Rugby

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 729, 31 July 1929, Page 13

Rugby

TLe Game and its 5 Players*

A Rugby church parade formed part of the Canterbury Rugby Union’s jubilee celebrations. This was held on Sunday last. \ Good Fullback A good fullback in Thomas, the Morrinsville custodian, will be seen in

action for Waikato against Auckland on Saturday. At the commencement of the season Thomas had not struck form, and •was not included in the Waikato side that played Auckland at Hamilton on June 3, but he is now reported to be playing up to his old form. When the team to tour Africa was being selected Thomas was nominated to play in the trial games at Wellington, where he performed well, but not good enough to command a trip to Springbokland, How Many Better? When the All Black teams are chosen to meet England next year, how many players better than those in Porter’s present contingent will the New Zealand selectors find? asks the Sydney “Herald.” Australia can rest assured that when the team is published it will be a different one to that which took the field at Sydney last Saturday. Waikato v. Auckland On Saturday a. return match will be played between Waikato and Auckland representatives, this being the first representative fixture of the year to be played at Eden Park. Although Auckland should have little difficulty in notching another win against Waikato, the strong pack that Waikato generally manages to turn out should help to keep the game interesting. Given a fine day there should be a large attendance at Eden Park. Played Eight Games Although only nine games have been played by the All Blacks on the present tour, no player has achieved the distinction, like Nepia on the 1924 tour, of playing in every game. The

nearest t 6 it are the two Aucklanders, McWilliams and Hook, whose services were needed in eight games. Those who played in seven are Sonntag, Cotterell, Lilburne, Stringfellow and Carleton.

Idiotic Messages Not the least the uns&tisfa tory features associated with the latest All Black tour is the idiotic messages broadcast on behalf of the team at j half-time intervals. Last Saturday's j choice sample intimated that the team i was “F.0.J.G.”. which, being trans- ! lated, meant “Full of Joy Germ.” If | wireless announcers insist on sending j something over the air on behalf of j the team, the team’s manager should i see that something rational is sent. I and not such puerile “ballyhoo” as ' this. * * * Scorers in Australia With two tries and 12 conversions Cundy at present heads the All Blacks’ j scoring list with a total of 30 points, j Hext come Geddes and Waterman with j seven tries each: Lilburne. two tries j and seven conversi ms; Stringfellow, five tries and a drop kick: and Grenside, live tries. McWilliams and j Oliver scored two tries each, Hepia > converted one and kicked a penalty ’ goal, Hook scored a try and converted one. and Carleton, Porter, Palmer. I Reid and Kivell notched one try apiece. Strangely enough during the J tour there were only two potted goals, j and both occurred in the game against I Victoria, Stringfellow getting one for I Hew Zealand and Burke doing like- j wise for Victoria. * * * Auckland Rep. Team The side selected to represent Auckland in the return match against Waikato on Saturday does not come as much of a surprise, except perhaps the choice of Lucas as wing-three-quarter. Although the ex-All Black plays well in this position he would I probably have suited Auckland’s re- j quirements at the present moment j much better at second five-eighth, j with Cammick at first. This would ♦ have provided a place on the wing for j Rex Hook, who has surely played his way into the rep. team if anyone has. | The back division would then read j Corner, Cammick, Lucas, Bush. Minns, R. Hook and Butler, in the writer’s j opinion, a much more effective com- j bination at the present moment. Numbering Players Although a programme was issued containing the names of the players in the secondary schools matches on Saturday, the players themselves were not numbered, and thus the programme —as far as the public was concerned — was of very little use. It is understood that this is done with the idea of preventing boys being spoilt with undue publicity. As a matter of fact it makes little difference to pressmen whether there is a programme or not. as it is a fairly simple matter to pick up the name of prominent players from other schoolboys. This being so. there is really no reason why members of the public, after having purchased programmes, should not be allowed to gratify a perfectly natural curiosity. It would be far better if the principals of the various schools would allow this information to be published, and leave the rest to the discretion of the Press. # Promising Five-eighth It is possible that Stoupe, Marlst wing-tlireequarter, will earn greater recognition of his ability as second live-eighth than as a scoring man. His exhibition as an inside back connect- j ing link on Saturday was a particular lv bright effort. He provided the 1 dash and initiative to convert the j Marist backs into a dangerous attacking force, whereas their efforts had previously been largely concentrated on defence. He infuses plenty of vigour and dash into his running, and lias plenty of initiative and judgment for a five-eighth. This was reflected by his nicely-timed cutting-in, drawing the opposing threequarters before sending liis own centre on a. gallop, and varying his work nicely on attack with the reverse pass to his first live-eighth instead of the orthodox style. He has a fairly sound defence, and is a strong kick. Father and Son Halfbacks E. T. C. (“Tiny”) Leys, who was sent to Australia to assist the All Blacks, learned his football at "Wellington College. He played for the college second fifteen, of which lie was captain in 1922. In that year his team headed the list of ton ni s on the sixth-grade ladder, scoring the phenomenal total of 6(5 points, it hie one penalty goal, representing three points, was the only score against it. Hush brook and Carlson, who lia\e reached the status of All Blacks, were also included in the Wellington College team referred to. Leys’s father, well-known in the North Island as ■Jimmy” Leys, represented Wanganui from 18S8 to 1891, and on transforming to Manawatu, represented that district in 1892 and the following year. Like his son, he was a halfback, and in the match against Stoddart’s team, in ISBS, he scored Wanganui's only try in the last match of the tour, which was drawn.