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~ STILL A CHANCE. - -No-

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STILL A CHANCE. -No- WALES MAY SHARE RUGBY CHAMPIMSHiP H0N80RS. MEMORABLE MUDDY MATCH AT BELFAST. IVOR DAVIES' BRILLIANT OPENING. (By" PENDRACON.") Although. a point <li viced Lugta-wo and Wales at Twickenham in. January the hitter, can, hi the iigJrt ot wiuit liius happened since, be discussed ae the side ot the beacon. Tho Welsh l>acks have not reached the standard attained in years gone by, but it the threeqUiuu»is have railed to emulate their predeces- sor*, the forwards have at. any rate de- monstrated that the Welsh stock is the finest in the wm-ld. It is ancient ius- tory now that Wales might easily havej beaten Jfiiigiand if t he thjx'eapmrters i had reached expectations. Thero may be a disposition at Llanelly to argue thai Waihe Watte was dks*wing 01 a further trial; and a certain coterie will no douixt urge that Howd J/tJwis, being Swa,nsoo.'b most consistent soaring wi ng, ought never to have boen di. But. experience has Aown that even though the changes have rot been fully j consistent with public opinion, they have improved the iide to fucli au ex- tent as to mak-3 them worthy of championship honours. Some Rainy Memories. Those notes aro being writ,toui in the esdoon of the s.s. Grapiuc. We axe en route from Belfast to Liverpool, and it is raining as it has been doing aimostt throughout the day. Before coming on board a London colleague gave an unbiased opiniou ot the afternoon's ma.tcll.. Wales, he said., might have last on suth no day, because tho conditions wore ^fetmetrically opposed to the orrtlin- any conception of the Welsh game. The fact that they were on a foreign ground when everything ,seamed to t-ell against them stamped the aide, in his estimation, as the best and most adaptable of the sea- son. For myself, I cannot recall an oc- casion upon which the conditions were so deplorably bad as they were at Bal- moral on Saturday. It requird a lot of enthusiasm foi one to go to the ground at all, for there had been enougil rain overnight and during the early morning to flood the field. Balmoral, by the way, is not exactly a Pressman's Para- dise. They have three fine stands there and they have gone to a lot of expense to improve the enclosure in other re- spects but the reforms have left the scribe outside the question. On Sat- urday wo sat inside the ropes, and the rain played on our copy and tried to make it unreadable. Some of the more daring among us sported umbrellas. Such temerity brought forth the dis- pleasure of a section of the crowd .immediately behind its. They could not see through our gamps; and then they did not forget to say ;;0. Anybody's Came." To a certain extent it was "any- body's game. The bad weather made it risky to attempt handling, the safest j policy being to resort to kick and rush methods. Up to a certain point the ] Irishmen adapted themselves better to the conditions than did Wale?. But although their rushes were desperate, they were disjointed. For the Irishmen dribbled in and twos, whereas Wales kept well to- gether, and worked with more purpose. Another point of importance is this- Ireland, just when they seined likely to pull the game Qut of the fire, feU to pieces. To put the thing in a nutshell, they failed to last. Tb,) closing quarter of an hour wore them down, and reduced doubt to certainty. Those forwards were triers to the core, hurt they weM traditionally wild, and when they dribbled they were always liable to lose the ball through sheer reckless- ness. They bad all the enthusiasm, but it is conceivable that on a dry day they would have been put out of court bafore the interval. A Flash of Skill. The difficulties of passing were so great as to appear insurmountable. Hut in spite of this Wales not only Bcored their best try in combination, but really won the match in the same! way. The score to which I refer is the one so cleverly engineered by Ivor Davies, of Llanelly. It was scored by W. H. Evans, and it had its origin in a kick across by Clem Lev>if». Now, of one thing, I am pretty certain. Lewis never had any intention of kicking ■across. His idea was to drop for goal, but the ball w-ent off his boot ats a tangent-it went to Ivor Da vies. No score wouid have c-omo had it not been for the skilfulness, of the 1/laneliyite, who, after cutting out an opening, ab- stained from parting with the ball until Evans had run around from centre to wing to drop into position. Clem Lewis's Value. Af.t6t the match between Wales and France a lot of people flatly