RUGBY IN AMERICA

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22777, 10 July 1937, Page 17

RUGBY IN AMERICA

ANNIVERSARY GAMES

NEW ZEALANDER AS COACH KEEN PLAYERS AT HARVARD Distinguished as a scholar and an athlete, a young New Zealnnder who has gained prominence in the United States, Dr. P. S. de Q. Cabot, of Massachusetts, arrived by the Mariposa yesterday from San Francisco, to attend the New Education Fellowship Conference. A graduate of Otago University and a former All Black footballer, Dr. Cabot said ho was delighted to be back in New Zealand, and showed keen interest in the forthcoming tour of tho Springboks. Much of the credit for making Rugby football a regular part of the life of many Harvard men is due to Dr. Cabot, who was recently re-elected president of the Eastern Rugby Union. He said yesterday that tho game was actually started in tho United States before he went there, and when he went to Harvard in 1932 he found that Rugby was played, but that there was little interest in it.

"I started coaching at Harvard the next year, and have been at it ever since," Dr. Cabot said. The formation of tho Eastern Union had followed, and the game was played at Harvard, Yale and Princeton, as well as by various other clubs, there being about 10 in the union. Three years ago a Cambridge team visited the United States, and Dr. Cabot refereed all the matches.

"Since 1931, we have been playing to a regular schedule," he continued. "It is only a short season, about two months. The American players are very keen, but attendances at matches are poor. Wo do not mind that, however, as we have the full support of the administration at Harvard. There are about 70 men in tho club there this year. They shape well, and are interested both in tho game itself, and in the theory of Rugby." Dr. Cabot's interest in the. tour of the Springboks is intense, as he played against the famous 1921 team, when it mot Otago. He said it was a fortunate coincidence that tho conference occurred during the Rugby season, as he was anxious to see New Zealand players in action again, as well as to watch the formidable visitors from South Africa.