FIXTURES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2892, 11 August 1909, Page 60

FIXTURES.

August 14. —Trial match. August 21. —Southland v. Otago. at Dunedia. August 25. —South Island v. North Island, et Wellington. August 28. — Otago University v. Sydney University, at Dunedin. September I. — Otago team v. Sydney University, at Dunedin. September 4. —New Zealand Universities v. Sydney University, at Dunedin. September 11. — Otago v. Wellington, at Dunedin. September 18. — Otago v. Canterbury, at Dunedin. OTAGO TEAM'S GODDFIELDS TOUR. August 26. —Maniototo, at Naeeby. August 28. —Vincent, at Clyde. August 31. —Tuapeka, at Roxburgh. September 2. —Tuapeka South, at I>awrence. September 4. —South Otago, at Balclutha. NOTES BY FULL BACKThe following table shows the positions of the respective teams engaged in the First Grade contest: —

The principal match of the eeasor cf 1909— the North v. South Island fixture — is- definitely decided ao be played on Wednesday, August 25. The Otago "IXnion has been approached to nominate the players available to /epreeent this province in. the South Island teanr before the 13th inst. The players who have Rugby qualifications fitting them to be considered for fehe South Island team do .not occur readily at this moment. Our backs are bj no means vn the first flight, and saveral ot them are hopelessly mediocre. Of forwards the province can produce enough and to spare, and it is th© scrumming origade that must form the 'backbone of our representation in the South Island team. Should any backs be nominate!. 1 ■ivpecl to see the names of Bennet (Aihamb>a) aad M'Donaid (the ex-Chn>t-ehureii ii\e-oi£rhth->), whilst amongst the forwards biicli pUtjore as Patterson (Zingari). Iviuip\ (Uiiiuii). M'Donaid and Johnson (Kaikoiaij, and M'Ksinzie (Alhambra) must \have a chance. The 'orm of these player-; in tho match .-Jouthiand v. Otago on Saturday, August 21, will furnish a guide as to their showing in the big match in Wellington c few days later. The club season just concluded has been singularly free from ssrious injurj to players, but the unfortunate accident which occurred on Saturday last to W. Herwood. the Union b'alf back, was an extremely regrettable ending to the season. The honours of the premier team of 1909 go out unreservedly to the Alhambra- senior fifteen, whose consistent play, back and forward, have won for them the enviable position. The team'? record of 15 inafcohes played and 15 won creates a fresh record m premiership events, and -will 6tand for several seasons to come. It is a record •which the Red and Blacks have every reason to be proud of, and which may be an incentive to other teams. The visit of an English team to South 'Africa suggested by the South African Rugby Union was not taken up with any zeal in England, and the E.R.U decided not to accept the invitation. No reason was assigned, but it is suspected that the recent decisions of th' governing body on the score of expenses have rendered the task of raising a representative teaxn somewhat diffi-

