Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 - 1931), Monday 26 November 1928, page 6


THE WORLD OF SPORT.

From Oar Special Correspondent.

THE BEST OF HER YEAfr-A 'FREE HANDICAP'— RUGBY IN WALES— GERMAN SOCCER— FRANCE AND LAWN TENNfc— BOXING.

London. October 25. 1928.

I mentioned in a recent message that I would endeavor to anticipate our Free Handicap, which this year will not be compiled until after the close of the flat race season. As most people know, the official handicapper takes six furlongs as the base of his _ ss essment

In this matter, and I shall do the same, adding, by the way, that after the decision of the famous Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket my task is made much; easier. In this juvenile 'c_ j ssi c' we| saw a pair of the Aga Khan's fight! out the finish, or rather we saw Cos- ! taki Pasha and Grand Terrace finish! second and third. Behind them were j such well-known youngsters as Ara- j belle, Beedsmout— , and Reflector. Soj it is quite clear that the winner deserves the fullest consideration. On! the face of things, indeed, he is en- 1 titled to go to tbe top' of our un-i official list, but -here I pause to reflect ' upon the merits of _ ord Ellesmere's! unbeaten filly Tiffin. Fancy the senior! steward of the Jockey Club owning j 6uch a brilliant young lady as this in —is one season of office! Tiffin, If j my estimate Is not far wrong, is the' brat of her year, and each of her five! victories is _ tribute to her ability. But if we reckon her as being worth thej honor of top place in a handicap for two-year-olds, we must not overlook the fact that she is entitled to 3 2b. sex allowance, and that, I think, would EreVe to put tier approximately on the same mark as Costaki Pasha. There is a possibility that the form of Grand Terrace may be over-estimated because of bis near proximity to bistable companion in the Middle Park Stakes, but we must not act on this assumption in con-piling our Imnclic&p. and it will be observed that I have found a place for iiim near the top. A Problem. One horse that got badly away in the race under nonce was tiay uay, yet he finished lour— l, and ajipeared to Be full ot running. Where exuKtiy ought' one to put a two-year-old lute tais— bearing in mind that he has not won a race ot any sort? Last year, oi course, tne uertay winner, _ _steaa, was not even given _ place in the tree handicap, an u tn at is a lesson, wnicn will long be remembered by those wno are apt to look upon the f_ee ±— — idicap as au i_ta_ u-le guide to the threeyear-olds. 1 shall come, then, .to ugures; and here they are:— ximn. a et. _ _..; Costa-t Pasha, __; fieedsmouth, «._ s; Crrand Day, S.lz; tine— z, «.U; Arabella, 6.10; Reflector, tx; Rampart. 84); The Black Abbott 8_. Kine names, embracing tne best of their age, are perhaps enough in all the circumstances, and I shaii be keen on seeing- how they compare with the offlcial estimate. We are on the eve ol the Cambridgeshire, and partisanship is running high. Z shall hope that our choices will be Tight on the mark. I shall hope also to see Bonny Boy H. run. well In the Derby Cup, while I have previously mentioned the claims of Mint Master for the* ManChester November Handicap. The tail-' end of the season is not a particularly i bright period for those abroad, and it { will not be long before we' are talking about the jumpers and tbe Grand ! National. Early next month comes the Grand Sefton, which Trump Card won last year, and although he has top weight this time I believe be will go to post a muc_7_ ind ed candidate. Bevival of Welsh Rugby. Welsh Rugby football has passed through a very lean period, but last season there were indications of a marked revival, and now the prospects are so cood that there Is a distinct possibility of the international championship being gained. Representative mntr'T''' do not begin until the new year, or at least until December 31, when Ireland opposes France in Pans, but already the strength .of the national Sides is being