement, or has the Union sought eome' fresh information? Something—what, we are unable to say—has surely happened. If not, we have now on record one of the weakest things ever done by a control. The members of the committee of the New Zealand Union, which met on Wednesday ' evening, smiled when they received the letter from the local union, conveying- the latter's new decision in

respect to MXcod's and Osborne's sentences. The head body asiked, "Why this fresh decision?" ; In its way tho 'whole thing is more serious than it may look to some. Once have a sport indifferently controlled and it is good-bye the Bport in the long run. Poor old Rugby—once the "national game"—has fallen on lean days now, and anything in tho nature of wobbling oontrol is not calculated to help it back to ita. former prosperous condition.. Merely Bank Gossip. Donaldson stood out for wood play among the St. James forwards last Saturday, and' there can be no doubt that on this season's form he is one of the best forwards playing, in the competition. . No,referee is infallible, and Mr.'Francis might Have made one or two uptakes in' the big match at the Park .on Saturday, but at most they were minor errors. Taking the match-right through, it must be said' that he .was seldom in better, form.

Bad luok, as it ia styled, diid not make any difference to tho result of the match between Athletic and St. James on Saturday. Jloat of the luok \was against Athletic.

Those who noted the absence of E. Roberts from the Athletic team last Saturday ivere wondering if > the little half would be quite fit before tho season closed. As a matter of fact, his'injury was slight, but he wisely took no risk.. A "knee', is not a thing to be trifled with.

Two of the goals kicked at the Park on Saturday—tho9e by Evenson and Thomas in -to St. James-Athletio match—were well worth the points they scored. A Hard Luck Story, Barely has a team 1 had such hard luck as that which befdl the Wellington fifteen in its match with Petono on Saturday last at At Me tic Park. No, one would seriously argae that Wellington are a better team than Petone, but it is quito • certain that with a fair allowance of fortune, the Yellow and. Blacks would have been the winners in last week's match. The referee (Mr. Kean) was not 60 keen as .his name might imply. In the first epeill, Wellington undoubtedly 6cored a try which wad not awarded , to. them. After a long and hard-fought .scrimmage, right oii tho Blues' line, the Wellington forwards, by sheer solid work and 'weight, forced themselves acrross, and a heap of players was deposited on the ball. A \Vettlington man. was first there.' Tho ieferee arrived in time to watch- the tangle port itstflf out. The last man up wore a blue,.jersey—result, a force, down. It is not a pleasing duty > to disagree with n referee, but those -who were in a better position than he was to see what actually happened, aTe' prepared to malts all kinds ot solemn declarations .that his decision was wrong. Again, in the second half, one of those fine kioks of "Jimmie" Ryan's which did so much to help the suburbanites to victory was most cleverly ma/rked by a Wellington forward-as'the ball landed into th'a 'rttok in front of' the posits. Everybody who was watching the game closely waited for the whistle, which Sid not sound. A moment later 1 the ball waa • out amongst tho Blue backs, and a try wa3 recorded.' Had Mr; Kean rem-, laled the game from the grandstand, Pe-' tone would *iot have eoored that try. 'A .Team of Flghterj. • A word of praise is certainly due to the Wellington pack for the sterling fight 'they put up against Petono. The clever ■Blue backs Tiad them on the move all the time, .but ithair'energy never flagged,. and I they; were working as hard at the finish

as at the start of the game. The best • player on Francis, wh6? ? m»«id3ifion to>'hii really solid work in the nick,'made a long mn down ithe toucHine, worthy of tho best threequarter in the game. ' MTtay also played u sterling game/ and "Sandy" Weir distinguished himsolf timo and again. They say that Weir is not the forward he was last year. That may bo so, but his gamo on Saturday entitled him to Tank 'with .the blest of them. : ■ - Ponoke's Season, - , The preliminary practio© gomes of the Poneke Football Club led its supporters to. oxpeot the team to occupy ■ a fairly prominent position in the championship .tetbla. A few of the previous season's players had either left tho city or joined other clubs, but there had been a number of new recruits, mostly youngsters. At the ontset of tho real business, however, Irvine, Bowe, Elliott, and Tilyard, amongst others, received injuries -which ■Jielped to causo the club to lose the first five championship games. It is, of course, admitted : that their opponents won tho majority .of. these games with a big margin to spare. After this, however, things began to improve, and tho combination of Tilyard, Mitchinson, and Morris behind the scrum made this side ono to 1)9 reckoned with. Tho remaining two matches of the first round were ■won, and in the second round the team came cut with even results, winning three, losing three, and drawing ono. Although beaten by Athletic, the side put ■up a good fight. . The most gratifying feature of the : season has been tho sound display of tho fourth fifteen. Practically the whole of this side played fifth-class tho previous season, and 'has worked up an excellent combination. \There are some rising •players in this feam, as shown by the display of some of thera against Oriental. The club is alive to tho fact recently that an old player is needed to coach each , of the lower grades, and a. 6trong endeavour will be made next season to work {up the junior and third-class team.

