Unlucky referee

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32050, 26 July 1969, Page 11

Unlucky referee

The top five Canterbury Rugby referees for 1969 have been chosen, but if a consolation prize was to be awarded, Mr J. M. Lang would be an obvious candidate. A competent and conscientious referee, Mr Lang has given many good displays in Christchurch and was unlucky to miss a place among the elite of his association. He entered the realms of refereeing soon after he was transferred from Christchurch to Palmerston North in 1961. Two years later he was again transferred, this time to Rotorua, where he passed his referee’s theory examination. In 1966 he became No. 2 referee in the Bay of Plenty union; the following year he was transferred back to Christchurch. Mr Lang showed a natural aptitude for refereeing from the start, but he has always taken the job seriously. Each season, he has started training in late January and usually he goes for runs two or three mornings a week before work. He will be remembered as a player and administra-

tor in the Technical Old Boys (now Shirley) club in the 1940 s and 19505. A lively five-eighths, he represented Canterbury Juniors for five years, four of them as captain, at a time when K. C. Stuart and M. J. Dixon were also in the side. At the same time he was secretary of the club; later he became vice-presi-dent. In common with most referees, Mr Lang has a “skeleton in his cupboard.” In the Bay of Plenty championship final between Whakarewarewa and Waikite in 1966, he caused consternation by awarding a dropped goal to Whakarewarewa at a crucial stage in the game. Just as the ball was passed to the Whakarewarewa first five-eighths, the giant lock, M. Maniapoto, ran in front of Mr Lang. His next sight was that of the ball passing between the uprights, so he awarded a dropped goal. Only after the game did he discover that it had been a cross-kick gone wrong. To Mr Lang’s great relief, the “gift goal” did not prevent Waikite from winning the title.