FOOTBALL.

NZ Truth, Issue 101, 25 May 1907, Page 2

FOOTBALL.

(By '^Pakeha.''Ji

.i .All through last Rugby season the aijthorimes controlling the winter gaime m this city found themselves m .the : happy; position of jiot. having , loit a ";, single 'playing Saturday fey! reason pf the ( vagaries o^tbe weath- , er . . The only 'occasion '• oh which it was / ■; t'fbiujid- ' expedient to postpone tnatcfaies was m connection with the deitJi of Premier Seddon. This season wi,U.: not furnish such a "bright record, as last Saturday's meteorological conditions were such as to influence 'the Postpoheinen(t Committee; m t^eclSj^ifitig all matches off for that afterniooft. The weather' was -dis?. tinotly unfy.vbraiible, 'tis true, and : probably ; all the intending ; pants ; and a very big percentage 'of 1 tbD public were made happy when the announcement was heralded. AJI- the same, competitions have been gone on with m even worse weather , than prevailed on, Saturday. • With the N.Z-. team going to Sydney" and Brigr baiie' in a few week's' time, it is neV cessary that local b6m.pe£itions should foe pushed on as expediiiously as pos--Bi'blei We may b« i© for a had witi" ter, and there is always a cbanoe tharb Jupiter Pluvius may be m afar an-grier ;,miood oil future ocoa > - sions than! -hie was last Saturday. It is to *« hoped that he will deal kind-li-er *with Rugby votaries, bu-t one can't trust" the old 'gent for a, minute. That beio? so, the local Rugby officials should make the best of drcumstanoes. • Needless to say, the West Austra-: Man Rugby Union, m whose country rugby has humped ahead wonderfully of late years, will accept what looks on the face of it as a very liberal sporting offer from' the ' New South/ Wales Rugby ' Union, m the matter of sewding a team i over its way. The Welshmen^, propose to finance the whole tour of their repre-' sontatives.. The first call on the gates after" ground charges have been •inefr to go towards the expenses of the tour, any surplus to be given to the West Australian Union- for the purpose of fostering rugby, any deficit to be made up by the N.S.W. ' Rugby Union. The West Australians are m clover sure enough. . ■ ; Sydney Varsityites are said to be .showing improvement m their footwork this [ season, seemingly the result of their visit to New Zealand, last year; A DuaiedinJ writer claims that on present form, Adams, the 'Varsity centre, and Dansey, the scrum ' half, are worthy of inclusion m the New Zealand team to visit Australia shortly. ' . Quidnunc, m the Canterbury Times, gives Welling>ton forwards ja, pat on the hwk m this way :— "Critics who have seen some of the senior games m Well'ki'gfton this season tell me that the forwards there will "walk all over" anything we have m Christchurch. Probably they are rteht, for our forwards were very badly beaten m Wellington and Auckland last year, and they seem to be no better,, if as good, this year."

