Local boys outplayed . . . 

Secondary schools can be relied on to give a good, clean, open exhibition of Rugby football, and the annual fixture between the Otago Boys’ High School and Christ’s College is always looked forward to with pleasure by Rugby enthusiasts. The teams met yesterday at  Carisbrook, and in addition to the schoolboys, who were present en masse, there was a large crowd of interested spectators round the rails. In the standard and character of the play there was no reason to be disappointed. The game was always interesting, and was as clean as it was keen. The ground was somewhat soft, and showed signs of wear towards the finish. Christ’s College had a decided advantage in weight, especially in the forwards, who dominated the scrums and always secured the ball. Their combination was much superior to that of the local boys, and the three-quarter line did some very pretty passing. The High School boys’ passing was very inaccurate, and they frequently lost their man through the mistake of tackling high. It was early evident that the visitors had the better of the game, but the school boys gave of their best to the finish. While 15 points to nil were run up against them in the first spell, they scored three to their opponents’ five in the second.

. . . as,  too, the All Blacks

Auckland, July 23: The All Blacks gave a disappointing display against Auckland at Eden Park to-day, due largely, no doubt, to the fact that they came off the boat only yesterday. The weather was good but the ground was heavy, and forward play predominated. The attendance was estimated at 25,000. The All Blacks’ forwards were beaten consistently for the ball in the scrums and lack of enterprise by the backs was one of the features of the game. They sprang no surprises in attack though they were well fed with the ball by the forwards from the line-outs and loose scrums, but in the majority of cases though the handling was all right, the movement was straight across field. This was due partly to the solid tackling. The All Blacks’ defence in the first half was weak, but they held Auckland in the second spell. The All Blacks’ pack seemed to crumple when the weight came on in the scrums. The forwards had the better of the line-outs and at times got going in hard dribbling rushes that took a lot of stopping. The Auckland pack thoroughly justified the local confidence, and on the day’s play, at least, there was none who would have disgraced the All Black team. One of the features was the fast and sure tackling of the local forwards, who gave their backs much more support, especially on defence, than did the New Zealand vanguard. Only at one stage of the game in the first half did the visitors display international form, when a sustained hot attack by both backs and forwards raised excitement to a high pitch as they swept through to Auckland’s line in a series of fast, combined handling bouts, but even then they could not get over the line. The score at half-time was Auckland, 14 points, All Blacks, 3 points. There was no score in the second half.

Otago union’s threat

A copy of the following letter, dated July 22, which has been sent by Messrs Gallan, Gallaway and Calder to the Forbury Park Trotting Club was received by Mr H. Divers, secretary of the Rugby League Board of Control: "We have to-day been consulted by the executive of the Otago Rugby Football Union, incorporated. They learn from this morning’s newspaper that, with the concurrence of your club, the Coursing Club has agreed to grant the use of Forbury Park on Saturday, August 9, for the purpose of a game of League football. The ORFU has put before us the correspondence between your club and itself, relating to its lease of Forbury Park, and there seems no doubt whatever that what is proposed is an infringement of the rights of the ORFU. We are therefore instructed to lose no time in letting your club know that what appears to be proposed will be resisted by the ORFU, if necessary by litigation. We desire, also, to make clear that the ORFU object to any preliminary occupation or use by the League football authorities of Forbury Park for the purpose that appears to be in contemplation." — ODT, 24.7.1924

Compiled by Peter Dowden