RUGBY NOTES

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 564, 22 June 1933, Page 6

RUGBY NOTES

"Lock.")

SENIOR GAMES TEAM RULED OUT FOR BEING LATE ON FIELD GIENERAL JOTTINGS .

(Notes: by

The defection of two senior teams on Saturday robbed thje games at Arawa park of a good deai of interest but the fact that the ladder leaders went down to Rotoiti hsis made the competition more interesting. Despate the fact that Waikite published 19 names for their senior grade team on Saturday they were unable to field a team though their delegate said . at the union meeting that, given a bit more time they would have been able to take the field. As they h'ad already had at least 16 minutes after starting time, it is h'ard to " realise just how much time they did want. The missing of points may proviej a lesson. The case of the Whaka team was even more difiicult to understand. According to their delegate, they were ready to take the field when the referee was ready but did not do so and thus missed the points. It should be known to any captain that in the case of a team claiming a match, the team must take the field arid kick off before the referee can award a game. Whaka missed two easy pointjs through lack of knowledge of the rules. Talking of rules and lack of their knowledge there seems to be a good de'al of ignoranee of finer points of the game among players. The copies of the rules are ob.tainable from the secretary of the Referees' Association and any referee as only too glad at any time to explain a point to any player who cares to take the trouble to ask. In many centres players are permitted to attend the meetings of the Referees' Associations where the new rulings are discussed. Bottling It Up The IRotoiti-Waiariki game was a scrambling one from a spectacular point of view, both sides apparently being afraid' to let the ball out. In the circumstances this was perhaps excusable on the part of Rotoiti but not in the case of Waiariki who have previously shown a certain amount of strength aft. In both cases, alterations in the" placing of the men made a good deal of difference after ha'lf time. In the case of Rotoiti they were getting considerably the worst of the scrums until they took Mackie from the five-eighth line where he was quite at sea and put him into his proper place in the pack. From then on Rotoiti go.t a larger share . of the ball. ' Rotoiti are fortunate in their -half, Kapene, who showed a sounder knowledge of the value of stab kicking and line finding punts than has been seen out this season. He saved his pack a good deal of unnecessary running and this stood to them at the end of the game when Waiariki flung care to the winds and launehed massed attacks in a fruitless endeavour to retrieve the I position. His blocking' work too was sound. 'Both th'e Vercoe brothers, one on each side, showed sound defence and the Rotoiti representative opened up the game several times as well as getting back to save-his side on one occasion. Value of Line Kicking One of the imain things laclcing in the Greens was a sense of line-finding ""in kicks. Time and again the kicker with plenty of time at his disposal punted up field and .sent his pack toil•ing away without finding the line only to see the opposition snaffle the ball before it went out and open up a movement on the opposite side of the field with the green pack running themselves to a standstill in leather chasing. Ability to find the line now that the E.F.U. rules are played is a necessary qualification for a full-back or centre three-quar.ter and on Saturday 's game, Waiariki should realise the fact. Rotoiti were a bit better served than their opponents in this department and Heke frequently was able to spell his pack by judicious lining well down. Both Waiariki and Rotoiti suffered from one or two "vamping" forwards who rested their hands on the pack and were obviously awaiting a quick break away. At one stage of the game there were two black forwards and three green forwards not putting an ounce dnto the tight but "shining" fcil the time. A forward who won't push should be pushed — to the sideline. The Rotorua Referees' Association has decided to ask 'the parent body, through Waikato, what the position is if a player sends the ball forward and then drop-kicks it. This should not cause any headaches to "Dan" Mackenziie sincfe the name "drop-kick" shows that the ball must be dropped not propelled forward. It will be interesting to learn the offieial reply. Peace Cup Fixtures The Peace Cup fixtures are now out and as anticipated by "Lock" last week, Rotorua, has to fight it out with Putaruru before entering the charmed circle of .straightout challengers. There is plenty of time for the working up of a team before the date fixed for the Peace Cup fixture, for it is not until September 2 and well on in the season, that Rotorua may have its ehance. Cambridge has the first "pop" at the trophy," meeting Morrinsville. They may hold it in this match and unless Paeroa has made wonderful strides in the present feeason, should have no difficulty in holding it against this union. Thames should accc-unt for Te Aroha in their elimination game for whenever these teams have met in the past, Thames has held the upper hand. Thames iray give Morrinsville their first sermus friglic and if they manage to stave p'f defeat the blue 'and blacks of Mornasvffle wi'.l hav e to mee- the vici "r- of 'he Ham-ilton-Taupird game which should be Hamilton. After the September 2 clash, Waipa and Matamata are to be met and a line on their form will be possible as Rotorua has matches against both of them prior to any Peace Cup e'limination games. Should Rotorua be successful in securing tbe coveted trophy, there will only be two games to play to. amass gates from so that even if successful Rotorua will

