Rugby Down The Years: Some Reflections

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29016, 3 October 1959, Page 5

Rugby Down The Years: Some Reflections

tSpecia'.ty Written tor "The Press" by J. C. MLZLLINXJ

JS Rugby football on the downgrade? The answer on first thoughts is yes. It always has been, according to reports, so long as I, in a long experience, can remember. This opinion, of course, is that of the onlooker who sees the game through dimming spectacles. ' My earliest recollections of football are of tearing giant forwards who were supposed to annihilate anything that came in their path but regularly failed to do anything of the kind. I can still see the ideal scrum formation made up of two hard, nuggety frontrankers with heads of iron, a lock just as hard and about twice as broad (a real man of iron this fellow), two side rankers, 6ft 6in if available, and two back-rankers as solid and as big as would comfortably fit a scrum such as was visualised but never really materialised. Looking back I find that such a team did not exist. 'Today the forwards are heavier and bigger than in those bygone years and great players of the Bernie Fanning (the ideal lock, a blacksmith by trade) and Charlie Seeling, a great line-out forward of more than 50 years ago, were only light-weights compared with some of the miniature mountains ’ see wearing the representative jersey today. Tougher 1 must concede, however, that the men were tougher. They had to be because of their mode of living The food was harder and more nourishing and morning and afternoon teas were unheard of except for women The executives might manage a morning break for a couple of pints or two whiskies (at a time when beer was beer and a customer was not <n duty bound to return any hops •ound to the brewery and the whisky bottle was placed on the counter and cost 6d a nip) but the average worker was kept with his nose to the grindstone for eight hours a day with an hour for lunch. The 40-hour week had not been thought of, the good footballer was hardly a consideration with the boss, and a full day’s work, and half a day on Saturday was demanded of all

Night-life, as it is known tn these times, did not provide all the distractions for the young player, who had done a full day’s work and needed a full night’s sleep; Shanks’s pony or the old iron horse were the popular modes of transport and motor-cars were not at the beck and call of everyone So the regular hours, good tucker, and the walking or pedal-pushing were providing the training and toughening that players of today have to find substitutes for. Bugbear Rules have apparently been the bugbear of football and it is doubtful whether the average senior player knows that there are senior playersanda ofr.. H are seven different ways in which a half-back can offend when putting the ball in the scrum ( I am indebted to All Black Maurice Dixon for this information). Before a certain Christchurch referee became prominent and decided to clarify the rules of Rugby, players seemed to know the rules and old-time referees would have been lost today in trying to make sense out of the maze. The referee in question knew more about rules than anyone else and yet was about the poorest referee. I have seen officiating. As time has gone on rules have been added, deleted and “clarified” to such an extent that half the referees rule differently, more than half the players do not know the rules and do not want to know them, and the public is generally ignorant of them. G. W ("Gun”) Garrard, who had refereed international games, once told me: ’When I go on the field I know I am in charge of 30 thieves and. spielers. They know that I know, and I never have any trouble.” Best Referees Teams in the old days sorted out the best referees and there was no “big five.” In big club games one captain would submit a list of three referees, the other captain would make his choice and the referee would regard it as a compliment to have the confidence of two good teams. This privilege of selecting referees is apparently now denied clubs. Yes, referees might not have been letter perfect in their knowledge of rules as we know them today but then there were not so many rules and in the long run refereeing is only a matter of common sense. Spectators like to see the ball in play but it is probably in play just as much as ever it was and the greatest rule introduced was one which made it compulsory to throw the ball in at least five yards in a line-out. Previous to the introduction of this rule there was much dull play and a team hard on defence would not send the ball in more than a yard and by barging and struggling would hope to gain a yard or two. This was after the days of the “maul" which was barred about 1892 Those were the days of the

small half-back who was very clever at short line-punting. The attacking side, however, would toss the ball well out in the field and with a straight running fiveeighths (only one was played with two wing-forwards), the aim was to give the overlap to the wing three-quarters, the recognised scoring man. Football then was not the fast, open game many oldtimers would have us believe but the public did know its players and numbers were not required for identification. In 1937-38 there was introduced a number of alterations to the rules and one of these was to have a big effect on the result of football matches and made it almost essential for a team to “carry" a goal-kicker. And so today we have the experience of matches being won by men who kick goals but have few other qualifications for being in a team. Previously a penalty kick found the offenders standing on the mark where the penalty was given and the man having the shot taking the ball back a safe distance. Now the kick is taken from the mark and the offending side retires 10 yards and must not charge. This makes the kick at goal 20 yards plus the effect charging forwards may have, more difficult than it was before. In [ftace of men who score tries the emphasis is on men who kick goals. Wing Forward Much has been written about the bad old days of the wingforward and his spoiling tactics but mostly by people who did not know the wing-forward. In New Zealand he was useful for putting the ball in the scrum and often his usefulness finished there for he was always opposed by a wingforward and the pair cancelled out each other. This was in a 2-3-2 scrum. When opposed to overseas players with a threefronted scrum it was a different matter, for the wing-forward then had a sitting shot at the opposing backs. It has always seemed to me that both Rugby Union and Rugby League made grievous mistakes in not making the game with a 2-3-2 scrum and 14 men aside and the referee putting the ball in. What a great game could have been developed with a little thought. The 2-3-2 scrum is a wedge which does not allow for breaking forwards who interfere with the work of backs and forwards and are infinitely worse spoilers than the real wing-for-ward had any intention of being. With 14 men aside and a 2-3-2 scrum it would be a case of forwards playing forwards and backs against backs. Administrators The game is really in the hands cf the administrators, some of whom today would have us believe that they can do no wrong and are above criticism. The sooner they get these childish ideas out of their heads the better. The reporters who offer the criticism are usually men of standing and of whom there are no keener Rugbyites or men who wish more to see the game played in the proper spirit. According to some members of our august body, anything that is not in favour should not be mentioned. So the idea of the man who wishes to curry favour is to keep handing out bouquets and never bricks. In short, “do nothing, say nothing, be nothing no matter what the state of affairs, and you will always be popular with a certain section" is poor advice to give to any young man. It would be well for certain members of the Rugby Union to think twice and remember . that they are placed in positions of trust by their own club-mates whom they should never let down. If the game of Rugby football is ever to be damned it will be by the administration and not by the newspaper writers.