LIONS UNANIMOUS? “Last Rugby In N.Z.”

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31168, 19 September 1966, Page 3

LIONS UNANIMOUS? “Last Rugby In N.Z.”

IN.Z. Pres« Association—Copyright» LONDON.

Not one member of the British Lions touring party wants to return to New Zealand to play Rugby, the "Sunday Times” writer, Vivian Jenkins reports.

He said that the Lions had left New Zealand “with somewhat mixed feelings.”

"Off the field they have been royally treated," he said. “On the field, however, the reception in places has been distinctly less amicable." The All Blacks won the series, but no-one will quibble about that because they were clearly the better side. But, he added, there are more things to a Rugby tour than winning and losing. LONG TIME AWAY “There is also the question of whether the team has enjoyed its Rugby or not, which on a long tour of four months and a half or so is no small matter. “It is a long time to be away from home and family —l3 of the Lions were married men—and if the games are not to be enjoyable, it is hardly worth-while. “In this connexion I regret to report that while nearly every one of the touring ; rty said he would love to come back to New Zealand again as an ordinary visitor, not one of them —and this was confirmed to me by the manager, Mr D, J. O'Brien—wanted to return there to play Rugby. “The whole atmosphere of the game is so different from that at home, largely because of the competitive element, from the age of six or seven upwards. 1 am not against a limited amount of competition among adults—it provides a necessary shot in the arm—but in New Zealand the whole thing is carried to excess.” DESIRE TO WIN “The desire to win becomes so implanted and is so nurtured at every suceeding age up to adulthood that the game at top level is far more a battle than a game.

"The expressions on the faces of New Zealand players as they take the field—set taut, determined to do or die—speak for themselves, and a smile at any time in a game is virtually unknow.i. “Indeed, if one were to appear by any mischance it would probably be interpreted as a sign of weakness by the team's coach. “One very famous New Zealand coach 1 spoke to said he regarded it as one of his first duties to work up a hate in players against opposition. NOT WORTH ENDS “Some may approve of this, and that it produces efficiency is undeniable. Competition always does. “But taken to the extreme as it is in New Zealand it also produces things that to our own players, at any rate, are not worth the ends involved. “Dirty play, of course, is one of them and that there was more than enough of this on the tour now concluded was made evident to everyone—or should have been—by Mr O’Brien’s outburst on the subject at Christchurch after the game against Canterbury." Jenkins said. Kicks on the head which necessitate stitches or broken noses after stiff-arm tackles, do not come under the heading of “hard” play, to which no Rugby man objects. Instead, they are plain “dirty,” Jenkins said. RESPOND IN KIND “No doubt they will be accused of squealing," the usual New Zealand come-back, but the only alternative is to remain silent and respond in kind—and what kind of a game does that make Rugby?” Jenkins added that the international matches were free from taint (except for the Meads-Watkins incident) and credit for this must go to the New Zealand coach, Mr F. R. Allen.