weighed, '_ad, if Wales m-irfrR tbe best of its p_i yers, it should field a very fine side. The '?»»»» trouble seems to be in the selection of the fifteen. The authorities appear to confine—or -early so— their choice to the | clubs at home, and ignore the brilliant players at Cambridge find elsewhere. And It is 'Just these flayers who are. needed to l_t|. Wales «ut_ol the rut. : The policy of the,__eetor? bas paid well so far as _*e; packets concerned. The forwards /Mutt -winter were about the best set W represented any of the counties. - ??» ey^rere not only honest scrur omageJ fcrbut-tney got the ball, and showed all the best methods in the loose and in tbe line outs. But the Welsh club backs have been lacking in enterprise and originality. Instead of creatin g scoring chances by passing advances, they have schemed *o keep the play tight. On the face Of it, these tactics amounted to a confession of their own limitations In effect -*hey said:— 'P we get the to_l out, .we may -tet'tofi' other fellows in, and it :is safer' to -Mly on the forwards.' In these Jdrcnmstances, centre three-quarters have overdone the kicking to touch, which in modern Kugby if only psed lor defensive purposes and 'the wings have _a_ few chances. If -Wok- will go to Cambridge for the basis of its back division, its prospects are bound to undergo an immediate improvement. There is a ready-made pair of halves in Maurice Turobull ana a. __ Bowcott. The latter received his blue last winter as a centre, and he has also appeared at full-back, but fly-half is life best 'position. There' is also Windsor Lewis lor scrum half. Be is now playing rje_tremc_y well* In London hospital Rugby. There are other clever backs outside Welsh Club football, and, moreover, they bave not been smitten with the safety-first tactics which have caused so much of tbe play to run on stated lines. Indeed, they nave been brought up like English outsides to -trow tbe ball about, a_d take risks. and it has been proved conclusively that this adventurous _tyle of .stay is the winning rugger football. -Advance of German Soccer. It is only -within the past five or six years that association football has been taken up seriously in Germany, but during this time giant strides have been made. Proof of this bas just been given by a team from Berlin in a match in London- They met a side representing the isthmian League, one of the chief English __ateur competitions, and the visitors won in most convincing style by four goals to one. Indeed, their football was astonishing, not only in its correctness, but in the natural aptitude of the men. Obviously they had been most thoroughly coached, and, as will be imagined, tbeir tutors have been old British professionals One of the chief coaches in Germany is Jimmy Lawrence, the old Newcastle United goalkeeper, who. having retired from the game, became manager of Preston North End. He has now been about three years in Germany, and it is admitted that his influence over the game has been extraordinary. He has a dozen teams Tinder -i'm and all are personally coached, not onlv on tho field, but in the theory of the game in the lecture room. As might be expected, tbe game is being fostered in most thorough and methodical style. Indeed, the system is similar to that adopted in all forms of sports and pastimes in America. In every case the object is to make specialists of the players. For instance, in some way or other all the best players over an area are encouraged to gather at the headquarters of that area, and play for clubs to which they are allotted. The assurance is given that the men are bonafide amateurs, but how this can bn so it is difficult to realise. To us this system is undisguised poaching, and there are definite rules to prevent it Moreover, should one player move from one town to another for the purpose of playing wiUi a club, he is immediately under suspicion. Probably in declaring that the players are amateurs the Germans mean that they are not paid for playing, but there is