The seorora for tho first fifteen this season were:—J. Elliot, Tilyard, nnd Mitohinson, 15 points each; Gardiner, 9 points; Jacobsen, Brower, and King, G points each; Morris, 4 points; Algnr, Eisher, and Keys, 3 points enoh. Of the now members this year the most prominent were Kconey and Jacobsen (forwards), and Fisher and Spillano (backs). Oriental Outed. Tho "Magpies" have nothing to whistle about-now, Fancy a strong senior team being romped over by a fifteen containing' quite a lot of fourth-class players. These boys—for that is all they were—were largely instrumental in making the game a walk-over for Poneko. Oriental are no models in tho matter of training, Ko porhaps >they deserved all they got. Four Strapping Emergencies. Tho writer's remarks, (given above) are confirmed by an Oriental enthusiast, who witnessed the maixih. In a disgusted tone lie remarked: "Oriental played a truly disgraceful game." The emergency boys put up a good fight for Ponoke. One boy appeared in long trousers and acted as full-back, and his work waa really creditable.

In.the Oriental ranks ICinvie appeared to be the mainstay in the backs, and Paton in the forwards, These tiro players were' about the only ones really worthy of mentioa>'

It is to bo hoped that the Poneke Club will recognise the services and form of the four youths who came to their assistance on Saturday.-'.They were: C. Tilyard, Hedges, O'Brien, and Fisher: It may be safely , presumed th«t the above quartet will find themselves promoted by the time next Beason comes round. Molrose and College. It is peculiar- how some teams, when they discover they are "out of the running" for tho cup, lose heart. Evidently some of the Melrose men thoilght it hardly worth white to show their best paces and best team'lost Saturday. At the kick-off ithey had only twelve men, and later ill the game 13. That looked as though three men di. dnot trouble what score was put up against their side. The thirteenth man, however, evidently became conscience-stricken, and eventually got out to the ground in time to take a hand in things. College wero not up to the mark by a long way, and the game on. the whole was .ragged. Their test bit of play was when firosnan snapped the bill from a scrum, passed to Ryan, to Faire, who just missed a score. Occasionally the Melrose forwards looked like making things livdly, but the books wero little help to them. Gilchrist, however, made a ' good run for Melrose, and registered their only score. Faire raised a pass at half-way, and tho Melrose player secured and scampered straight up the field and orer the College line. Not Pretty to Read Amateurism in football in .New Souith Wales is in a state of chaos (says the Sydney "Daily Telegraph"). The position is such that immediate steps should be taken to straighten matters out. The advent of the present visiting Queensland •footballers, and a rccent decision concerning schoolboy footballers, shows what an impossible position tho Amateur Sporting Federation of New South Wales finds itself in.

As is well known, there is no oommon or general definition in Tegard to amateurism. Each sporting body has its own interpretations of amateurism, and some differ in many respect?. At the outset it is just as wdll to place the. intended position of the Sporting Federation beforo sporting enthusiasts. Tho body is not constructive. It cannot make laws relating to amateurism. It is really a body of reference pure and simple, formed with the objoct of protecting amateurism generally. But in what way has amateurism been served? Passing over any faults that might bo mentioned of the past, we will take the decision arrived at last week by the Sporting Federation. The question was asked if schoolboys could play League football rules without damage to their amateur status. Tho Sporting Federation said yes, so long as tho schools wero not affiliated to the League or played umdor that body's auspices.. Now, where does the Rugby Union come in? The' New South Wales Bugby Union is one of the bodies affiliated, or, is really ,a component part of- the Sporting Federation, and thb Bugby Union rules distinctly say that anyone taking in any other game are liable to disqualification. "The Bugby Union game shall consist of 15 men aside," and anyone taking part iu a gamo of a lesser number renders himself liable to dsqualifioation.