NEW POINTS.

Feilding Star, Volume I, Issue 294, 18 June 1907, Page 4

NEW POINTS.

A circular letter appears in the English Union's 1906 Annual. The principal points of interest in the letter are: — "A player must be considered as tackled, if he, on being grasped by an opponent, fall, and the ball whilst in his possession touch the ground. If the player carrying the ball be thrown or knocked on (but not tackled), and the ball touches the ground, he may nevertheless get up with it, and continue his run or pass. . . . The referee may order the ball to be put into the scrummage from either Bide a3 he may choose. . . A fair catch can only be claimed by the catcher making his mark after he has caught the ball; the mark, however, must be made as soon after the ball is caught as possible; and in practice referees might allow a claim when the mark was simultaneously made with the catching. . . A fair catch can be made in a player's own ingoal. . . Referees should not allow players to approach within ten yards of the half-way line at a kick-off. . The board also wishes to emphasise that the game should be played in J the spirit in which the laws are j written, and particularly that one , side shall not gain an advantage through its own fault; thus the board has ruled that a player who hajs made ' a mis-kick when the opposite side are ; changing, and the ball hits one of , his own off-side players, cannot claim ( a scrummage for unintentional off- ; aide, provided the charging side gain ah advantage, even though this be ( a try. . . In cases when two op- , posite players are running for the ball a player overtaking player from , behind. If he does it is illegal, and should be penalised by a free kick. , This would not, however, apply when the overtaken player had reached the ball, and was stooping down to pick it up."