“Amateurism” Or Sport?

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31412, 4 July 1967, Page 14

“Amateurism” Or Sport?

Except at international level, Rugby football is attracting much less public support than it did a few years ago, mainly because there has been too much emphasis on winning matches and too little on the way in which matches are played. In time, Rugby administrators—and coaches, in particular—may realise that although dull, unimaginative methods may sometimes win matches, they rob the game of its joy—and its spectators. Already the Victory Park Board has complained of having “a very diffi- “ cult year ” because there is no tour by an overseas Rugby team. Similar years may lie ahead. If much senior Rugby today seems calculated to disenchant the public, so do some acts of the game’s administrators. The decision of the Canterbury Rugby Union to warn former All Blacks that they might infringe their amateur status by playing in a soccer match between the Christchurch City Club and an invitation eleven is a case in point. The Canterbury Union, of course, is bound by the international laws of Rugby, which on amateurism are archaic. The Rugby administration shows no sign of recognising that these laws are out of tune with the times; on the contrary, it seems to glory in what the public regard as perverseness. Only a few weeks ago, the New Zealand Rugby Union showed an incredibly stiff-necked attitude by omitting from the guest list for its jubilee dinner in Wellington later this year All Blacks who have subsequently played League. “Amateur” has apparently become, in the eyes of the Rugby Union, far more important than “ sport

In science, in the arts, and in entertainment these are exciting times; new developments and ideas are keeping pace with a swifter tempo of living Rugby footbaU seems to feel it can afford to maintain an air of lofty superiority towards not only those who are paid to entertain in sport, but to unpaid players who on occasion play with professionals. Rugby is not alone in this. A few months ago a national athletics champion was asked to compete m a race with a cyclist and a pacer as part of a chanty programme. He was told he could run provided the horse was not driven by a professional remsman. A few years ago a Christchurch swimming club organised a relay race in which teams from other sports were to have competed. The New Zealand Swimming Association said that any swim- °^ petmg , m , the race against a professional soccer player who had been included in one of the teams would automatically be suspended.

rai SP T fimd^ ‘ h Clty SOCCer c,ub wants t 0 New y P aymg . a - matCh against a team New Zealand representatives in other sports. The thf m EvanS ’ a Professional Player, made he b i eC ? quite clear - There we re two aims, the “tab’s L^L WaS t 0 T- e enoUgh money t 0 send at the enV A P r ° D a tap> possibl y to Australia, a hotter 1V he s ! ason: the sec °nd was to foster a better feeling and understanding among various r’Sneout ta” raWe Kugbj has , "™ J