RUGBY FOOTBALL Australian Tour: All Blacks May Go Next Season

Greymouth Evening Star, 30 September 1950, Page 7

RUGBY FOOTBALL Australian Tour: All Blacks May Go Next Season

WELLINGTON, Sept. 29 (P.A.)— Strong support for sending an all Black team to Australia next season was expressed by several members at tonight’s meeting of the Council of the New Zealand Rugby Union. The only point on which there was conflict was that it had already been indicated to the New Zealand Universities’ Rugby Council that it could proceed with a tour of Australia early next year. The matter will be referred to the Australian Rugby Union to ascertain which team it desires.

A Rugby colt is any player not over 21 years of age at April 1. This definition was made by the Council. Mr A. St. C. Belcher, chairman ol the council will be this country’s representative on the International Board when it meets in London in March. This was decided on the motion of Mr F. E. Sutherland. Mr Belcher said that it was vital that New Zealand should have representation at the meeting. New Zealand would forward some very important remits to the board and it was necessary that someone should be present to put New Zealand’s case.

Inter-island Match: Tactics Criticised WELLINGTON, September 29 (P.A.).—“Are we going to tolerate any longer the tactics adopted in the North-South Rugby matches?” This question was asked by Mr G. Orrell at tonight’s meeting of the Council of the New Zealand Rugby Union. Referring to the match last week at Auckland, Mr Orrell said: “It was not a good advertisement for our national game. It was not, I hope, a true reflection of the strength of the elite of Rugby in the North and South Islands. If these tactics are not changed, or something done about them, the North-South match should be dropped altogether.” Mr A. St C. Belcher, said that it was not so much a question of failure or of the lack of quality of the players, but their tactics. Mr J. D. King said that if the North-South match were played earlier in the season, it would give the players an opportunity of playing themselves into bigger football. Mr Orrell said that if the programme of football was such that the match could not be brought on considerably earlier, it would be far better to drop it from the programme altogether. It was doing football no good in New Zealond. “The only place to play the match is in Wellington,” said Mr Belcher. “The match is usually one of the best spectacles of the season here. When it has been played away from Wellington, yeaf after year, it has been a flop. I have never known a failure here. We will certainly have to shift the match further forward in the season in future. We will see if that solves the problem.”

BRITISH TEAM’S TOUR: PROFIT OF £34,000 WELLINGTON, Sept. 29 (P.A.)— The New Zealand Rugby Football Union Council announced today that the recent tour by the British Isles team was the most profitable in the Rugby history of New Zealand. The net proceeds were £34,000 and the gross takings £104,653. The New Zealand Union’s share was amounted to £22,000.