I There is no "Country Week" to round I off our football season this year, which / many country players will regrsi, but in I place of the "Country Week" a town xepre- < sentative team will make a toijr of the goldfields. This innovation on the part of the 1 local union ie deserving of much commendation. Any movement which tends to raiso the standard of Rugby in the country earn 3 the esteem of the right thinking, j At the end of the present month the { Sydney University footballers will be with .us showing the local 'Varsity team just I how the game should ba played. If the J reports of the high standard of play of :the tourists can be accepted as stern fact one shuddeis to think what is going to hap- | pen to our own student footballers, who .this season are but a shadow of past I 'Varsity teams. In view of the invasion I 1 expect to hear of systematic training and 'an intelligent playing of the game gone j into for the next three or four weeks. I Mr C. V Langsford , (secretary and trea- ! surer of the Aucklandi* Rugbj Union) has ' submitted a rough balance sheet of the j year's workings up to last week. The | receipts,- including balance of £114 9s 3d, 1 brought forward were £627 18s, and the- | expenditure £228 2s, leaving a credit 'balance of £399 16s. Notwithstanding the jfact that the Cup competitions were any- ' thing but exciting, no less a sum than £422 46 was taken at the gates. On present indications, it looks, eiven allowing for the sending of the team south, as if the A.R.U would come out otr the right side of the ledger, which for an off-season must be accounted highly satisfactory. | B. I. Swannell, the ex-Welsh forward, who toured New Zealand and Australia ,wiith Bedel-Sivright's British football team !in 1904, is secretary of the Metropolitan • Rugby Union ' in Sydney, j Since the inauguration of the district 6<sieme by the Auckland Rugby Union in ! 1885 Ponsonby ha* won the Senior ChaonIpionship on seven occasions, City on six, ' Grafton on four, Parnedl three, Newton [ two, North Shore one, Gordon one, while in 1896 Newton, City, and Parnell tied for first place. ■ • E. E. Booth, the ex-Otago back, and member of the 1905 All Blacks combination, which met with such phenomenal success at Home, is this season playing on the three-quarter line for Newtown, the crack district team in Sydlney I While the Boulder City footballers were I being entertained at Bendigo recently Mr R. T. Hager, the vice-president ot the j visiting team, said that Sunday foot-ball | was thoroughly -established at the Boulder. I Last year Saturday matches had been tried j and failed. The miners did not have a ! feoliday on Saturday, and it was decided to go back to matches on Sunday. No charge , could be made, but there was a "collection," and as much as £103 had been realised at one match. Mr Hager said that the heads of the Roman Catholic and ' Anglican Churchee at Broken Hill had appioved of the reversion to Sunday matches, I provided that they were properly conducted. A Wellington correspondent writing to Sydney Referee says amonget other things : I "You will b? very sorry to hear that F. I Roberts is laid up with a bad leg, which was hurt in a game of Rugby. He might never play again. Wellington and New Zealand can ill-afford t< lore him. He was ! playing better than ever this year; and, : with a young set of backs he is great, for ! he keeps them in their places. New Zeaj land has lost a good many flying backs of the Roberts stamp during the last three or I four years. The question is, can she stand | it and keep her position as ons of the leadi ing countries in the Rugby world? I think | 6he oan. But tho n>cxt three years will he i the hardest, as most of the star players ore ! retiring. Besides, W. Johnstono has just returned from tho North of England, and .vili ' take back with him next year 25 young and ' fast players for a professional tour. The Association game Ls g-stting a great hold. They have 60 teams playing in Wellington alone : that is, including Fchool teams. And hundreds are pla> ing hockey. In a. comment on the game plajed be- ! t\<epn the '-All M.ioiis" and a Now Soiuh Wales thirteen, under Nci-thern Union 1 rules, the Sunday Tiinf» t comments that tho *New Scuth Wales foi wauls ii;-{ht through were not ncu ly a= as tho ! Maoris, who bu-l!id them iopsp<cdly. The laws of t.lio gam?, were not too clo-iely observed, t'rw Maoris at time-* p!a}ir>^ g-ocd old Rugby Union in grc-.it -ivl<* Tho game was \ery fast, extiin.^, an 4 full of steople-che-se incidents, tho »t-ccnd half much nioie so than the fust. Ratete, getting a pa^s fjrona a comrade, streaked down tne we -tern. wing with only Wcolley in front. Without hesitation he sprang inro the air on meeting the f ull back, and went clean over his head — a sensational jump. He fell, however, on^Jandin.fr on the ground, and rhe ball was ''worked across to the other side of the ground, where, after some fcrambling, Ratete got across. Regarding P. Wh?repapa, a player better known in Dunedin by hie" European nanv. of Asher, a writer "in the Sunday Sun obser%ed that •'one of the three-quarters. P. Wharepapa, absolutely jumped his wav to the line time after time. It was a lcr.g while before r he homesters appreciated this departure in tactics, and by then he had scored a try o r two. Ho would go full tilt ahead until a man bent to collar him, .and then, as though over a hurdle, be would jump