not make very much out of the trophy this season. The challenge from the Opotiki Rugby Union on hehalf of the Whakatohea tribe for the Tainui Shield is the first to come in and if the Bay tribe puts its best foot forward, the game should be interesting. A date is not as yet allotted. It is noticed that the Rangitaiki Sub-union team, ■ which embraces a number of Te Puke players, administered a decisive defeat to Waipa recently. Hopopata who was one of the Te Arawa tribal team to go to Taranaki, was the main attacking back and notched three tries. Sutherland, well-known to Rotorua crieketcircles, was in form and gave a great f ullback display while he had his kicking boots on and notched three conversions and a penalty goal. There seems to have been a proper Donnybrook at Rangatiki in the King Country recently the referee being chased off the field and the game being abandoned.- There has been a good deal of trouble between the Rangatiki and Te Kuiti teams for many years, fifteen at the least to "Lock's" knowledge, and the fracas does not altogether surprise him. The trouble is largely the seeking of the union concerned for it has adopted the attitude of dealing ,far too le.niently with' rough play and its chickens have 'apparently come home to roost with a vengeance. Most people will remember that seasons ago, Taranaki took drastic action when players struck a referee and that has apparently cooled down the hot heads in the butter fat pro■vince while only a little while ago the police .had to be called in at a Wairarapa match. Control of Spectators Talking of union action, it is time that more control of spectators on the No. 1 ground at Arawa Park was used. On Saturday, the referee three times had to hold up the game owing to spectators encroaching on the sidelines. Not only is this unfair to the players for there is no provision for extra time lost in this way, but it is unfair to those spectators who pay their money and observe the rules by standing back at the fences. As it is, their view of the game at exciting moments is frequently blocked by mobs who rush to the sideline. The union accepts the spectators' money and should exercise proper control. It has all the powers necessary to deal with the matter. For the information of team e'aptains, it is notified that teams lists will be published only in Saturday's issues in conjunction with the fixtures. It is desired to group all such information together for the convenience of the public and club captains will assist by having their team lists delivered at the office of the "Morning Post" not later than noon on Fridays. Later than that they eannot be published. In Other Centres One of the sensations of the Rugby world in .other centres was the defeat of the hitherto unbeaten South-ern-team-at Dunedin. Until Saturday their line had not been crossed this season but Kaikorai wbo usually manage to upset things during a season, managed to put it across the competition leaders. There was. an upset in Palmerston North too for Old Boys defeated the leaders Kia Toa, by a try to nil. In Auckland "Ponies" are still leading by a point but they will have their work cut out to stall off Varsity who made hacks of Grammar Old Boys last week. Grammar, who easily won the championship last year, have fallen on evil days and the only stalwart still to display form seems to be the half, Merv. Corne.r, who did a lot of work. The Waimate team from Manaia has a stranglehold on the Taranaki championship having got through without a defeat. . Boasting such names on its roll in olden days as Alan Good, the Burke Brothers, Simon Mynott, Mackay the Bayly's Fred Roberts and other similar stalwarts, a few years ago the club could only manage to field a thrid grade team, but steady coaching and building up has had the results aimed for and it looks as if history would repeat itself and the blue and blacks come into the Rugby limelight once- more.