FOOTBALL.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 67, 18 March 1916, Page 16

FOOTBALL.

BUGBY.

Colonials will appreciate the following instance of the Kugby Unionist looking with a kindly eye on the men who have played the Northern Union game. It bears out the saying that war levels all things. "Captain R. V. Stanley, the representative of Oxford University on the Rugby Union Committee, is not a man of strong prejudices. He has evolved a Rugby team from the Mechanical Transport Section of the AJS.C. (Grove Park), and he has helped himself to the material he found in hand. He is a loyal supporter of the amateur policy of the Rugby Union, but he recognises a truce in sport ac "well as in politics, and he has ventured to utilise Northern Union players in the composition of his Rugby team. On December 18, when they met the R.N.D. at the Crystal Palace, the Northern Union men made their mark very strongly on the game, and scored ten out of the thirteen points by which their side won. Though the scoring all went one way, the game was not by any means one-sided, especialy in the first half. The Naval men ■worked hard and tackled well, and so successful was their defence that when the interval was reached there was no score. In the second half, however, the superior skill of the A.S.C. began to tell, and they were soon attacking. First Clark, who formerly played for Huddersfielii, ran over with a try. Then Captain Nixon got in, and before the end Corsi, another well-known Northern Union player, added a third try. Two of the three tries were converted by Hilton, ivho before joining the Service played for Oldham. The Division stuck to the game till the end, but they did not look like scoring.—G. 8., Apparently the Northern Union players showed the versatility and skill for which they arc' noted wherever Rugby is played (writes "The Cynic" in Sydney "Referee"). What a glorious thing it would be if the two Rugby games were able to come together after the war, and play the one game for the entire universe. The old tenets of the Rugby Union made the general recognition of the Northern Union man impossible in the past; it would--be -a glorious result if the war drew the'-two gaweV'to'geUier, with one great Empire game evolved, without impairing the status of the old game or weakening its amateur principles. You will say'it is to do this and at the same time touch the professionalism. But the proper body to control the professional in Rugby, in my opinion, is the Rupby Union, anathema though this may appear to so many of the older order of men on the official side.

The Otago Rugby Union have issued their annual report, which states that owing to the large number of players who have enlisted for active service, clubs found the greatest difficulty in placing teams in the field, many old players being called on to assist their clubs to fulfill their engagements. The public interest ■in the game has been almost entirely overshadowed by the war, consequently the attendances at matches fell off "to such an extent that the committee had great difficulty in meeting its financial obligations. A few cases of misconduct on the field were dealt with during the season, but on the whole matches were played in a .sportsmanlike manner- One of the gravest charges that can be laid against players, that of selling a match, was investigated during the season. After an exhaustive inquiry, the committee sustained the charges against two players, and they were disqualified from Rugby football, and warned off all grounds uuder th-2 juriediction of the union. The committee passed a resolution expressing dissatisfaction with the manner in which a member of the Referees' Association and an official of a club gave their evidence during the course of the inquiry, and takes this opportunity of impressing upon officials and players of clubs the necessity of conducting the pastime on honourable and pure lines. The committee wishes to place on record it 3 ! appreciation of the splendid manner in ; which members of clubs have responded to their country's call, and to the relatives of those who have made the supreme sacrifice the committee tenders its deepest sympathy. When the history of the war which is now raging comes to be written, it will be found that the footballers of the Dominion have played no small part in crushing that menac to civilisation -whicn has threatened the world for so long.