The Rugby Test

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28951, 20 July 1959, Page 10

The Rugby Test

Among New Zealanders there is real regret at the nature of the result in Saturday’s Rugby test match at Dunedin. By every account, the Lions were superior on the day to the All Blacks, except in goal-kicking, and there the skill of Don Clarke produced a win for New Zealand that was inconsistent with the run of play. In the event, a team that completed the primary scoring movement in Rugby no fewer than four times was beaten by a team that did not score one try. New Zealanders may be more conscious of this since it happened to a band of footballers who have won admiration because they are clearly not concerned with winning to the exclusion of all else. It is unfortunate that a game played in good spirit, without the grimmer incidents associated with some recent test matches should have ended in this way. The technicalities should be considered by Rugby officials,

who may wonder whether 40 penalties—an average of one every two minutes—against leading players who would be presumed to know the rules is not evidence of over-legislation. They should also consider whether the disparity in the success of the goal-kicking of the respective sides was due to the use of fundamentally differently constructed balls in different countries. Whether all penalty goals are worth three points in a game which—as events on Saturday clearly demonstrated —is so rich in opportunities for them will be hotly argued. Such technical considerations are for the legislators and for knowledgeable students of the game. The ordinary follower of Rugby, who enjoys a good game, will content himself with regret that the better side did not win Saturday’s test, and the hope that in future tests the results will fairly reflect the run of play. *