Official Wants To Ban Place-Kicks In Rugby

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31498, 12 October 1967, Page 15

Official Wants To Ban Place-Kicks In Rugby

(JV.Z. Press Association—Copyright.

SYDNEY. A Sydney official has recommended the elimination of all place-kicking from Rugby.

Mr W. Simpson, a former State player, referee, and a member of the Sydney Rugby Union executive, made his proposal at a meeting of the New South Wales union.

He said that the time lost in place-kicking deprived a match of up to 15 per cent of the scheduled playing period. Its elimination would be of great benefit to the game the world over.

He said an Indirect benefit from the change would be to reduce the hacking of grounds by goal-kickers. This had reached a stage where many councils had pro-

hibited the building of mounds.

The Irish Rugby Union had experimented with the elimination of place-kicking, and Mr Simpson hoped Ireland would move this change to the next meeting of the international board next year. The New South Wales union will discuss Mr Simpson’s plan and decide whether to accept it as a remit to the international board. 25-yard Kick-out

The union approved that Australian delegates propose the 25-yard kick-out dispensation be written into the laws of the game. It also decided to ask the Australian union to seek an

alteration to the knock-on law. This would enable a player to recover the ball before it had touched the ground without conceding a knock-on.

The Queensland Rugby Union will recommend that the laws be amended to allow for replacements up to halftime in all fixtures, including internationals.