Counties Rugby Is Going Ahead Well

Press, Volume C, Issue 29623, 20 September 1961, Page 13

Counties Rugby Is Going Ahead Well

AMBITION, so it is said, A killed Julius Caesar. But that .was before the world was introduced to the strange and fascinating sport of Rugby by William Webb Ellis. Ambition, it is quite certain, is not going to kill those devoted followers of Ellis who are the members of the Counties team which played Canterbury on Saturday. Since their union was formed half a dozen years or so ago. Counties have kept attacking new obstacles and year by year have mastered them. At enormous trouble and no little expense they transported the old Eden Park grandstand to Papakura. At enormous expense and no little trouble they are now undertaking their first major tour. Whatever the outcome of th* tour—and Saturday’s game indicates that it will be successful—it is certain that the ambition of the union and its players will not die. The great hope of all in this Rugby-minded district is that Counties will develop as soon as can be to a team of first-class standing in pro-

vincial Rugby. The problems are many of course. The main towns of the union area,. Manurewa. Papakura, and Pukekohe, in effect, are being transformed by urban sprawl into outer suburbs of Auckland—and of course the ambition of all keen Rugby youth is to get to the big smoke and, it possible into the Ranfurly Shield team.

Second, the towns themselves do not exactly love one another and the parochialism is also a bar to development. Nevertheless, the achievements diplomatic and otherwise of the union since it was formed have been astonishing and on the basis of experience in the South Island it is a justifiable presumption that the standard of the representative team will soon advance very considerably.

The team is worth every possible encouragement. By its efforts it ha* practically killed Rugby league in the area. The union, for its pert, has spared no effort to take

Rugby to the schools and the yield to the game ha* been highly profitable.