FOOTBALL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 79, 22 August 1914, Page 7

FOOTBALL.

ALL BLACKS IN AUSTRALIA. RESULTS TO DATE. v. X.S.W., won by 27 to 6. v. Wis tern' Districts, won by 59 to 19. t. Australia, won by 5 to nil. V. Northern Districts, won by 86 to 6. v. Queensland won by 26 to 5. \. guociislar.il, won by 19 to »ij. v. Australia, won by 17 to nil. v. Metropolitan, won by 11 to 6. .• t. N.S.W., won by 25 to 10. v. Australia, won bv 542 to 7. REPRESENTATIVE MATCHES. RESULTS TO DATE. v. Wanganui, won by 0 to 8. v. Wellington, won by 14 to 10. v. Wairoa Sab-Union, won bv 8 to nil (B team). r. Wanganui (Shield match) won bv 17 to 3. v. Manawatu, won by 11 -to 3. t. Auckland B, won by 9 to 5 (B match). v. Horowhenua, won by 14 to 3 (Shield match). ' v. Wairarapa (Shield jnateM), won bv 22 to 3. v. Canterbury (Shield match), won by fi to 5. ' MATCHES ARRANGED. August 22—v. Auckland, at Auckland. August '27'—Southland, at New Plymouth. September 3—r. Bay of Plenty. September 10—v. Wellington, at Stratford. September 17—v. Auckland, at New Plymouth. MATCH FOR NEXT WEEK THURSDAY. Tinanalki v„ Southland, at .Recreation Grounds. New Plymouth . (Shield match). NEWS AND NOTES. Tt was generally anticipated that Canterbury ■ would give the Shield a hi" shake up, especially so as Taranaki were weakened by the absence of Dewar—who is a great general among the for- j wards—and of Young, the Stratford ■ dashing wing three-quarter, both of whom thave gone to the front. But few expected that Taranaki would be in arrears right through the piece, and would be found hard battling within five minuates of the close to save the Shield, which ■ appeared to be surely slipping away south. Such, however, was the case. Canterbury held the upper hand right through the first spell, when they attacked most of the time and kept Taranaki husil.v defending. Both backs J and forwards worked vigorously, the latter being prominent in sonic solid I rushes, which took a lot of stopping. I The backs, too, threw tile leather about well, but owing to the tendency of the five-eighths not to run straight," most of the bouts, though pretty, proved leis effective than would a decent line-kick—-and their backs could line. That they only scored one try in this spell was duo to tfhis fault, and also to the centre three-quarter showing too great a fondness lor the ball. Canterbury in the second spell seemed for the most part satisfied with their five-point lead, and were content to defend, whereas had they continued -to attack they might have profited bv the-locals' mistakes und have added further points. Of course, it must be admitted that the local terfm played better in the second spell. In the first half they seemed demoralised. The forwards could not, or would not, get going, anil they put no "ginger" into their work. Possibly they were relying on their backs. This, however, was a mistake. Taranaki's forwards should have been capable of making the pace from the start and of bustling their opponents. When the Tafaiiakl vanguard did get moving in the last quarter of an tyour they made things hmn, and they finished fresher than their opponents,'but their effort might easily, nave been too late. The local backs in the first half were all at sea, and their tackling was ipainful to witness, and absolutely painless to their opponents, who found no difficulty in evading their gentle attempts at embracing around the neck. On the other hand, Canttrbury backs were deadly taeklers, goinir lov and bringing down their man every time. McLeod, in particular, gave our ; hacks an object lesson in tackling Canterbury secured the ball in nearly every scrum, and Brown got very few chances to set his hacks moving. In-, deed, he was kept almost solely on the defensive, and had a very parlous time, as Taylor bad an off-day, and gave him ' very little protection from the attentions of Carnegie, the opposing winger. Canterbury were supposed to have abolished the winger, and played the 3—2—3 formation in the scrum, 'but their success on Thilrsday showed that they liave not forgotten how to use the winger. On the few occasions that the local backs did throw the leather about they showed up well, and gave an indication of what might have occurred had Brown got the ball, and also had Taranaki had a reliable wing three-quarter in Abbott'B place, for the Clifton winger again proved how difficult it is for an athlete to ''come hack.'' Stohr had a lot of work to do at full-hack, and he did it well. ;His line-kicking was again a treat. When shifted up to wing three-quarter, he played with great dash. Of the three-quarters, Cameron was the pick. He played well and ran straight. He passed with great judgment, particularly when, after beating two men, he enaibled Whittington to store the winning try. Whittington, at wing three-quarter, was a bit erratic. He does some brilliant things, but his uncertainty keeps Taranaki supporters on tenterhooks. He should practise catching a ball. His fumbling is wretched. Abbott was given a trial at wing three-quarter. The original All Black is a back number, and though his generalship iproveii invaluable to his club, he was undoubtedly the weak spot ill the local backs. Canterbury discovered it very quickly. Roberts and Colman at five-eighths played well. Trie former shone, despite his strenuous trip. The latter was not as brilliant as usual.

