ROUGH FOOTBALL.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 12904, 9 September 1907, Page 6

ROUGH FOOTBALL.

Owing, no doubt, to tho exemplary punishments inflicted upon offenders by the various Rugby Unions, a good deal less has been heard lately of rough play in club football than was the case in recent seasons. Suspensions and disqualifications have had their due effect, and tho result hae been to cleanse the game of some of the features that were dragging it in tho dirt. Attention has, however, been, once more directed to tho subject by the occurrence of rough and foul play in interprovincial football, from which it has so far been practically absent. The Auckland representative team which has been touring the colony for the past few weeks has achieved tho unfortunate distinction of having had a player ordered off the field by the referee in two of its most important matches on successive Saturdays. In Dunedin a man was sent off,, after several cautions had been administered, for illegally tackling an opponent, and it is said he was by no means tho worst offender. That such an offence is rare in interprovincial football may be gathered from .the fact that in fifteen years.' experience the referee had not had previous occasion to take action. In the match against Canterbury on Saturday another player, after being cautioned twice, was ordered off for rough handling of an opponent who was lying on the ground. All admirers and supporters of football must regret the occurrence of such incidents. An interprovincial team is not morely representative of the beat football "talent" in its province. It has the honour of that province in its keeping, both, on and off tho field, and the credit of the victory secured by the Auckland team on Saturday is seriously marred by tactics such as those which called for the severe aotion taken by the referee. Football is not a parlour game at any time, and when a heavy forward team like that of Auckland meets a light team such ac Canterbury, incidents are bound to occur -which look like rough play, though they are simply the result of a heavy man charging a light one. The Auckland backs were admittedly weak, and the forwards therefore set themselves, as in Dunedin, to play what is termed "a hard, "dashing game." No one would object, to that bo long as it was carried out legitimately; hard knocks are inseparable from any well-contested game, but there is a wide difference between hard play and rough play or foul play, and here, as in tho Otago match, more than one of the visitors overstepped the mark. The faults were not altogether on one side, for at least ono of the Canterbury players followed the bad example eet by some of the Auckland men, but on the whole there was little to find fault with in the play of our men from that standpoint. The incidents referred to had the unfortunate effect of rousing the passions of some of tho spectators, who were apparently looking for rough play by the visiting team, and were not clow, on. finding it, to express their opinions thereon and to offer tho referee a good deal of quite unnecessary I advice as to the action he should take. Feeling ran high and tho conclusion of tho match was characterised by a demonstration by a email section of the I crowd against the Auckland team which said little for the sportsmanlike feelings of those who took part in it. To hoot a visiting team because of the misconduct of ono or two of its members was a gross breach of good taste, which we trust will never be repeated in Christ-church. It might have been inspired merely by indignation against the rough play, but it laid tho community open to tho taunt that it can not take a beating in good part. The incidents in the two matches referred to will no doubt come before the Auckland Rugby Union, which is no less, desirous than the other unions to keep the game clean, and we must hope that its action will discourage the repetition of such very regrettable incidents.