but unprofitable speculations as to how good the team might have shown itself in a full season under normal conditions.
When the Rugby season opened in September, it was quite clear that we need have no anxieties as to the strength of the forwards or the threequarters. Of last year's young pack, five members were available, while the three-quarter line was almost intact. Subsequent events did nothing to dispel this confidence. The three-quarters ran well and tackled adequately, on occasion strongly. As was the case last season, McLoughlin was the spearhead of the attack, while on the opposite wing Pearman ran well and was always a source of danger to the opponents when he had the ball. The weakness perhaps was that at times too much reliance was placed upon the cut through the centre ; had the ball been passed more quickly and more consistently out to the wings, our total of tries might well have been greater than it was.
The forwards got more than their fair share of the ball from the tight scrummages (Good's clever hooking being invaluable in this connection) and from the line-outs, while their heeling from the loose struck the writer as really good. Their weaknesses were that they failed to get the ball back quickly enough from the line-out, their tackling was not as thorough as it should have been, and with one or two notable exceptions, their backing up of the three-quarters in defence and attack at times left something to be desired. Hartley led them well, especially by example, and he was well supported by McCartie, who got through a real forward's work in every match we played, and by Grealy, who did a great deal of useful work in the loose scrummages.
Last season, the half-backs were the outstanding part of the team and their consistently good and clever play was responsible for most of the success of the side, enabling the forwards and threequarters to work really smoothly and in harmony. This year, while we still had O'Leary, we began with no scrum-half at all. Moores, who eventually filled the position, had to learn the job. Actually he improved with amazing rapidity and was soon checking forward rushes and sending out long passes, often from difficult positions, with real
skill. Then, just as he and his partner were establishing a good understanding, Moores was injured, and pluckily as Nunan filled the breach, the result was inevitably less satisfactory. In the second term, when Moores was fit once more, it was decided to re-shuffle O'Leary and Bolton, and to take advantage of the latter's long and accurate kicking from the stand-off half position. The move worked extremely well, and the pity was that there were all too few matches in which we could enjoy watching the new formation. At full-back Lightfoot, a newcomer to the XV, played pluckily and improved steadily. His weakness was a tendency to join too much in attack, with the consequence that lie was caught too often with the ball, but his tackling was always reliable.
T. 1). H.
SCHOOL v. NEWCASTLE H.S.
Played at Cotton, October 15th.
Won .I3-o.
Ideal weather conditions favoured the first game of the season. After five minutes play, Bolton kicked a good penalty goal for the School. After this, the School kept up the attack for the greater part of the first half, although on two occasions poor defensive work allowed the Newcastle wing three-quarter to penetrate dangerously near the School line. After fifteen minutes' play, O'Leary slipped through the Newcastle defence to score a good try. Later after a good interpassing move-ent among the forwards, Grealy added another try for the School. Bolton soon took advantage of the straight marking of the Newcastle backs and cut through to score another try. A cross kick by Bolton was picked up by McLoughlin, who went over for the School under the posts. Before the interval, two further tries were added by McLoughlin and Grealy.
Half-time score : Cotton 25 points ; Newcastle H.S. nil.
The second half opened with a series of attacks by the School on the visitors' line, and Bolton and O'Leary added tries in rapid succession. The School three-quarters were given ample opportunities by a hard working pack, but some poor hand-