refuse d to fall in with the view of the critic* so far as they concerned Clem Lewie. They urged that Lewis was too ifldivichmhsfcic to make an effective Welsh half-back aod they forgot much of his brilliant work in the knowledge that he was sometimes prone to selfishness. But IJe"-js justified himself at Belfast., He also conifrmed what had been Maid in his favour on the previous occasion. It is true that he has a fondness for at- tempting a lot on his own. but this fall- ing cannot remove the conviction that he can, on his da.y, do brilliant things. In Lloyd, he baa a partner after his own heart. For the Pontypudlian is content to do the "donkey worker," and to sink any skill which he may poe-sess in other directions in the interests of his partner. Bad for the Three-quarters. If the Welsh backs had blundered badly no one would have felt inclined to blame litem, Ihü only international match which I can recall when the conditions were so bad was that played between \V.ik^. and France at Swansea tour or rive years ago. Some idea of the wretched state of affairs can be ex- tracted from the .statement that fre- quently the ball refused to bounce, pTe- ferring to stick where it fell. A re- markable feature under the circum- stances was the excellence of the kick- ing done by the Irish backs. The man wlio stood out most prominently with the losers was Montgomery, the cus- todian. He used the touch-line splen- didly, and his kicking against the wind in the first half won the admiration of all. Montgomery wae a better full- back than "Bobby" Williams. The Cardiffian was plucky as usual, and he effected a couple of very clever clear- ances in the pecood half, but his field- ing -w4iw uncertain, and his kieking lacked length. It will ever be a de- batable point as to whether Bancroft was missed. For myself, I prefer to think that in the exceptional circum- stances Dai Williams would have done better than either. The Welsh three- quarters were all good, though their work in combination was restricted. Ivor Da vies can be said to have done i better than in either of his other inter- j nationals, W. H. Evans made a mis- take when he dropped for goal with a couple of men outside him. There is, however, also the aspect that he would not have been blamed at all if the i effort had materialised. A Fine Paok, It has fallen to the Wekjh forwards to have an uinterrupted run right through the tournament. The universal opinion j after the mch with England was tha.1¡ ¡ the eight were the best blend Wales had ¡ placed in the field for many years. Ana the test of time has not caused the ¡ critics to alter their opinion in tho least. On Saturday 1 was greatly im- pressed by the wheeling of the pack, by the dribbling of the Rev. A lb an Davies awl e zzei. and by the paca of Bed- weilty Jones, Uz»cl was again tho pick of the basket. The Irish forward J liked best Clune, a big beefy player with plenty of sitamina and good knowledge of the game. A lot of hard knocks were given and taken. Early in tbe match Edgar Mor- .:Í!1 was injured, and at a later period W. H. Evans had to temporarily quit the field. Much of tho vigour imparted in the play might have been avoided. Thcrp, was a tendency with sonic of the Irishmen to bowl men over who did not have the ball; but much of this kind of thing was no doubt due to the treacher- ous nature of tho turf., The. Summing Up. faking a general view of the inter- national tournament, 1 feel satisfied that Wales have proved themseivefi the pick of all tlvo countries. The weight of their defeat at the hands of England is reduced by the circumstances that in the tb,-v were unfortunate. It would h. va doue them a heap of good to have won the Triple Crowe. The position now is that they may yet .vharo ?KMBpionahip honour? with ?n?- land. It all depends upon >vhat happen? in the match between England and Scotland. Ireland, though they lost to Wales, are not with- out some crumb of comsoiation. For the same afternoon the Irish Association team won the championssliip by virtue of a draw with Scotland. It was some- thing of a novelty for Belfast to have Itugby and Association International game; !r\te ple afternoon. This clash- ing of interests affected the attendances at both, but it was the weather which did the most damage in thi* respect. Changes which Did Not Matter. The ioostball critic of "Ireland's Satur- day Nigu; j-i'ys:— "The game A-as undoubtedly won by tho Weku forwards, "it.