1937-12-20 — Page 22

THE CHINA MAIL DE MBER 20

GOOD SCRUMMAGING NOT LOST ART

SCHOOL COACHES

TRIANGULAR HOCKEY

CONCENTRATING ON TOURNAMENT

TRUE FUNDAMENTS

The following team will repre- sent the 1st XI of the Hong Kong Hockey Club against the Army in the Triangular Tournament on

VERY FINE JUNIOR SHIELD ENCOUNTER

Sappers And Navy Share Spoils After Extra Time

THOSE VERY COMPLEX Wednesday December 22nd at 450 LAND'S FINE GAME

*

SCRUMMAGE LAWS

ENGLAND TEAM TAKING SHAPE

(By HOWARD MARSHALL)

pm on the Club ground at King's Park V. M. Benwell; R. A. Wallace, Exciting football which was equal EV. Reed; B. A. Bates, W. A to the standard of many First Divi Reed J. E. Potter; S. Fowler, Tsion teams, was supplied in the Whitley, G. E. B. Divett (Capt), B. Junior Shield game between the 1. Bickford, V. Bond.

Royal Engineers and the Royal Navy on the Club ground which re- sulted in a draw, the teams sharing should never be allowed to play. The two goals after extra time. responsibility for dealing with them There was little to choose be-

Such habitual ör deliberate offenders London, November 10.

to co-operate with players of good-willj

THIS afternoon Surrey meet Kent at Blackheath, lies with selection commites. The retween the two teams, the Sappers and if the Surrey forwards play as they did feree's function, in his view, is simply being a shade better in the attack. against Middlesex last week, the old-timers in the in interpreting the spirit of the laws. Land was outstanding in the Sap- Clean up the game, in fact, and bring pers defence. Playing at centre-- crowd will enjoy themselves immensely. I am not us to a Rugby Utopia, where referees half, he was prominent with his in-

and players may agree in sweet reason

and quite so pessimistic about the future of scrummag-ableness Perhaps little joint study terceptions and ball control,

of the laws is necessary first...

kept his forwards well supplied ing as some of my correspondents.

Finally, what about the England with passes. His shooting from "The modern forward,” says one of them, "has become, by a team, now that the selectors are all angles was always dangerous.

Without natural process of evolution, an invertebrate creature.

settling down to serious considera-Dixon, the Navy pivot, was also "backbone or spinal column, that is to say, a splay-footed buckler. tion? They should find the for-good and rivalled Land. He had a In your young days there was talk of hollow backs and bent knees,wards easily enough. There are more difficult task as he was op- and you forwards shoved with your noses as near the mud as pos- plenty of solid serummagers about posed to the three fast and clever sible. But you needed backbones for that.

and among the back-row experts A.forwards, but he performed his We did try to keep our noses down, it is true, and a rounded Seaton and E. A Hamilton-Hill are work well. back was a criminal offence, but there are plenty of forwards still in particularly fine fettle this year. Tudor was another Sapper to playing who bear the same precepts in mind. The work of such What of the half-backs, though? shine. Playing at left-back he sav packs as Surrey, Bedford, Coventry and Bristol are sufficient evid-C Giles and F. J. Reyed his side on many occasions by ence of this.

nolds - who returns to Eng-sound tackling, while his clearan- Jand on December 17-B. C. ces were always good Here is another straw in the Even on a dry day, the straight wind which seems to me en- shove and the wheel in attack, fol- Gadner and J: R. Auty, who will be In the forward line, Duderidge couraging. In an account of the lowed by the lightning heel from playing together in club football? and Jones shone, but the robust school match between Haileybury the loose, are variations on stereo-J. D. Low and a shot in the dark tackling of Tozer and Muir, the

-W. S. Kemble?

Navy backs, did not give them much and Tonbridge last Saturday Ityped strategy which keep the op-

chance of having a shot at goal. OBOLENSKY'S FORM -notice that the Haileybury for posing backs in a state of acute an

The three-quarter line will cause Gardner on the Navy left-wing, wards were highly commended prehension.

selectorial headaches, though Awas the fastest of their forwards. because they repeatedly saved their own line by wheeling the I will not labour the argument Obolensky's return to form is en-He displayed good ball control scrummage and taking the ball further, though it would be splen-couraging, and it is comforting to The Engineers opened the scor- away in fine concerted rushes. did if a club, county or university know that, among others, H. Ding in the first half when Jones If school coaches are concentrat-pack could fully develop the impli-Freakes and R. A. Gerrard appear headed the ball into the net from ing again on the fundamental arts cations of scrummaging How to be ready to step very competent-a free kick taken by Land. Ten min of scrummaging the future is in-strange it is, incidentally, to find ly Into H. G. Owen Smith's shoes at utes from the end Wright equalised deed hopeful

that Cambridge, with their grand full-back. I should not care to from a centre from Gardner. Extra- IMPROVEMENT NEEDED attacking players in midfield are forecast England's back division yet time produced no further goals This brings me to a point worth apparently forsaking the true gos-awhile, but it would be interesting though both goals had narrow es- emphasising. We are, I think, bepel and dissipating their forward to have your views about it ginning to appreciate the necessity energies.

TEMPORARY PHASE?

for sound scrummaging, and I have I cannot believe that this is more seen much fine forward work this than a temporary phase, for there season, particularly in the loose are some fine players in the Cam- The improvement, however, is still bridge pack. And they must realise in its very early stages. $

that together they stand, but divid-

The Coventry, Bedford and Sur-led into individual units they are rey packs, for example, are devas-liable to fall rather, heavily from tatingly quick on the ball. They grace: back one another up in their rushes,

PERPLEXING LAWS much as the Scottish forwards used. In the meanwhile, what about to before serummaging was cor-these perplexing scrummage laws? roded by misapplied specialisation. Two correspondents, writing with This is all to the good, and it authority, have asked me to point! suggests that the forward, tired of out that the revisions made this acting merely as a glorified drain-year were intended to simplify the pipe, is at last coming into his own laws, and ensure that the ball -again.

should be put in cleanly and with- out delay.

IS ANOTHER Even so, I have not yet seen scrummaging pack in the

By insisting that the scrum-half a should pitch the ball in at moderate] fullest speed, it was hoped that outside sense of the term. Combined en-forwards would realise they could deavour in the open is one thing. AĮ not hook, and apply themselves in- scrummaging machine in controlled stead. to shoving. A legal heel by -operation is another

the middle man should follow, and

Our forwards, in short, must go referees could thank their stars and step further, and vary their tac-let the game proceed. tics. The quick heel from tight The President of the Rugby and loose, as Cliff Jones has point- Union has been dealing with this ed out, is the essential preliminary matter somewhat forcibly.

It is! to constructive back play, and it he says, inexcusable and most de can only be procured by intelligent plorable that in many games ly applied shoving.j

scrum-halves are still permitted

The forwards, in fact, control the roll the ball in along the ground. application of tactics, but they can So it is, to be sure, but I dare say far more than give the backs the meaning and intention of Law chances for orthodox attack. By 15 (G) will penetrate in due course. scrummaging they can add the vital

do

element of surprise which bewild- ers a defence and draws it ou

position.

NOT A POLICEMANIA

One well-known T

be forced he ar

capes.

THIS IS

BURGUNDY WEATHER

WE STRONGLY

RECOMMEND -

OUR FINE SELECTION OF

VINTAGE BURGUNDIES

THE QUALITY AND EXCELLENCE

OF THESE WINES BEING UNSURPASSED IN HONG KONG.

CALDBECK'S