' the back of his human obstacle, and forge J straight ahead with, no appreciable diminution of speed." i In the event of nothing coming from the i English Union or th"c International Board j in the direction of amending the laws of ! Rugby Union football, one hopes, in due ! course, to see a conference between the i New Zealand and Australian Unions for the purpose of making certain changes to apply to these colonies. I ("Cynic") believe in restriof'ng the teams to 14, with not more than seven in the scrmnrnage, and not rno,re . than two in ths front row ; but this will ne%er coma about in Australasia, unless ! sanctioned by the International Board, and I the odds are, I suppose, 10,000 to 1 against i that. Moreover, the law relating to held ' ball and playing the ball on the ground after tho tackle should be simplified in terms and mad** more rigid ; the ball carr'ed into touoh should be reg?,rded in the same light as a ball kicked into touch — that is, the throw-out to belong to the opposing side ; no player should be permitted to get in. f ront of the front row of his forwards un^il the ball is out of the scrummage, and ail goals should count { two points, save the dropped goal ifrom , the field, and that to count three points, the same as a try. These alterations, together with the application of a five yards limit for the throw-out, would, I feel sure, j give us a vastly-improved Rmgby, and yet I not interfere with the strategy and tactics 1 of the game, the absence of which. — as far jas we know it in Australia — is the black J spot in the Northern Union game. In i Yorkshire and Lancashire there may be I strrtegry and tactics when, the best teams ' are afield. Indeed, there must be, seeing that the scoring in the big .club fixtures is ! so smail compared' with the sooring in Aus- | tralia. But so fair little of these important elements have, as yet, been seen in Australia. The match between Alexandra and Crom,,well, played last Saturday, was won by 1 the former by 9 points to 6— not 9 points to 3 as stated previously. Dwyer kicked two penalty goals for the losers. : NOTES' ON SATURDAY'S PLAY. The first grade matches were concluded ' on Saturday, and the result of the competition is that Alhambra, who have gone through the season without sustaining a defeat, win the banner. Last year when 12 matches were played, Alhambra were third on the list, winning seven and losing five games. Southern, who were runners up last year, with a record of 10 wins out of 12 matches, are level with ZingariRichmond for second place. Last year Zingari-Richmond were sixth with six wins, five losses, and one draw. Dunedin, last year's winners, have fallen to fourth place this year, and Port Chalmers remain in the same position as they occupied last . year, being fifth on the list. Kaikorai has •' not done so well this year as they did last season, having fallen from fourth place to sixth, and Taieri Rovers have not changed their position, being again seventh on the list. University have fallen from eighth to last place, and Pirates and Union have improved their positions accordingly, being , eighth and ninth on the list. Dunedin v. Sotjthehn. Notwithstanding a strong, cold wind, a fairly large number of people found their way to the Caledonian Ground to witness the match Dunedin v. Southern. It may be safely said that faulty passing lost Dunedin a rather large numlbsr of pointe in the first spell of Sia game. Always within striking distance, excepting on about two occasions, they handled the ball very badly when an opportunity presented itself. In the second spell there was a welcome improvement in their play, and not withstanding that they were fighting against the wind, thej had slightly the best of things. Thus they held tha upper hand at most stages of the gan c. The forwards played in a particularly solid manner, their rushes being very effective. Southern played throughout in a very indifferent style, th© only redeeming feature being the work of one or two individuals. The game as a whole was interesting, but never brilliant. M'Donaid stood out alone among the backs, Kis running being very disconcerting to the Southern side. Occasionally, however, he was disposed to take too mush upon himself. Waters, Fitzpatrick. and Skinner were the best of tiho winning forwards. j Among the Southern team Eclcihold played' a sodid game, both on defence and attacK. ' Mr H. M'Fariane refereed. j Dunedin 12 points. Southern 8 points. • ALHAMBBA V. PIRATE 3. This match was played on a clean, dry ground at Ca-risbrcok. In all-rour.d, play the Alhambra team were, of course, superior — but, even when they got the strong wind behind them in the s:cond spell, they achieved nothing like the rout expected. The smartness and resourcefulness of the Pirate& back 6 spoiled I lie R°d attacks again and afiain, <md quite frequently turned the Alhainbru speculations into %vhat were only preienud by ths solidity of t.ho Red back clivi-ion fiom being Pirate score--. Ui.haiopiiv, th-e Pitatc.i t<?<mi had not sufficient htrengih and combinat on to take advantage of their \sc!l-s<a oreJ opponents' frequent fiimbhnir anil mistakes or to follow up th^ openings matle by occasional brilli.ii!t play on th* pait of their forwards. The Piratos. pos->ib!>, had to thank a particularly tricky w,nd for the slight difference in tho scoio.s, for the <ru»ts quite often took the holiday from the Alhambra's attacks, and th<» srnipr from their loose ruahe?. Mr H. H. S. AYhiiiwa* in all respect* an efficient r^foieo. j Alhambra - .~ ~ 11 poiris 1 Piratc-j ... — . ~ 8 |,o ivs ' ZIXGMU-RICJIMOND V. POP.T CHALMERS. The-o teams met oa tlip Saw js-ri' Ji.ty Ground, which v. as in fairly c,ood ordoi. T'l-ero \V'is a '-at icfacroi\ attendance of s-pec-tatois, who witnc~=e.d a fuirly fast and e\en game. Zinirari wio Miiicrior to their opponents in th© forward di\ ision, cettlrig moie tl.un a fair ~haio of r^.c ball in the t-ri<jrns. Tb^y also used their weight to more ndwnlage in tho line cuts. Piomincnt among their forwards were Patterson Graham, and M'Guffog. Hanson, who made a fust appearance in senior football, alto playad well. Of the Port forwaid.., Clark. Hay, and Perry did good service. In the back division therewas not much to chooso betwe-en the two teams, neither of which showed much originality or ajiy inclination to throw tho ball about. Indeed, though Zingau got tho ball in the scrums, they mac'-e very littlo use of it. Davidson, Kellan, and Will were the pick of the Zingari backs. Kelly, at full back for Port, was very safe. Mr Garth Gallaway made an efficient referee.

