RUGBY GAME

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 92, 20 April 1939, Page 6

RUGBY GAME

NEW ZEALAND MOVE

14-A-SIDE AND 2*3-2

CONFERENCE REMIT

:' New Zealand will be placing before -the Rugby football conference to be held in London, at the end of the ■ year some proposals for the improvement of the game universally. One texnit to go forward from this coun^ ■ try Will be on the lines of a suggestion made by the chairman of the New ] Rugby Union (Mr. S. S. Dean), "who has lbng held the view that Jtugby should be a 14-a-side game. The remit will not only suggest the reduction in the number of players also the universal adoption of the 2-3-2 scrummage, it being the opinion of members of the New Zealand Rugby 'Union's executive that the "threefronted scrum" is ruining Rugby. A decision to send the remit for- , ward was made at a meeting of the .New Zealand Rugby Union executive last night on,the motion of Mr. Dean, 'seconded by Mr. A. C. Kitto. Opinions on the matter were similar to those .Twhich have been published previously in "The Post" ■ INTER-ISLANB MATCH-. Representations in the matter of a -change of venue for the North-South match were received and referred to the council - A letter of protest from the Canterbury Rugby Union stated,: **We are of opinion that the match this year should be played here. We wish tJ point out that from and including 1931 the North v. South Island match has been played in Wellington five times, Christchurch twice, and Otago once, and now it is proposed to play it again in Wellington this year. "In the interests of supporters in various centres we feel that this fixture should be spread more evenly. From what has been done in the past few years it seems that one province has been picked out for preferential -treatment, whereas we feel that it is the New Zealand Rugby Union's duty to hold the balance evenly between all unions entitled to consideration when the decision is being made, and from the figures already mentioned it does seem that provinces other than Wellington are not being justly treated. "Within the last two years Wellington has also had the big trial matches; and this, together with what has been said about the North v. South match, . must appeal to every reasonable member of your committee as sufficient grounds- for complaint by other ; unions."

Mr. Dean said that the New Zealand Union at its last annual meeting had decided that the inter-island match this year should be played in either Wellington or Christchurch, and the council of the union had decided that the match should be played in Wellington. The South Canterbury union wrote -stating that it supported the move- ► ment to have the North v. South Island match played in centres other than Wellington. It considered that the match should be played. alternately in «ach island, starting this year in the .South Island. Auckland also supported the CanterJbury union's contention that the interisland match should be played in the .main centres in rotation. It drew attention to the fact that no official ;/North v. South match had been played • in Auckland for 17 years.

TOURS. ~- In connection with the New Zealand •Rugby team's visit to .South Africa, it -was decided that the team leave New • Zealand about the middle of May. 1 The report that the British Universi- , ties "were unable to undertake the proposed visit of a Rugby team to New Zealand in 1940 was confirmed in a letter from the secretary of the Rugby Football Union (England).