Hrown defended well, and stood a lot ol mauling about, as a half-back generally has to do when playing behind a beaten pack. On occasions he made some fine openings. Taylor, at wing-forward, had a day off, and gave n miserable exhibition, in marked contract to his usual brilliant displays. His "form" was the subject of enquiry by the Management Committee that same evening. Cain and Whittmgton could not set control of the ball in the scrums. The former led many a rush. His dash was marvellous, considering the fact that he Qiad been travelling continuously by steamer and motor since Saturday in order to get hero in time. He was lucky on one occasion that the referee did not catch him tripping.

(Robertson, .Patterson and Paul were the pick of the forwards. The latter /played with great dash. In the second spell, when all the forwards worked hard, Young was conspicuous. Of the visiting forwards, Maxwell was tlie pick. 'He 'broke away from tlie lineout time and again. He was well supported by Cummings, llassell, ilegarty and Fanning. Carnegie, on the wing, infused a lot of dash into his work. lie had very little opposition in Taylor, and paid Brown considerable attention. Amodeo, at naif, was the visitors' star back on tbc day. He never made a mistake, passing, tackling and kicking well. He made some great openings, and set his backs going again and again, but it is safe to say that with Taylor at his best, liis usefulness would hare been checked. _ Crawshaw was the better of tlie fiveeighths, .but, like Gray, he does not cut in -sufficiently, and run's too much for the side line, putting his three-quarters out of position. Gray shows that lie is a veteran. McLeod tvas the best of the threequarters, his tackling being very deadly. All found the line well. Guthrie did a lot of defensive work. Boag in the first spell spoilt a couple of great chances by hanging on too much. Henry, at full-back, was solid, though a little slow. Bad tackling liy the locals let him out of some awkward corners. The members of the Canterbury team were at times chattering like a' lot of schoolgirls, nearly every man appealing. So pronounced did this 'become tiliat the referee had to caution them that the next offender in this respect would 'lie ordered off. Some of the players state that it was due to the fact that the Canterbury team contains a'number of club captains, who, of course, are allowed to appeal in their own matches. This, however, does not act as an extenuation of the offence, but rather accentuates it, as club captains should know the rules better and should set their confreres a better example. The Taranaki team contained several cltib captains, but ttic.y did not appeal. Mr. Meredith, as referee, controlled the game admirably. When Taranaki were straining every nerve to score in the last jew moments, it might easily have developed into very rough play ha:l there been a weak man in control. Mr. Meredith was very impartial throughout, and did not make a "whistle solo" of the match, but kept it as open as I possible, utilising the advantage rule with good effect. Th.j game was verv ! exciting, and, considering the war, the attendance and the gate (about £SO), were very goo'd. It is safe to say that after such a great contest the gates for future matches will improve. It is not all beer and skittles being a prominent representative footballer, and the Americans are not in it with footballers :or hustle. Roberts, the New Zealand captain, and Cain, Taranaki's hooker, who were away with the Aus- ! tralian team in Sydney, put up a great performance in order to assist Taranaki to retain the Shield, and the result of ; the match shows that their special effort was absolutely necessary. They left Sydney- iby steamer immediately after the last test match and arrived in Wellington about !) p.m. on Wednesday. Before midnight, without , waiting to clear their luggage through the Customs, they were aboard a car bound for New Plymouth. By dint of travelling througih the night," without sleep, and with only a snack to eat, they arrived in New Plymouth only a quarter of an hour before the match, and their .play fully justified the effort. The same night tlie'y left by steamer for Auckland, where they play the northern representatives to-day. Taranaki always gets a great hearing I in Auckland, where the visitors from the butter province are always popular, so that the team to-day will receive a tine welcome on their first appearance on Auckland's new ground. The team sent up for to-day is fairly strong, and should put up a good tight, unless the strenuous match against Canterbury has taken their very little sting out of the forwards. i Next Thursday Taranaki will lie called upon to defend the Ranfurly Shield for the fifth time, the challengers this time being Southland, who have been training assiduously for the occasion. Southland has always been noted tor its forwards, so that the local vanguard will have to improve. Possibly they will rise to the occasion, a3 Taranaki is notably inconsistent. The war has seriously affected Taranaki reps. —more, in fact, than it has irny other province, but despite this, if the forwards will only train and gain i combination, and also put ginger into their work, Taranaki can withstand all attacks this year. The .final results give the senior championship to Waimate, tlie junior to Haj wera, and the second , junior to KaI ponga. '