} gilvo At-, lie 1.1.J- play. especially in the second half, when their w Woking and general command of the ball "was wry marked. They sounoeiy took the ball al-o.ig so rapidly a.s in soino of the Irish rushes, but tliev did not commit the lata), mistake of ,0 many of the Irish forwards in kicking far too hard, and giving the backi* time to get in ana punt back. There was practically none of that thrill- ing Welsh wmch deljgnts Wo Rugby lever, aart none at that nand-to- hand passing which characterises good, forwards but on the Irish 1.4.Ic- contnbu- was entirely absent. The game was all kick and nt-iii, and was occasion- ally a trifle too vigorous, as the frequent stoppage for injuries proved. As things turned out tho three Irish ohanges did not matter much, for the conditions were too doplorabie lor any- thing. Mamish Stuart's View. The impression which Mr. Hamish Stuart formed of the game is sliokn by the following: "Honqurs did not wholly go to t4, forwards. Montgomery, whose second accident was matter for deep regret, did not approach his Dublin form, but he was far more highly tried, and though he niade mistakes ho came fairly well out of a most searching teet under adveree conditions. He was greatly superior to It. F. Williams in the first half, but the Welshman did well in the second half, and made some fine saves. Lewis played a fine all-round game at outside-haii, and is on the whole entitled to the individual honour amongst the backs. Ho showed head, and meant all he did, and effected some fine eaves. Wetter also did well. Jack and Jackson wore the bept of the Irish backs. The former faced the Welsh for- wards with great pluck, while Jackson was full of service. It was not, how- ever, a day for backs, and the condi- tions and the character of the game forced many departures from orthodoxy in the matter of raising by fly-kicking to touch. The tackling on both sides was very keen, but the play was clean, though at times it was just a trifle too I hard. It was a great game to watch, and I doubt if oneas ever seen a faster match in such a sea of mud." MO!li'I'G(){MERY'S INJURY*. Montgomery, the Irish full-back, who war, carried off during the last few minutes of the mistob 6t Belfast., sustained ejiffht con- cussion of the brain. -0 —————— Tribute to Tommy." Says the "Athlete X«ws When, after the match between Enfrtarui and Ireland, we erpa-eesed the hope that the referee thereof. Mr. T. D. Hohotield, of Bridgend, wotllrl again be been officiating in mi even more important engegeinent on the clcee of tUe term, we referred. of c-otiree, to the Calcutta, Cup. The suggested a^iKtiutineni, liae been dtily made, and the Wf'Ji-Ü official will once more control a Scotland and England match at Inverleith next Saturday. People can now prepare for a fatt game, for Mr. Sciiofiekl has a happy knock, while meeting out fair play to all concerned, of oontrolling matches which are full of keen, interesting 'football. It is a deserved compliment, wkmh has been paid to him in asking him to arbi- trate on two internationals engagements in tone season. Hr, Sohofield will, as it were, kill two birde with one atone, for ho will also be one of the Welsh delegates to the International Board meeting in Kdinburerh on the morning of the game. Mr.- W. J4. I>ougLae being the other. BOXIHC AT FISHGUARD. I At the second annual assault-at-arms in connection with the Fishguard Ama- teur Athletic Club at Fienguard ou Saturday night a competition took place for a silver challenge cup pre- sented by Captain Hughes Morgan, the president. Some excellent boxing was v. itnessed. The competition for the cup, which was to be won outright, was open to the county. The results were as follow:— First series-W. Reid, Milford Haven, beat E. B. Weaver, Milford; J. Morris, Milford, beat Halloway, Mil- Hollewell; A. Whaley beat S Berry, Mil- Howell; A. Whaley beat S. Berry, Mil- ford; T. Sinnett, Milford Haven, boxed a bye with Jim Evans, Fishguard. Seoond series-Tolervev beat Reid (disqualified); Sinnett beat Whaley; Hollewell boxed a bye. Third series—Sinnett beat Holleweil; I Tolervey boxed a bye. Final-T. Sinnett, Milford Haven, beat Tolervey on points after a keen oontest. In the unavoidable absence of Cap- tain Hughes Morgan, the enp wa-, pre- sented to Sinnett by Captain Hum- phreys. The programme also included splendid exhibitions of wrestling, ju-jitsu, club swinging, single sticky etc.

ORDERED OFF! I ORDERD Of !…

SATURDAY'S RESULTS.

BRECON LIBERALS.I

- - -,- - - -ANOTHER DEFEAT.…

I GUESTS OF SIR ALFRED.

! WOlVERHAMPTON MEETINC. i…

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CARMARTHENSHIRE INCREASED…

I A -CALL TO U.S.A.I

I - POST TAIjBOT SHIPMENTS.…

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