FOOTBALL.

Hokitika Guardian, 12 July 1926, Page 3

FOOTBALL.

. SEDDON SHIELD. [by TELEGRAPH —PER TRESS ASSOCIATION.| BLENHEIM. July 10. In its mtor-provinei.nl match here to-day, Nelson defeated .Marlborough by 13 to 11. This is the second home and home match of the season. The visitors turned the tables on the Sedjon Shield province. Marlborough forwards, on the whole, excelled the i isitors, but their combination w/.is lagged. Nelson backs, particularly Snodgrass and Wallace, found the weakness in the defence. Snodgrass scored two tries and converted one. Wallace made an opening which lot Bowers in, Reed converting. For Marlbouroiifd', G. O’Brien scored two penalties, and converted one try scored l>y Gibb.

MAORI TOURING TEAM. . GISBORNE, July 10. A. F. Matthews, of Gisborne, one of the forwards who were selected for ihe Maori team to tour France and England, finds it impossible to make arrangements for the tour, and his withdrawn from the' team. Capt. Pitt, one of the selectors, states that W. Wilson, of Wairoa (Hawke’s Bay) luls been chosen to take Matthews’ place. COMMENT ON MATCH. „ SYDNEY, July J2. (Received this day at 8 a.in.)

Tho “Herald” commenting on the All Blacks match says showing surprising dash and tackling splendidly, the lighter New South Wales players secured a memorable victory against the 1926 All Blacks. During the second half when the score was 20 to 9 in favour of New South Wales and defeat stared the All Blacks in the face, the New Zealanders rose to great heights. Attack after attack was launched on the home line, the Black forwards fighting their way tlirougn in characteristic fashion, but they were hravelv met. No praise can he too great for Ross. He was magnificent and time and again relieved awkward situations in the face of fiery, forward rushes. He also kicked with accuracy. Tho losers backs though clever in individual efforts did not display combination and their handling was poor. Tli© forwards worked hard and used their weight ill the line outs to advantage, but their tackling was faulty.

The “Telegraph” says above all others on the field stood Ross, supremely confident. He gave a display which can be classed with -the greatest seen in Sydney. He was faultless, bundling, kicking and tackling with the coolness of a veteran. By playing a wing forward New Zealand gave New South Wales nine points in penalty gd.ils, which was more than the margin in the final scores. Jt is still a debatable question especially after this game, whether it pays to play one pi ai - er purely as a wing forward. On the other hand Porter performed prodigious feats in both attack and defence, and was ill every movement.

N.\Z. league team. AUCKLAND, July 11. The New" Zealand representative League footballers team to tour England,, who are leaving Wellington on August 7th.. have been chosen by the following selectors, Messrs C. B- Hardingham, A. McClymoiit, R. J. Stirling and E. H. Muir. The team is as follows: TWO COASTERS INCLUDED. . Full-backs.—C. Duffy and C. E. Gregory (Auckland). AYing-threequarters.—l. (Sanders (Canterbury), G. Gardiner, J. Parkes and L. Brown (Auckland). Centre three-quarters.—B. Davidson (Auckland). and AV. Desmond (Wellington). Five-eighths.—J. Kirwin, H. Bnslnne, H. Cole and C. Webb (Auckland) . Half-backs.—A. Wilson-Hall (Canterbury) and F. Delgrosso (Auckland). Forwards.—F. Henry, L. Mason, L. Peterson and L. Vivian (Canterbury). N. Mouatt and J. Wright (West Const), H. Thomas (Otago), AV. Devine (Tiinaru), 1 E. Herring, A. binge and H. Averv (Auckland) and A. Carroll (Wellington). RESERVES. The reserves (who will travel if any of the above is not available), in their order of merit, are:— Forwards. —J. Menzies (AVaikato), J. O’Brien (Devonport). L. Hutt and J. Clarke (Auckland). Backs.—W. Eokhoff (Otago), I. Little wood. H. Riley and C. Prentice (Auckland). Avery was appointed captain and Moimtt vice-captain. The team has been selected after the trial game, in which the Possibles defeated the Probables by 32 points ,to 15. The B. team beat the A. team by 30 points to 28.