Zingari-ftichmond ..* ... 9 points. Port Chalmers ... «.. . 8 points. Taieri Rovehs v. TJxiox. This matoh was played, at Taluma Park, where a cold wind made things very unpleasant for spectators and players alike. The game was not an interesting one, and no players stood out as remarkable for their efforts, with the exception perhaps of G. Soott, whose kicking undoubtedly gave Taieri the game The match was marred by an unfortunate accident just on the call of time. W. Harwood (Union's half back) obtained the ball and was tackled. However, he slipped and broke h:g leg, and was removed to the Hospital. Mr W. Martin acted as referee. Taieri Rovers 13 points. * Union 8 points. Kaikobai v. Univebsity. This match, played at Bishopscourt, was contested in four quarters. Kaikorai kicked off with the wind in their favour. The first spoil was of a fairly even nature, University, despite the wind being against them, playing up well. The spell ended with only one score recorded — a goal kicked by Johnston (Kaikorai) from a mark. The next spell, with Kaikorai against the wind, witnessed better play. The Kaikorai forwards generally secured the ball, and the half back was thus enabled to initiate some pretty passing rushes. Mr W. Dey was referee. Apart from the third spell when even play was witnessed, and the last one when Kaikorai piled on the score, the game was uninteresting. Kaikorai played up well, and University, although their chance was small, made a game fight of * it. Kaikorai 20 points." University nil. SECOND GRADE. Alhambra beat Ravensbourne by 9 points to 3. This was the first defeat suffered by Ravensbourne, but it does not alter the position of the latter team, which wins the banner. The Alhambra team is runner-up. Union (18) beat Kaikorai (8). For th© winners -tries were obtained by Simpson (2), Jonkjns, Hart, and M'Donaid, while Graham kicked a penalty goal. On the Kakorai side Torrance and . Beissel scored tries, one of which Torrance converted. THIRD GRADE. A very great deal of interest was taken in the Third Grade match Kaikorai v. Zingari-Richmond, and a large number of people were present on Carisbrook on Saturday to see Kaikorai win the match (and the premiership) by 8 points to nil. Kaikorai undoubtedly had the best of the game throughout, but, as they played against the wind in the first spell, no score was recorded. In the second spell, M'Neill (the winning team's captain and second five-eighth) effected the first score by cutting in after a pass from the scrum ; and he converted his own try. Cameron scored the second try. SCHOOL MATCHES. Senior. Normal 9 points v. High School B 3 ponits. Scorers: For the winners— Goudie, three tries; for the losers, Goudie. Williamson, Mackay, and Hancock played well for the winners. Junior. Macandrew Road defeated Sawyers' Bay by default. Kensington defeated Arthur Street by 45 points to nil. MATCHES IN OTHER CENTRES. AUCKLAND, August 8. Yesterday two representative teams played inter-union matches with country teams. Auckland A team defeated Thames at Thames by 13 points to 6, and Auckland B team defeated Franklin at Pukekohe by 13 points to 3. The Northern Union match between Auckland and Taranaki representatives was won by the visitors by 8 points to 7. The match, despite cold, showery weather, attracted an attendance of between 4000 and 5000 spectators. The Northern Union game has now about 200 players in Auckland, and the public is beginning to patronise the game. PALMERSTON N., August 8. Horowhenua defeated the Manawatu Union senior representatives at Levin by 14 points to 9. WELLINGTON-,- August 8. The senior Rugby matches yesterday resulted : — Poneke beat Oriental by 9 points to 3; Petone beat Athletic by 9 points to nil; Southern beat Victoria College by 3 points to nil; St. James beat Melrose by 16 points to nil. The Wellington v. Old Boys' match was abandoned owing to the bad state of the ground. CHRISTCHURH, August 8. The senior football matches resulted : — Merivale 0, Albion 0; Linwood 10, Old Boys 3; Sydenham 6, Canterbury College 5; Christchurch a bye.

