RANFURLY SHIELD.

Evening Star, Issue 22413, 10 August 1936, Page 13

RANFURLY SHIELD.

TO TUB BDITO* Sir, —It is apparent after the game on Wednesday last that Otago intends to use the same tactics in defending the shield as Canterbury did when she defeated South Canterbury and the West Coast under questionable circumstances. Anyone who has travelled at all and attended shield matches in other provinces must be struck by the intense partisanship of the local referee in favour of his own. province, especially where defeat is a possibility. In my opinion the referee on Wednesday conformed to type in this respect. His decisions affected the morale of the Auckland forwards to no little extent, and contributed materially to the win of the Otago team. In the game Southern v. Varsity,controlled by him previously in the year, the same referee penalised the three front-row forwards of the Southern team, who constitute the front row of the Otago team, to such _an extent as to win the game for Varsity. It appears, to put it cynically, that these forwards have had a salutary lesson, for he did not penalise them on Wednesday for scrum infringements. There was one aspect of the play that the referee could have penalised Otago on, and that was the manner in which Simon placed the ball in the scrums. Simon’s proneness to this kind of thing is well known in club football, and was adversely commented upon by the Southland papers. Suffice to say that on Saturday he was as usual, and got away with it. The Auckland half was no better, but was penalised. It is difficult to see how Simon reconciles his action in this respect with the spirit of the game and sportsmanship. In conclusion, the Auckland player* were very dissatisfied with the decisions of the referee. It is,, of course, nice to believe that the other fellow is always in the wrong, and that players like Hadley and Killeen are such poor sportsmen as to refuse to accept tho rulings of the referee when they ar# fair. In my opinion, they were definitely biased in favour of the homo team. This game further proves that ia important shield matches outswta referees are a necessity if the visitor* are to get a fair chance at the shield. The action of the ‘ Star ’ in whitewashing the share of the local player* in the heavy stuff was also true to type.—l am, etc., Rebecca. August S.