?,? ^bt t2lat they are P^d in order 1 that they may play, and the diSerence is too subtle for us to appreciate Ho^ anxious the authorities TarcUiat T game should continue to develop on the right lines was indicated bv the appearance of two of the chief executive officials of Germany at Liverpool at the international match between England and Ireland. They frankly stated that they had come over in the hope that they might pick up some hints from the play that might be valuable. Un- ^ fortunately, an incident spoilt the game as a spectacle. Barrett, toe England centre-half, being injured ten mmutes after the start. For the rest of the. match England was not only a player' short, but the side had to be remade. But England won by two goals to one. thus gaining the first success since April, 1927. . French 'Comer' in Lawn Tennis. Pi-ance is making a 'comer' in the honors of lawn tennis. Tilden, the p, llric?n Etar- ^ J^ issued his list _r.rt ^ ^P !1?dine Players of the world. cochPf S8^^ Pleased to place Henri *r I**-? and Rcne Lacoste second, himself filling the third position. He ^?d.n5 bave done otherwise thaa brilliant French players. Since this £K?hana pener°us admission the championship of professional lawn tennis has 5h_?J??5.by_? henchman. It is true ™at neither Karel Koseluh nor Vincent Ki^ards competed in the event whl_took ptece at Queen's Club. London, but it is only a few weeks since they played a match there, their form was .r_a»i_ the Bunds oY every one, and the general opinion was that neither would have been able to beat Robert Hamilton, who gave a superb display. Indeed, His Play was typically French, being marked by daring and originality, and an aggressiveness which is essential to the E^i?* ?* £ played to-«Jay- Hamilton is only nineteen years of age. He began to play as a boy, but not as a ball boy as so many professionals enter the game. He alwavs seems to have been good enough to figure in first-class tens'- „ A* any rate, he was playing In the south of France at the a_eor_l_teen. I do not think he ever competed in the tournaments, but even the ~cr___ were glad to play with him in pracUc and it was in this way that he secureS the opportunity to develop bis natural skm, which 16 amazing, and master tl-e ' technique of the game. Immediately after this championship there followeS the London covered courts champlofishros. and in these the most notable visitor was Jean Borotra. As _ e explained, he entered because he had business to transact in London, and he triable to 6pare two or three hours Ih the afternoon to rush up to Queen's Club and play a match or possibly two. To jti&y tender these condftione was not very favorable, tnrt be had little difficulty in renchiner the final, and in this he defeated Crole Rees. The latter to much better in doubles than in singles, but he cave Borotra a good game, and managed to take a set from the brilliant Frenchman.Boxing Boxing ana BoxersAs I see things, the great chance for ? Phfl Scott has coma Cwrites Mr. Eugene Corri) in this way. The Mortimer brothers have given it out that, although Tom Heeney. whose fighting affairs they manage, is on his way from New Zealand to America, _e will come to _ondon and meet Scott before taking part in the heavyweight tournament got up by Tex ' Bickard, by which the famous promoter hopes to discover a man fit to' put in the rtaf as challenger lor the title. Heeney feels that, since America Is f_ the throes .of the Presidential election, the chances are that there will be llttto or nothing to do in the way of work before December at the earliest, and he, not being the kind of man to kick his heels in idleness, is anxious to learn -what t_e English champion has to say in the matter of a match. Obviously, ff Scott were to meet the New Zealander and win, bis stock would go up enormously. ' The outlook, so far as native heavyweights are concerned, is, to say the least, unpromising, and since it is ScottTs jon to fight, .the intimation sent out on behalf of Heeney should give him much joy. He should be anything but averse te)m'a_gbt«lttfHeen-y~fort_ist6__i credit that he has beaten him an4wt-' occasions. It will be decidedly interesting to see what happens. WerelinSi) position of Scott. I should not hesltufe to let It be known that he can have '_' ?' fight at the earliest possible moment -' providing there Is a promoter willing to promote such _ match. I do notlSnk that It would te very difficult to arrange : matters, if too big a purse is not demanded. As aliave »afrj. this Is Scbtfs grand opportunity. I am pleased to tell you that the Crystal __!ace tournament, which was spread over four days, and at which I was privileged to give a hand with the refereeing, was a success from every point of view.-.- The boxing, taken as a -whole, was much better than most of us expected It would be. The championship of the heavyweight affair went to a young man from King's Cross, named Bin.-— runt, but of the young giants I UkectHickman, son of a one-time'fighter of high degree. This Hinkmnn is not more than 17 years of age, and. though he was among the losers, I saw much ? that was most promising in him for the ? future. The pity is that he was put in r the ring so soon; he will be all the better^': * for keeping. I should not be at all sur-' prised if, in a few years, he _ among the top-notchers. Ernie Bricknell, of Doncaster, proved to be the best of the feather-weights, and Harry Lemm, of Leicester, carried off the welter honors.