RUGBY RESULT WAS NEVER ANNOUNCED

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28178, 17 January 1957, Page 7

RUGBY RESULT WAS NEVER ANNOUNCED

JN the long ana rather remarkable sporting history ot the West Coast, one of the most exciting Rugby games ever was played on March 9. 1869—almost 88 years ago—between the husky and bearded teams of goldminers from neighbouring Charleston end Addisons Flat.

Hundreds of spectators turned up for the game—some from Charleston and some from Addisons Flat, both of them being at that time mining towns oi considerable size and even more considerable toughness. The players had long beards, they wore considerably more clothes and padding than the 1956 All Blacks, and their field was the Nine-Mile Beach. Feelings rar; high on and off the ground Beards were pulled m the scrimmages, with the inevitable reJ action from the man whose beard | ivas pulled, and the teams were | >o well-matched that the result a was in doubt even until the finish. Still in Doubt a In fact, according to the hisI orical records, it is still in g ioubt. Both sides claimed the 1 ictory. and their supporters on 1 ach side were even more vocife--8 ous. Whatever the referee has k say has not been preserveo I n history. I The final decision was a tribute I ) the tact, if not the appeaseJ »ent. of the local Rugby officials £ t was officially decided, and so 3 üblished in the ‘Westport j imcs” of those days. that I though Charleston had officially een first awarded the victory 1 tat decision was rescinded and ams and spectators were j ititled to their own view ol j ho really won. S( Quite a newspaper controversy as carried on in the local newsipers after the game, and rightly, j it the officials probably thought 3 at it was better to hold the I vision in the game in abeyance ■ ther than to have risked a I mnybrook on the field. i oyal Visit reasons for their decision Xht have been well founded. A U inth later, when a much earlier Ike of Edinburgh visited farleston. a combined race and pt? meeting was held not far ■m the same spot. It was - ably successful, and the goldfollowed it with a grand ft. The dance, as usual, lasted --4

all night, and in the clear grey dawn of a West Coast autumn morning, the ball broke up. Leaving some hundreds of diggers with nothing much in view for the rest of the day. Someone had an idea. For reasons of mutual preference the Orangemen and the Irishmen had gathered in separate groups not far from the deserted ballroom. Included in the parties were some of the girls from the dance. What fun it would be, thought one ot the Irishmen, if one of the girls, wearing a bright green sash, was to ride through the ranks of the Orangemen. Battle What fun indeed. The Orangemen stopped the girl rider, with elaborate courtesy, and asked who had suggested this flaunting of colours in the wrong camp She told them, and with broad grins on both sides, battle commenced It was described as one of the finest fights in the history of the goldfields, which to those who know their West Coast history is

some description, and in retrospect (after the bruises had gone down) was regarded, without rancour, as the best possible ending to a notable social occasion. So on the evidence, the decision of the local Rugby officials to leave the result of the previous Rugby match an open verdict was justified. Handicap Football continued to be played in Charleston for many years. For all one season it was handicappeo because under the import control caused by the shipping troubles (mostly shipwrecks) at the port of entry—Constant Bay—there was only one football for the various teams and they had lo wait in turn to use it for practice

Visitors to the All Nation? Hotel, sole remaining relic of the palmy days of Charleston, which had a tram service even before Christchurch was promised a new railway station, will recall a picture on the wall of the local football team. Even Dr. Craven might have feared meeting them j