Mien Cardiff defeated Swansea bfi a try to nil on March 2s, there was close on thirty tbousaad speota/tors present to waAoh fehasame. Seven hundred pounds was taken at %* / gates. So keen was the rivalry and s© great tfli<e excitement, ttoa/t neither side attempted to play th» Welsh game, and tbe irnteresting incidents of thfe wholfc match could be° counted on the fingero of one . hand. Cardiff's s-uccess was chiefly due to its for* wards, who clearly^ proved, says a Home paper., that a good eight can beat a good seven. The fact that the Swansea forwards, one of the cleverest heeling sides imaginable, were beaten for possession; m a great majority of the scrummages was' proof positive of the fact. Feeling was so Strong over the match that Gwyna Nicholls was the recipient of the' following telegram on; the -morning of the match : "Members 6f the Cardiff' Exchange mioet desirSus you should turn out iio-tday 'against Swansea.) Feeling intense. Cardiff must wiai) ' On behalf of- its members, J^ A4 Jones, President;'" ' • Queefislaoid people are disappointed that the three important fixtures In Brisbane with the , New Zealand team cannot be severally played on Saturdays, and the Rugby officials m BananalaMd say there will . uridoubt-> edly heaWgloss of revenue thro.tigi]l one of. the games being played ,vh a Wednesday; ' ■ "; Harry Kiernaa made a poor showing m hds first cup match this season. He played 'in the three-quarter line *ii the first sj>eil> but wa^.nota success, r &nd : took^^^ ; upi 'his '^ld rpV'afWl Tjiotrth-rng t&n^^witK no Bettel: re^ sults;^^George, Smith, f 6n~ ■*$&. otfcier hand, . was "the -mainstay of tfae City, backs, though r he -was too closely, shepherded by Wolf gram, on the other side, to id© mu'ah attacking work. Our old friend, George Stephensbo,, who is iknowm all over- New Zealaiod ' as w footballer and a\ theatrical manager, has fpirnd -the! climate of Gore so exhiiaratiiig^ that' he : has taken on the Rugby , a-gaio, after ha viD'g tucked bis jersey away for some years. Stephietispn played' m the centre of "the Excelsior threeqoiarter lime im'tihe ina'toh against Albion a few days ago, abd Is- claimed to ■ have "been the >'lte§t back on- the ground, albeit he had a tendency to haiig tMi to idle ball too long. -They are" raising th>e Question m l>unedin as to ttoe ' legality of George -playing under the Riii'gbv code m iM&'colony owing to his oonoiection' with a Northern Oouoty club m the Old Country some years ago. Football is m a very unsettled state m Iwveroargill just now. In consequence of the enforcement of the Sa-turda/y half-'hoj.iday regulation, teams which formerly always played on Saturday jifternodri find ' themselves/ divided/ part getting the Saturday afternoon and- others *he old custiomary half^holiday on Wednesday, i-twin be a few weeks before the clubs ca-n 'arrange their teams and . settle down to .the new conditions, and it wall probably be founds ■ as m Dimeddn, that play will take place principally oh. Saturday^ The 'benefit ma'toh, Alhambra y., Kaikorai; will result; m a little ovec £100' being handed over to the widow of Osoar 'McKewen. The deceased played for the red and : blacks, fof many, years, , arid al^o represented hdg province. ' .;'"■". A. Duneddn Scribe thinks Ernie Booth stoouM bewell up m the running for full-b^ck-in this year's All Blacks. As . tackle*^ he stands out ofiikofti; s^s ' tfe&sCj^(&- v , What tne earth hiiDect iis CCoffig^a the sports may 'be gathered from the experience of 'tfifi waogainui Old Boys'* Club; is about to 'disband owing to insufllcient playgrounds being available. Three or foiur of > their players /intend throwing m their lot with the Pirates. ' ">Ona" Thomson, to distinguish him from nils' more famous "Wrother "Mona," Is ciha'sing- the leather " at Levin;' whittier he was tr-ptfisfierred' some / months ago. £,D. says It is great fun bucking up against the Maoris, ■ who are awfully keen on Rugby up there. ■'.. •' .-.''..'. !y " '■' ' • ' ' Some- shafting lights -in Taranaki football of past days are coming agadn to the fore this season. In addition'to Songster, Grossman, a wellknown player of , a few years ago, has stripped for , Clifton this yeat. Th« Clif-ton second team hails almost en* -^ tirely frojn the Urenui and Uruti districts, and some of tlie players, had to travel fully thirty miles to take part m the Star fixture.- D. McKlennan, an old New Plymou-th play-^ er, was also m the team,- playing at centre three-quarter: He • still retains his reputation as a goal-kicker, and it . was his skill m this department that notched the only score for his team last week: ■ ■ - • • . \ ,• . , Queensland is seakiiiff to know from New South Wales* whether any of its players are to be asked to join m with the team which it is proposed to send Home next season. Rugby is becoming very popular m tlie Nelson up-country 1 districts, and clubs have been formed at WafeeTfieM, Kohatii, Tapawera, and Tadmor. Next season the new-comers intend throwing; "down the gauge of battle to older established! clubs. In the meantime they arepickiog up wrinkles iv the game ' from ol«d iiimers. A oorrespanden't wants to be put on the lay of "Snip" "Alien,' the old Taranaki and New Zealand rep. fivtiei<gh>th. -If ram- not mistaken; "Snip" is residing somewhere- over Nelson way, Motueka, I think. E. W. Roberts' the International skipper, started Rugby j as- a wing three^qparter before taking up forr ward play. He took part m two war campaigns, viz., against thief Boers and Soonalis, and returned, hojfhe In 1904 and was m the English team a-g-ainst the New Zealanders, Welsh-, men and '"Paddies." 'He was the first to cross the Springbok's /line m their recent tour.