Played. Won. Lost. Diawn. Points for Points agst Flag points.

Jmamora .. .. kjuthern . iingaiiRichmond . Xunedlin 'ort Chalmers . Caikorai taieri Rovers 'irates Jnion Tniversity 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 10 9 10 7 6 4 1 2 0 4 3 5 7 8 8 10 11 13 0 .166 1 150 3 144 0 171 1 108 1 89 2 99 1 75 3 55 0 71 53 30 57 21 61 21 78 20 64 15 98 13 113 12 226 9 135 5 251 4

Pbemieh Clttbs of Otago. The following is a list of the premier clubs of Otago since 1885, with the season's record of each : —

o Playecl "Won. Drawn. Lost. Points for. Points agsi

■"— ... o a 1886— Pirates . . 10 8 1887 — Union ... 10 7 1888 — Kaikorai • VJ 7. 6 1889 — Kailcorai -". '.v, 9 6 1890— Union ".'{, % 10 8 1891— ALhambra .A 9 9 1892— Alhambra ..10 9 1693 — Kaikorai .. .. 13 13 1894 — Kaikorai . . „ . is 13 1895— Kaikorai . "86 1898 — Kaikorai ... 88 1897 — Kaikor&i . \ . 10 9 1898 — Kaikorai ... 9 7 1899 — Kaikorai . ..12 9 1900— Alhambra ..12 9 1901— Kaikorai .„ .. 9 7 1902 — Alhambra .. 12 12 1903 — Alhaxnbr* ..10 6 1904— Southern .„ .. 11 8 1906— Alhambra, ..11 8 1906 — University „ 13 n 1907— University .-. 16 11 1908— Dunedin ... ... 12 11 1909— Alhambra .. 5 15 x 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 2 0 0 1 2 1 2 1 0 a 41 8 2 61 1 2 36 15 1 20 3 3 69 13 1 52 9 0 76 11 0 117 24 0 153 4 0 260 4 2 157 6 0 107 7 0 102 23 1 84 17 2 100 26 2 108 34 0 57 26 0 150 5 4 81 13 2 70 25 1 86 55 1 121 45 3 301 69 0 143 45 0 166 53