The San Francisco call., 1908-10-25
Three High Schools to
Join Rugby Ranks
Varsity Teams Are Training
Hard for the Big Foot
ball Battle
By William Unmack

It is certain that three of the city
schools will join the Rugby ranks next
year. At present Palo Alto, Santa
Clara and San Jose high schools play
Rugby. A special meeting of the Rug
by union viii be held tomorrow night
to put these schools on an organized
basis and draft a schedule and rules
for them to compete under at once.
These three schools, with the freshmen
teams from Santa Clara and st. Mary ;
colleges, will enter into a competition
for the Pacific coast Rugby champion
ship.
The union next year intends to make
an early start and urge the high
SCHOOLS to take up Rugby. From what
has been gathered during the last week
it is expected that there will be at
for 1903.
Now that the baby" game is thing
of the past, all eyes are turned to the
varsity teams themselves, and their
training and practice games in prep
aration for the struggle November IA,
are closely watched by the followers
of both teams. Several of the freshmen
at both California and Stanford who
showed well in the baby game last
week have been assigned to the varsity
squads to try for their respective posi-
tions. The men in question showed
class in last weeks game and will
make some of the veterans step lively
if they wish to retain their grip on
their present places.
Both varsity teams have shown great
Rugby ability this year Stanford, in
particular, has been playing first class
Rugby.
The game being more than three
weeks distant, there is plenty of time
for the blue and gold to improve. 1
do not think Stanford can improve any
more this season, but there is room
for improvement in the blue and gold
ranks.
Stanford has not been defeated so
far this year by any of its opponents,
while California went down to defeat
against the Barbarians in one of their
games.
It is more than probable that the
Vancouver team will be able to defeat
both California and Stanford. 1t will be
a good thing for both teams to suffer
defeat at the hands of the visitors as
1t VIII put the players on their mettle.
1t is not generally known that two
of the tries" secured by the California
freshmen team last week were not, in
the true and literal sense of the law,
tries az all California and Stanford
agreed in their amendments of the laws
to the following rule:
"A try is gained
........ or when the ball, in the
possession of a player, is declared held
..-.:.. behind the opponents goal
That is the law as played by the
two universities, and under it the tries
in question were perfectly legal and
earned by the blue and gold, but ac-
cording to rule No. 2 of Rugby no try
was gained at all, and the correct de-
cision, under law IA, should have been
a five yard serum.
The Rugby union has extended an in
vitation to Reggie Woodward and the
members OF his team to attend the
union meeting Monday night 1t is
expected that several of the team will
attend, and Woodward will be asked
for suggestions relative to conducting
high school championships being organ
lied under the union. Woodward will
be able to give valuable Information.
A game that will, to a great extent.
take the place of the varsity contest
has been arranged for Thanks giving
day The Barbarians and Olympics will
play for the possession of the hand
some Wolff trophy. The game prob
ably will be played at Berkeley.