RANDOM REMINDER

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29008, 24 September 1959, Page 23

RANDOM REMINDER

RUGBY’S PROPS

The Rugby player who stands steadfast beneath a high punt while his opponents charge down on him like a herd of badtempered buffalo wins the admiration of his colleagues and the crowd. Rugby football is often a testing and trying game, but the problems set on the field are often as nothing compared with those of administration. The coach, for instance, may sometimes feel that his charges lack the intellect and muscular coordination of his two-year-old daughter, but he must swallow his most pungent phrases as a rule. The selector is often embarrassed by the number of friends he has suddenly acquired. The treasurer has his problems too; but for stark courage, perseverance, and devotion to duty of the highest order, there are none to

compare with those club officials who arrange and conduct the evening parties it is now the custom to hold for the under-weight members of the organisation.

The youngsters, hundreds of them, are from about six to 11 years old, and thev are gathered together under one stout roof. The noise is appalling: it is as if all the bird shops of the nation had somehow become sunerimposed. The screening of films brings the volume down to a roar: the serving of sunuer s'mds it soaring again. From the recesses of the clubrooms the officials produce sufficient soft drinks, nies and saveloys to moot tb° needs of ”D to 200 Billy Bunters. At an average gathering, there are several children who make no attempt to speak while their mouths are

full. It is policy to keep these ones particularly well fed. And when the tumult and the shouting dies, the captains and the wings depart, leaving an appalling array of dirty dishes, pie crusts, saveloy skins and empty bottles, with the straws bent at drunken angles, for the serving team to clear away. But by next season, these same officials will have the gleam restored to their eyes as they speak of the high prospects of a tot with red hair who weighs four stone but who can kick with either foot and who tackles like a demon. They are alive to his possibiliti'*s. itist as thousands each day are aware of the prospects offered by the classified advertising columns of “The Press,’’ which are unsurpassed for value.