RUGBY RULES,

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 102, 2 May 1930, Page 12

RUGBY RULES,

CLAIMING A MARK. N.Z.R.U. DISCUSSION. (By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, Thursday. In the discussion preceding the Rugby Unipn's decision that both feet must be on the ground to permit a claim for a mark being allowed, Mr. Kitto asked if a player who jumped in the air and caught the ball, came down and made a heelmark could be awarded a "fair mark." Mr. Dean: It's not a mark. Mr. Kitto: What if an All Black who toured in 1924 eays a mark can be awarded ? Mr. Dean: Well, I would like to know where it was allowed. The 1924 team, he added, found it practically impossible to get marks. The question had been discussed at the Imperial Conference, where a mark had been looked upon as a purely defensive measure, and it had been maintained that it should be awarded only in the players' own territory. Mr. Kitto maintained that if a player landed on the ground and made a heelmark a claim should be allowed. He asked .Mr. Nelson what his experience had been during the Springboks' visit in 1921.

Mr. Neilson: My experience was that a mark was allowed only when the heelmark was made practically simultaneously with the catching of the ball. It was pointed out that if a player was knocked over before he made a heelmark his claim could not be allowed. "Years ago," Mr. Dean observed, "when the English rule was strictly interpreted in New Zealand, the general feeling was that a player who jumped in the air in the face of an onrushing pack of forwards, and who landed before being collared, was performing brilliantly, and was more deserving of a mark award than a player who took a 'sitter.'" That was the position now, and it was the reason why New Zealand had applied for a dispensation, and had obtained an alternative whereby a mark was allowed on a player calling his claim." Under International Board rules, he added, it was very difficult to get a mark. When one realised that in all matches played by the 1905 and 1924 All Blacks only one goal had been kicked from a mark, one appreciated how difficult it was to get mark awards. In England, Mr. Dean said, he thought referees relied too much on theory and not enough on practical application.