NOW 31 TEAMS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22617, 21 April 1948, Page 6

NOW 31 TEAMS

p.B. RUGBY RECORD COMPETITION SERIES MEETING OF COMMITTEE The nomination of six in the fifth grade reported to Monday night's meeting in Gisborne of the management committee brought the total of teams in the current competitions of the P.B. It ugh v Union to 31, the highest yet recorded in any one season. Nominations for the fifth-grade competition whicii opens next Saturday closed on 'Monday. The competitions in the other grades which commenced last week embraced five senior, six junior, four intermediate, six '.bird and four fourth-grade teams respectively There were present at the meeting Messrs. M. H Beuth (er,airman) E Felton. B. Dodge, J Smith R Callaghan, F. .T. Baillie, 1 O'Neill. R Huston, L. Lament. K F Jones. T W McGuffie and W S McKee (secretary). The chairman etxended a welcome to Mr. Lament who was attending for the first occasion ns the representative of the Motu sub-union Amendments To Laws Reference to amendments to the respective laws governing the method of scoring and the scrummage was made in a circular letter received from the N.Z Rugby Union which stated: “We have received advice that the scrummage rule and the value of the potted son; have been altered by the recent conference in London. We have not yet received the exact wording of the new rules, but when 'hese are received they will immediately be brought into force. The new scrummage rule provides that tiie outside foot may now follow the ball into tiie scrum, but this needs clarifying and we can do nothing further until we receive the actual wording. The potted goal will in future count three points instead of four." The letter was dated April 14. The chairman pointed out that while the opening sentence indicated that the r.ew provisions would not be applied until the text of the amendments to the laws was received officially, the concluding sentence might be ’intended to imply that the reduction of the points for a field goal would operate immediately. It was decided to telegraph to the N.Z. union requesting an explanation. Liaison With Referees Tiie need for the closest possible liaison between the officials responsible for the general administration and those concerned directly with the control of the game on the field was emphasised bv the chairman in a later discussion when he expressed approval of a proposal that the union should have representation on the referees’ association in the same manner as the association had representation on the management committee. He had been informed that such a system had been attended with very beneficial results eleswhere, added the chairman. It was decided to recommend to the P.B. Referees' Association, that the union be given representation by a delegate to the association. Representative Selectors The principle of appointing a representative selector for forwards and one for backs which had been approved previously for the senior grade was extended to embrace also the selection of junior and third-grade representative teams. The following appointments were made: Junior rep. selectors.—Messrs . R. Francis (forward), C. Sebire (back). Third-grade rep. selectors.—Messrs. T. Kav (forward), T. Trengrove (back). The completion of the appointments was deferred to a subsequent meeting. Control of Grounds As the result of a lengthy discussion concerning the care and control of the Oval grounds, it was decided to arrange a duty roster of clubs to be responsible for week-end maintenance and also to control the grounds for practice and games other than competition fixtures. It was decided that the use of the grounds for matches or any other special purpose would be granted only on the approval of applications to the union and that no games other than competition fixtures or others specifically provided for would be permitted on No. 1 ground. A further roster approved is to provide for the supervision by clubs in rotation of a canteen to be established at the Oval, the proceeds to be placed in a pool to assist in defraying the expenses of the proposed tour of the representative side to the South Island. Use of Barry Park Reporting, as chairman of the grounds committee, on the recent meeting of representatives of the union and the P.B. Hockey Association with the reserves committee of the Gisborne Borough Council, Mr. Jones explained that it had been decided to continue the previous arrangement under which the union was given the use of Barry Park. To provide additional facilities for hockey it had been decided to make Anzac Park available to the association. Messrs Dodge and Felton were added to the grounds committee to which Mr. Jones had been appointed previously. A letter received from the Motu subunion requesting a challenge match with Waikohu for the Black and White Shield was referred to the sub-commit-tee dealing with such games. Pending the arrival of the jerseys in the registered red and black colours the Union club was granted permission to play in royal blue, a set of jerseys in that colour being immediately available.