SPORTING NOTIONS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 29, 28 October 1937, Page 13

SPORTING NOTIONS

"Omni"),

Next Year's H.B. Rugby Programme RETURN OF BOB WHITE

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During the recently concluded winter the Hawke's Bay Rugby representatives played no fewer than 14 representative paatches, their heaviest programme in the history of the province. Dalton and Jackson played in 36 games for the season and T. Reid ra 33, yet all three showed no -signs of their strenuous winter when it was all over, in fact they looked as if it agreed with them. Next winter Hawke's Bay will play ten representative matches. Most important will be the southern tour, for against Southland it. is hoped that the Ranfurly Shield will be at stake. Other fixtures in the South Island will be with Otago, South Canterbury and Canterbury. In. the North Island, Wellington, Wairarapa, Manawata' and Poverty Bay have all to be met away from home. The only home matches will be those with Wairarapa, Wanganui and Auckland. Other North Island unions .to tour to the South Island next winter will be Wanganui, Taranaki and "Wellington. While on the subjeet of Rugby the writer leaxned in Auckland that Bob White, the Marist wing-threequarter, is xeturning to Napier next winter and is bringing with him his brother, 0. White, a big forward, who played so well against the Springboks at Whangarei recently. It is well known that Jack Sullivan, the fast Taranaki qentre, has ideas of coming over this Way, and now it is rumoured that he will take up a position in Napier after Christmas. # « # In 1935 Edgar Forne was the middle-distance sensation at the national athletie . championships held in .Wanganui. He wou the cnile in 4min. 2osecs., ,and wa3 beaten into second place by Don Evans in the 880 run in lmin. 5'7sees. Forne had earlier defeated J. Powell, English 880 ehampion, off 5yds. over the half-mile at Napier in lmin. Oaisecs. At Wanganui Evans stole the race a furlong from home, but Forne was the unlucky runner as he proved later on at the meeting When he rau the 880 of the mile medley relay in lmin. 55secs., and won the event for Hawke's Bay. The next year found Forne in Wellington when the environment proved upsetting to him, and he disappeared as an athletie ehampion. During the last winter he was transferred to Hamilton, and when in Napier en foute to his new home, he promised his old trainer, Roy Downer, that he would try and vindicate the latter's high hopes of hi»m. Last Saturday in Hamilton Forne had his first race over 880 yards, and, treated to a handicap of 15 yards, bolted home in lmin. 58 4-5secs., time thht is remarkable for so early in the season, Now situated in congenial Surroundings the undoubted ability of Forne, dormant for many months, may carry him into the New Zealand team to go to the Empire Games ta be field in Sydney next February. • # .# . The Springbqks by their success in this country drew attention to neglect of the scoring line in our own teams. In most games it was the Springbok threequaTter line that scored the tries. That is the function of this line, and I have oi'tcn wondered, watching loeal games, whether the players were aware of it hecause very little use was made of the. scoring line. It could not be said, however, that the Hawke's Bay provineial side negleeted its threequarter line, for of the 7.5 tries scored by the representatives during the past season no fewer than 31 were registered by the thrcequarters. Other backs scored between them 11 tries whieh left 33 to the forwards. Coxxsidering that the real strength of the Bay side was the forwards, ifc must be admitted that the scoring favours were very evenly distributed. A few seasons back the Bay wing-threequarterq Edgar Apsoy and Charlie Sxuifch, scored 38 tries between them — a record that woqld bear comparsion with any in the Dominion. * # # The spring racing season is upon us and one wonders what the talent wiil be like that will contest the three-year-old classic at Riccarton next month. The writer was there the year that the little-known Nightmareh won the blue ribband, and in comfortable style, too. Not being a keen judge of horseflesh, according to the standards of the day, I was inclined to enthuse over the performance of Nightmareh, but met with the frowns from the critics that made one feel the size of a threepenny piece. It was just a hack Derby, said one writer, and this faet was blazoned in the sporting column of a big e.ity daily the next morning. Nearly everybody agreed with this opinion, yefc it was not very long before this hoi'se had won among many races an A.J.C. Epsom Handicap, a Melbourue Cup and a New Zealand Gxip, Each year since, the approach ot November rcvives the hope that w 0 may again see a "hack" Derby xvitli at least oue , Nightmareh in it,