RUGBY FOOTBALL.

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 106, 5 May 1923, Page 21

RUGBY FOOTBALL.

THE NEW RULE

COUSTIMi THK llKAiw.

■ The trend of opinion in Wellington is lhf subject of iho kirk-into-toiirh rule. ,nd the position us it appears to easonnble men. ~ well w nut in »n rticleby'-TheOafn.th, N-w Zealand -Times." The writer Fay*: The bone of bitter nmmi\er«y, Uie amended kicking into loud. ml.-. h;.< ~e en waved in the air with jnery ges,,.r c of dUpi" '■■ practically ex er\ ~..(, jn Wellington since the season Motion* condemning 11.0 rule ,1 a ll its efforts have 1101 been want- „ and the Wellington Kugby I .won , F * expressed an opinion which seeks to ; ;, ir ,en the life of the rule in the land. (nil at least one player of inter-isiand representative status has declared that he will not don a jersey this winter so lone as the amendi'd rule shallow? local football and breaks the hearts of .nilbacks and forwards alike. And this feeling is shared by many other players ot all grades, position, and pretensions. There are not wanting, even among our leauin" clubs, who have suffered least because ot" the way in which they have adapted themselves to changed conditions, players, and. players of standing who denounce the new rule, its creators, and effects for ever.

IN OTHER CEXTRES. But this position is peculiar to Wellington. Auckland, as the home of the new rule, which was to "spend up' Rugby and defeat the League game, and ivhich" was granted by the English Kugby Union as a concession to >ew Zealand and Xew South Wales, is as proud of it as a mother of a bright baby, Canterbury has expressed itself as in i'avour of it,'and from reports which have filtered from Otago. there seems a strong body of opinion in the southern province which will back the new rule for as far as it goes. Minor unions are an unknown quantity, more or less, but Havvkc'3 Bay. and possibly Taranaki. incline towards the new rule as beneficial to the game.

WHAT ARE THEY WORTH? Xow the opinions of these unions must be based upon their past season's pxperience, not upon what they hope to do in the coming year. It would be nonsensical to dismiss the claims of three of the major unions in Xew Zealand without serious consideration because we in Wellington have decidedly had an experience of the rule which has not been an advertisement for it. The body of opinion here on the subject is certainly solid. Xot only are most of the players eloquent (some of them extraordinarily eloquent) upon the point, hut the Referees' Association is practically unanimous in its disapproval of the rule while the spectators' opinions of the effect of the rule upon Kupbr Jiave been evident from the very beginning. ' ENDLESS ARGUMENTS.

The arguments advanced against the new rule are endless. Xot, the least of them is that conservative slogan, ''The sooner that we stop monkeying with the rules and play plain Rugby tlie better," and the opinion (undoubtedly ■weighty) that in playing under "fancy variations" of the rules we are penalising our players when they meet other teams in an international contest and are jeopardising our status as a lootballing nation. The new rule was deigned to open up the game, to restrict the line kick more or less to defence, to keep the hall in play and do aivar with the eternal sequence's of line-outs," which marred many an historic struggle, to put firm in the heart of the forwards the fact that following up in neutral territory was not a mere sprint in the odd hope of catching a back with the ball. Everyone knows these and the other objects of the amendment. Every, one knows that the intentions with which the rule was framed were excelfcnt, that it was heralded as a boon and a blessing to men, and that, judging Ijy the football seen on th« Athletic Park last season it proved a dismal failure. Backs guardea the line as never before. the 'grubber" made its appearance as a rule dodger, and with dismal frequencva match resolved itself into an exchange ot kicks between the rear-guards the lorwards of both teams meanwhile Hovering between the line and line, or Handing awaiting the man who should im?3 the hall. Everyone has a dozen reasons for this failure. And with those reasons I do not propose to deal J ask merely: What of the experience oi other centres?

WHAT OF THE MEN? . There is at least one well-known sport in \\ ellmgton who puts the case for the ™c succinctly: "The rule\s nil the lault is in the players. - ' The aW niwt ot the supporters of the new rule seems to be that you could play the pane under any old laws and get a good "I'Play so long as you had the player*. The trouble, they say. is twofold" Of 'he Wellington players to-day few so in 'or serious training: secondly our neavT losses during the war. not alone "i men who were killed, hut in tho=e who l ost the best years of their play. ni l others who passed the average foot, telling age and took on fresh responsihiht.ies with the lapse of time These supporters of the amended rule a SK. lou say it"s impossible to o-et a Pood game under the new rule, do you?" "M then point a pregnant finder at the Third inter-Tarsity Te=t last season n f n Sydnpy gained it? last-minute yrctory over Xow Zealand with a kick irom half-wav

IS IT A FAILURE! And to these arguments H i= that [he opponents of the rule must reply I "old no briefer the new rule. At far •» OUT experience poes.il i= a failure. «Nt when one union alone in the Domin"on. a -union which thouph normally one "'the strongest bodies in New Zealand admittedly has 411 st passed through its football season for years " conaetnns the rule unhesitatingly and ouiers support it equally unhesitatinelv M penectly satisfied with the new state aflairs. we must, as reasonable beings examine the experience of those other ™ions and discover where we differ, "Iβ if (who kr.ows?! that difference is "the players, it must be remedied; but "ill not be mended by repealing a new out pertectly well-intentioned rule.

