PEACE CUP PROSPECTS

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1049, 13 August 1930, Page 15

PEACE CUP PROSPECTS

HAMILTON TO PLAY MORRINSVILLE RUGBY IN WAIKATO From Our Own Correspondent HAMILTON, Tuesday. With the excitement of the Briti.-h I tour disappearing, Waikato Rugby players are settling down to a period of hard training for the remaining engagements of the season. At Hamilton, the Clarke Cup competition i-; practically over, with Marist the win- ! ner and Frankton. runner-up. | All attention is now focused on the I ried on week by week. Hamilton has ; successfully defended the trophy ; against Rotorua and Taupiri. but will ! be up against a stiff proposition next i Saturday, when Morrinsville, which was the holder at the beginning of | last season, will make another strong i bid. In view of the fact that its • side contains the Cameron brothers j (Colin and Bill were both highly J praised for their performances against the British) and the Stan. Thomas, its prospects of gaining the verdict over the Hamilton are fairly bright. It is practically certain that Thomas will be sufficiently recovered from his fracture to take the field. He has been sadly missed among the Waikato representatives this season. TOO MANY REPRESENTATIVE GAMES? ; The craze for representative mat* I:<us to the detriment of club fixtures, which 1 affects other parts of the provine j appears to have a hold in the W. I kato. Simply because a few junioi •have to be played in the Clarke Cup matches at Hamilton, these match* - ; are deemed not worth watching and j the competition not worth carrying o ■ to the bitter end. The clamant need for the betterment of Rugby in Hamilton is a reduction in the number oi Peace Cup challenges, so that seniors will be available to play with their club mates. Is Rugby to be played with the object of continually matching the best players for big gates, or is it to be played with the object of doing the greatest good to the greatest number of players? This is the question which must soon be answered by those controlling the destinies of the code. “Bill” Allen, who has left the district, is a great loss to local football but his successor appears to he “Slip'’ Griffiths, the Frankton winger, who made incredibly swift and long runs in the mud last Saturday. Griffiths plays far ahead of Carlson, the Matamata wing, whose recent outings with Waikato have been singularly unimpressive. The time has come when Waikato must look for another halfback. However helpful Mitchell has been in the past, he is approaching the veteran stage. Without the advantage of havj ing seen all the likely halves in the ! Waikato, the writer fancies B. Mills, who has fed out for Marist this season. Mills is a tireless worker and. properly trained, would make a firstclass half. Pat Courtney, the hefty Hamilton lock, has made great progress this season. Formerly regarded as something of a humorist, Pat was given a ' place chiefly for his weight, but recent ! games have shown that he has something more in him than mere avoirdupois. Waikato’s next outing will be against Auckland on August 23, and even the most optimistic Hamilton enthusiasts do not expect a repetition of what happened when these teams met on the King’s Birthday.