RUGBY CONFERENCE

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 151, 23 December 1926, Page 5

RUGBY CONFERENCE

QUESTION OF IMPERIAL BOARD

AN OFFICIAL STATEMENT.

Three days before tho Imperial Rugby Conference in Kngland, the New Zealand Union cabled to Mr. C. J. AVray and Mr. H. Harris, instructing them to withdraw from the conference i£ they were not permitted to discuss the question of an Imperial Advisory Board. The message gave the sporting correspondents a great deal to write about on the day before the conference, and on the actual day. Whether it made an impression on the Home members of the conference or not has not been reported. It is known, however, that the overseas delegates were permittod to state their views on the subject, and they have good hopes of carrying the day (reports the London correspondent of "The Post").

The conference itself was a secret one, and no details have been revealed. Delegates to the conference are all bound to secrecy, so that in the meantime the public have to be content, with the official statement:— \

"After a meeting which lasted practically iYi hours, at the Grand Hotel, London, on Saturday, the > Imperial Rugby Conference issued the following:—

"Suggested amendments to the laws of the game by the New South AVales and New Zealand Unions were considered, and were referred to the Home Unions for further consideration and reference to the International Board.

"The meeting was addressed by representatives of the overseas Dominions on the subject of the formation of an Imperial Advisory Board, or other body, on which the Dominions would be represented. This matter was also referred to the Home Union and the International Board for "consideration.

"Sir G. Rowland Hill (England) took the chair, the other delegates present being Messrs. James Baxter and E. Temple Gurdon and Admiral Percy Royds (England), Messrs. J. Aitken Smith and R. T. Neilson (Southland), Messrs. H. S. Lyne and T. D. Schofield ( .. ales), Messrs. J. B. Moore and R. G. Warren (honorary secretary, Ireland), Messrs. C. J. AVray and H. Harris (New Zealand), Dr. L. G. Brown and R. G. Stanley (New South Wales), and Messrs. J. C. Carden and V. H. Cartwright (South Africa)." Following the Imperial Conference, a meeting of the International Board was held. At its conclusion the following statement was issued:—

"The board views with great concern the difficulty which obtains at present in setting the ball fairly into the scrummages. In the opinion of the board this is entirely due to irregularities on the part of the half-backs in putting in the ball or the forwards wilfully preventing the ball getting in. Referees must immediately inflict the necessary penalty kick when such infringements are noticed."