On Augurt .-. last year fstates a pnje) New Zealand already had • tn- ! '" * oM " ard? rictc "T in the rubber exertions of T-onderf.il improvement in standard emce the Springbok invasion

si ill remained unproven. The selectors were quite confident, however, that i\ninclusion of Xorman binith, on the win,, barred almost the only avenue to our goal-line, wiiirh the Ail I'.lacka could traverse. Their faith was justified, for N.S.W. won the second test that day by 1-1 point? to S. and on the following Monday the rubber name for the first time in history. The hall in play at the end n: the second tesi was secured, and before, the visitors had left Sydney had been inscribed with the names of the two participant fifteen-. This ball will be |'rr-ent<-d |v ];. C. St.niili-y, the I'ni\or»ity and N.s.W. centre three-quarter. who achieved the unique record oi scoring every one of the 14 points—three penalty goals and a converted try. Stanley's record is all the more remarkable when i,t is recollected that in this test ihe State backs rose to their greatest heights of combination, and the tactics of Walker. Shfebiin and Wogan thoroughly nonplussed the iiwide men of the Dominion.

V. BADELEY, uld Boys'centresr (f * m "*s_ threecjuarter, T&i fcN\ '<$ '" the headgear '/ of a centre forward - but he Quick footed, aml ,l reliable f/fi? goal-kick, he in/^./X/' — & sinuated his way JjßtkJ" i»to the All If c Black's team at tlie last minute last year. SECOND GRADK. The reason opened last Saturday, wheu 4(i junior matches were played. As was to be expected for the lirst Saturday, the. play was rather ragged, but nevertheless some good football was witnessed.

On No. 1 iihow Ground, Ui'afton proved too strong for St. John's, and lust year's champions ran out winners by 16 to 5, made up of tries by Maleolmsnn (2), (ordes. and Randell, while Christian and Kandell each converted one. For St. Jnlin'ts, Bull scored and Royal converted. Tile game was evenly contested in the spell, which ended with the scores even; but ill tlio second half condition told, ami Graftoii had much the better of it. There was no outstanding player iiii either side, the combination of both teams leaving a lot lo be desired.

(.hi tlio adjoining ground. King's College Old Boys were too strong for College Rifles B, and proved victorious by 42 to 13. College Rifles held their opponents in The iirst half, when the scoro was 0 to 3; but in the second spelf King's got all over them, and rattled up 33 points to College Rifles' 10. Although King's won by such a margin, their work was not at all finished, their forwards, in particular, lacking combination. They secured the ball in most of the scrums, but in the loose there was a. tendency to play too much off side, and for obstruction a penalty try was awarded against them, while the number of free kicks could not ■he counted. The backs showed better combination, and it is worthy of note that one of the tries registered was scored by the fullback. Kddowes. A feugames should see them a fairly strong side. Johnson, at fullback for College Tiifles. was the mainstay of his side, anil had it not been for him the score WOuUl have be-'ti much larger. Those who scored points were: For Kinji's, dribble (2). Charter, Maxwell. Macdonald. Chisholm, Miller. F.ddnwes. Cox. and Walker, trie-: while Heard converted lour. Champion one. am! Charier one. For i ollopre Kifles. Maclean scored, Nicholson converted two and kicked a penalty gonl.

r s • -p ttot 1 - KIXS is very ) "s>jffij| pluck and guile. \\jilla To see him "> /*f)/«/ / ut la rge forwards Dominion for bis size, he sails next ■week for Sydney to play against the Cornstalk College boys, for the >./• University team.

\t \vondaK Grammar had a fairly easy task against Suburbs, who hardly showed the form of last year? team. Their forwards were keen and hard workill", the ; r strongest point being in the loose, but their play lacked finish. Their backs got few chances. Crammav, on tnc other hand, put a lot of dash into their work, and had the hetter ot it in *» departments oi the game. A. Singleton, at five-eighths, and McCoy. McLean, and Potter in t!ic forwards, were the outstnnding players, while a feature of the game was the goal kicking of B. Badeloy, who converted six tries. fonway i"ii. Freeman 12). McCoy 12), and McLean 11) scores tries.

The rontch Training College and University «« plavrd :,» a curtain raiser to the big same at Kden Park. Both teams 1 have fast sets of backs, hut the Training I College rearguard pot mere oppor'.'iniTic*, as tliev were t!ie bull from the scrum, and they finally won by 12 to 5. The College obtained al! their points in the first half, ana no further score eventuated until 'Varsity scored in the last quarter. For Training f'ollejre, Stretton and Prossor -.vere tlio outstanding backs, while Clarke anil Martin were the pick of a hard-workinjr lot of forwards. Mar-ken, al fiv—i-ichths. nnd at rover, wer- ■-.:! in ihe limelipht for University. College Rifles A proved too strnne for Eden, and beat thrm by 21 to .1. Collet-'e Pane? had all flu- host of the grrfnic. and promise tn take a h;mrl in Hip c!-- -i = ii>n of the championship. Ellcrslie succeeded in defeating North Shore hy 20 to :!. Kllersiic have promoted ::\ lot of their last year's third grade 'players, who arc very keen, and their J form so early ill the season makeI their prospects lirisrhi

The secondary school*, King's, i Iranimar A, Mount Albert, and fe-acrej Heart, all had wine. King's beat Urammar B, 27 to ■'): Grammar had a hard match willi St. Stephen's, and just won by 10 to 10: Sacred Heart had an even panic with Tru:ninp College A. the scores Ix-injr 14 to S in their favour: while Mount All>urt run over Training '•■:'■<:,. B. who were short, by 50 to U.

The newly-formed Howiclc ' lub are anxious for matches, and any club with a vacant Saturday should pet in toucn with the secret arv.