"I HAVE GONE BLIND."

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 133, 7 June 1932, Page 9

"I HAVE GONE BLIND."

INJURED FOOTBALLER'S CRY. ROUGH NEW PLYMOUTH GAME SEVERAL PLAYERS HURT. (From Our Own Correspondent.) NEW PLYMOUTH, Monday. Two men were taken to hospital, several were injured and required first aid, and there were many stoppages for minor hurts to players ; those were incidental features of tho Tukapa v. Star senior Rugby football game at New Plymouth oil Saturday. Herbert Billing centre three-quarter for Star, received a nasty injury to his head, and there are grave fears that there may be a fracture of his skull. Billing is in hospital.

Lynch, a Tukapa forward, also received an injury to his head, which compelled him to leave the field. He was afterwards taken to hospital. It is believed that he has escaped a fracture and that he is suffering from the effects of concussion only.

The game was a particularly hardfought one, tho clubs are old rivals, and each is near the top of the ladder. The game was kept close, and scrums broke up quickly, with the result that there was much play of a "shock" nature between the scrums and the three-quarter line.

The first indication that anything serious was amiss with Billing was when, towards the end of the game, ho sat on the ground and cried out, "I have gone blind!" Play this season has been noted for increased severity in the tactics of some players in dealing with men taking a ball and "marking" it.

It is the considered opinion of some followers of the game that strangleholds and pushing in such cases should be prohibited with iron rule. The old rule now in vogue relating to the award of a "mark ,, makes a fielding player a helpless mark for unfair tactics. It is reported that legal complications are likely to ensue in cases of injuries.