Los Angeles herald., 1910-09-08
POLY RUGBY PLAYER IS
SHOWING FORM At U.C.
Henderson Catches CoaCh'S Eye
for Clever Work with the
Berkeley Baby Squad

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA,
Sept. almost two weeks have gone
by in the blue and gold camp, and 14O
freshmen, under the able direction of
Coach Jimmie Schaeffer and Assistant
Coach Shook Cert, have been taking
on the rudiments of Rugby in as large
doses as the baby footballers are able
to assimilate. Every night the past
week the men trying for positions In
the backfield have come out at
o'clock and practiced kicking and pass
ing for an hour.
At o'clock the forwards have taken
the field and the coaches have drilled
them in serum formation. line outs,
getting down on kicks and dribbling.
After this preliminary coaching
Schaeffer has chosen two teams and
conducted a flfteen-minute game, in
which the ball has been kept moving
every minute. The two, three, two
serum formation as used In New Zea-
land is the one adopted by the coaches,
while the freshmen are novices at the
game. Later on the eight-man serum,
as used by the varsity last year, will
in all probability be adopted.
Although a few days is short time
in Which to form any opinion of the
merits of the youngsters as rugby pos
sibilities, the showing made so far is
highly gratifying to the coaches. In
former years it has taken weeks TO
bring out material that has had the
appearance of being talent while even
at this early date this years candi-
dates have a fair knowledge Of rugby.
Although the season has scarcely
begun, certain men show up already IN
unmistakable form and are certain TO
appear in the early tryouts. The ar
ray Of big men out for places in the
serum is going to make the race for
forward positions merry one. Bill
King, with his POS pounds of Drawn,
has been holding the serum together,
while Finley of Belmont and Fisher OF
San Jose, the latter with rugby eX-
perience, have been tried in the front
rank. Mike O'Connor ana Merrliees ..s
weigh stripped 1856 and 1875 pounds, re-
spectively. Both will be great men
in the pack, as they are strong and
very fast. Howard Fleming Is an ag-
rressive player, with knowledge OF
rugby. and may be tried in the rear
rank, as he is of a rangy build ana
would be fast in the breakaway. Pete
Douglas, also of San Jose, Is clever
in the pack. Henderson, from Los An
coles Polvtechnic, weighs 10 pounds
and shows to good advantage as
side ranker.
Deming McClise and Mike Smith are
two Oakland high track athletes that
have all the earmarks of making good
at rugby, providing they have the
nerve to tackle and be tackled. Both
ore fast and shifty making them
strong possibilities for the backtield.
McMann has been tried several times
at halfback, while Russell O,Hara from
Vallejo has been stationed in prac-
tice at fullback, on account of his
DuIs and Evans of Pomona, both
with rugby experience, nave 6eeh
nlaced at three quarters and i've
ROY McNein, with st. Mary's college
rugby team for two years SHOWS up
to the best advantage as PACK.
emerson Of Lassen is another husky
that NAV be stationed behind the line
to carry the ball.
It is the intention of the coaches to
put their men through strenuous
season at the start, so that all candl-
dates can have a tryout, and If not or
hie caliber, dropped.