LIMIT TO RUGBY

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31058, 13 May 1966, Page 15

LIMIT TO RUGBY

Springbok Restricted (N.Z. Press Assn.—Copyright) ADELAIDE. The Springbok prop forward, A. W. McDonald, has been barred from playing either provincial or international Rugby while he lives in Zambia. In a letter, McDonald, who toured New Zealand in 1965, wrote that he had been forced to sign a statement which said he must confine his Rugby playing to Zambia. He was not permitted to play for Rhodesia and could never represent South Africa again. In other words, his Rugby playing was restricted to north of the Rhodesian border.

Initially, McDonald refused to sign the declaration, but because his tobacco crop was only partly harvested and he had to rely on a normal loan from the Zambian Government to complete the harvest; he was forced to sign. However, he insisted on a clause that he was being forced to sign the statement before he acceded to the wishes of the Government. Now McDonald is helping the Rugby team in Livingstone and has played only one or two games. “I don’t enjoy it,” he wrote, “because there is no real competition.” No Matches On Oval The Rugby matches between Linwood and Lincoln College and Shirley and Albion, which were to have been played at Lancaster Park Oval tomorrow, have been transferred to the South ground.

The re-turfing of the centre of the oval which has been carried out by the Victory Park Board was expected to be completed today, but rain on Wednesday and yesterday has delayed the programme and also increased the possibility of the centre patch again being churned up. To avoid any possibility of the oval being damaged the Victory Park Board and the Canterbury Rugby Union decided yesterday not to play matches there.