HEALING MOVE

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32351, 17 July 1970, Page 14

HEALING MOVE

Rugby Clubs In Dispute (N.Z.P.A. Staff Correipondentl LONDON. The leading 37 Rugby clubs in Britain who have threatened to break away from the others have suggested a compromise that might save the situation. Basically, the dispute arose over the kind of knock-out competition English club Rugby should hold. The English union wants every club in England to be eligible, but the 37 top clubs, who charge admission to their games and rely on gates to cover their substantial travel expenses, do not want to waste vital Saturdays knocking lowly clubs out of the competition by . massive scores, and want to play only among themselves.

Originally, the 37 proposed their own exclusive competition and were threatening to break away from the English union if they did not get their way.

Now they have offered a compromise. The 37 would find eight finalists among themselves, and the English union would run its separate competition, open to ail other clubs, to produce eight more finalists. These 16 would then play in a knock-out competition to produce a winner. The 37 decided unanimously last week-end to hold their own competition, which will be regionally-based in its early rounds.