TEACHERS CUP MATCH.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 4328, 24 August 1937, Page 5

TEACHERS CUP MATCH.

(To the Editor). Sir,—As an interested spectator at the Teachers’ Cup Challenge match between Queenstown and Arrowtown on Saturday, may I ask your indulgence to comment upon one or twp aspects of the game. At the outset may I congratulate the players on either side for providing such a sterling, though, withal, stern contest, such as we have so seldom seen this season. In passing, I would commend the very fine game played by the young Queenstown full-back. It was indeed an exhibition full of merit. It is a pity, however, that the game, which in ordinary circumstances, would have thrilled the onlookers, was marred to a very definite degree by the unnecessarily rough tactics adopted by one of the visiting backs. Such tactics have on previous occasions been adopted by the player referred to, and it is inevitable that sooner or later serious injury will be Incurred by soinc player or players should the illegalities be persisted in. It is very regrettable that the player in question should mar his somewhat natural ability by paying undue attention to the man, and it is to be hoped that for the good of the game such flagrant breaches as occurred on Saturday will, whenever detected by the referee, be put down with a firm hand. With regard to the apparently disputed try awarded to Arrowtowu toward the end of the game there can be no doubt that the try was a perfectly legitimate one. The player who. was awarded the try very

obviously was not “tackled,” as de- | fined in Law 2 of the Handbook of j the Eeferees’ Association, and there- . fore could not be penalised for an I infringement of Law 16. Furthermore, having forced his way over the , line and grounded the ball in accordance with Bugby law, any subsequent handling of the ball by opponents is beside the point. It is by no means a modern development of Bugby football for a player to score a try and in the doing of it to be submerged by a -heap of struggling humanity; and during the course of disentanglement for an opposing player to “cuddle” the ball, with the plain intention of inducing the referee to believe a touch-down has taken place. Maybe something of that nature was attempted in Saturdays match. It has become an unfortunate habit in recent years for referees’ decisions to be adversely criticised by players and spectators alike, such criticism arising not from any deep-seated knowledge of Bugby law, but from a definite partisan viewpoint. It is to be hoped that players at least will make themselves conversant with the laws of the game and help to 'make the game itself brighter and better. It certainly seems, to misquote Gilbert and Sullivan, that “a referee’s lot is not a very happy one.” Thank you, Mr Editor, for your indulgence. —I am, etc., “SPECTATOR.”