WING FORWARD

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 29 May 1930, Page 3

WING FORWARD

PLAY DEFENDED E'URTIIi:!? REPLY TO MR BAXTER (Hy Telegraph-Special ,to "The Mail") \ ,'•'. AUCKLAND!, 28th May. Commenting on to-day's cablegram from Sydney about illegality of wing forward' play, Mr Tom Jones, who was manager Of' the 1920 All Blacks says that with J. T. Tilyard (captain) and Mr E. VV. llazell (the third selector oil : the lour) he took (he responsibility of , playing E. A. Uelliss as wing forward in preference to J. G. Donald, the man selected in New Zealand for the position and another equally well known "winger'' in the person of H. Jacob (the famous Maori footballer). Although at first not well versed in the finer points of the game, lie soon began to play more in the truer spirit of the game than most of the others he has seen play. That is to say, he was more of a rover than a winger. "Speaking as an international referee I can only say the wing forward always has been my pet aversion. 1 stated emphatically before the New Zealand team was picked for the second tost in South Africa in 1928, that Ron Stewart would have to follow winger Snowy Lucas' example there ill 1919 and go down in front to compete for the loosehoad. If we do not pack eight men in the scrum, 1 can see no other place under the delecrated kick info touch amendment for that extra man than as a second fullback, because the field is already too small for our backs in view of the absence of straight running centres. "No plavcr whether he be termed wing forward or anything else is illegal provided he be on side and not deliberately obstructing other players. The sin referred to in the cable is apparently that New Zealand persists with a scrum of seven men with one forward free against the scrum of eight men locked together adopted by other countries. The free forward frequently acts as a. jspoiler when the other side gets the ball. That is an unpleasant type of game, especially to the sirle whose play is spoiled and is unpopular with them, but it is not illegal. "Once again the writer descends to utter rubbish in speaking of defiance of the canons of the game. The rules are not broken by this style of play in itself. Nobody knows what are the canons referred to." He could see quite well what both the Sydney writer and Mr Baxter were getting at, though the former was quite out of court in talking of the wing forward as "illegal" and Mr Baxter did not. express himself happily. When the British half put the ball in the scrum he had to rush to the back of the scrum immediately, to get it. if his own side got possession. The wing forward was not under the same necessity to get back quickly and in the case of a quick hook, he was more frequently in front of the ball before it left the scrum anrl thus off side. Of course, if the ball went the other way he was at ah advantage from his position in being able to .follow it, at top speed. At the same time, this disability of being placed offside by a quick hook worked sometimes to the advantage of the opposition. In a test match in Sydney, the NewSouth Wales hookers adopted the policy, when in New' Zealand territory, of kicking the ball through the New Zealand scrum in order to put the New Zealand wing forward offside in that way they obtained a number of successive penalty kicks against the All Blacks arid won the match on penalty goals. Auckland received- one in this morning's mail for it brough'fc the Manawatu "Daily Times" of yesterday, containing the following choice morsel. When" the message containing Mr J. Arneil's stricture was referred to him on arrival at palmerstoii North, Mr Baxter declined to comment.'"l am not interested," he-said. "Who is this man?" On being informed that the criticism came' from the President of the Auckland Bugby Union (the message showed that fact at its outset) Mr Baxter rejoined, "I air. not interested whoever he is."

"i have one great regret and that is that my old colleague Moke Belliss was not on deck to reply to the toast, of his old team (Wanganui) last Wednesday night, instead of its 19 year old captain."