RUGBY AMBASSADORS

NZ Truth, 7 June 1924, Page 4

RUGBY AMBASSADORS

GAME THAT HELPED TO PUT US

ON THE MAP.

One hears so much about the ties of Empire—common race, common traditions, common language. Not much is heard about common games. And 'yet common games, carrying with them a mutual sporting spirit, is ono of the strongest and most binding of ties.

i ; ; ; . . How many people In the Empire could score ten per cent, of marks m an examination paper set on the subjects of the last Imperial Conference, or any other Imperial Conference? How many people have even a nodding acquaintance with the preference and protection issues as they affect the Empire?

:: t: :i But people who are left cold by Imperial Conference debates, whose minds will not or. cannot fathom economic complexities, are fired to a pitch of tense excitement by the Homeric contests In the classic field of Rugby. The Trojans of the political field worry them not any, but just mention the Rugger giants, and the smile of understanding dawns wide and deep.

The man m the street may not be versed m Hebrew genealogy nor In the Greek Mythology. Far more fasdlnating for him Is the pedigree of the great football families; and he has woven round the deified game a mythology much more satisfying than that which the Greeks offer to those who can read thorn. In this mythology, he is himself a creative artist, for no spectacle Is more colored by the opticnl lens of the observer than Is the grand old game.

:: s> tt Even before the match is over, the myths have developed. They give rise to disputation "on the bank," on the Saturday night conversazlonos, and m the Monday papers. After a year or two, tho bitterness goes out of these disputations. The myths become mellowed by time. It ceases to bo anyone's particular business to pull tho haloes off the saints. Even sinners find enlvatlon. A whole group of amateur Homers sing m proso the mythology of Rugby.

t: :: :: Of all tho great men of the 'eighties, who is more widely remembered than some of tho giants of tho Native Team? People who have only a hazy notion of Tom Bracken and Sir Julius Vogol (also, bo it noted, many people "to whom this remark does not apply) can, and will, tell you ail about D. Gage, Keogh, and iladlgan. In later times, players still young among us hayo come to wear the Imperishable laurels. Even for Scotsmen there is only one Wm. Wallace.

What does all this mean? It means that Rugby In Now 2ealand la moro than a game. It is a great medium of thought. It gives a basis for standardising and comparing human effort. Many people m Now Zealand think of the Empire relationship m terms of Rugby, that standard being to their minds tho most vital. In Australia the same thing could bo said of cricket

Somothlng of tho fierce light that used" to beat upon thrones beat upon Armstrong when ho captained tho Australian ' Eleven through the last memorablo tour. That tour was of Imperial as well- as of athlotlc Impqrtanco (and so will be the All Black expedition}. • Armstrong was a great Australian delegate who also needed to be a diplomat (which sometimes he woihH).

For It cannot bo forgotten that bo much depends not merely on what m done but on how it is done. '. Conduct and character, an well a* capacity |o

which may easily 'lead to worldcriticism. The chivalrous and gentlemanly spirit of sport* (on and off the field) is more important than the points scored. Leadership can make or mar.

The professional issue touches both cricket and football at 1 various points. It is a vexed point, a subject for give-and-take. Visiting captains .should be loth to criticise. And there are other points of difference of opinion, "such as methods and rules of play.

, : : : : : : Those who criticise the conservation of British Rugby see plenty of subjects of dispute. But it is better to look less on the differences than on the value of that which is held m common. Motherland and Dominions should not drift apart through following different versions of the Rugby code. Let it be repeated: the tie of common games like Rugby and cricket appeals to vast numbers little moved by politics, and makes them kin. ,

:: :: tj Perhaps the diplomacy of athletic sports finds Its highest expression m lawn tennis, which has now assumed an international Import. Why has tennis this high significance? Partly because It is a game m which men may excel up to middle age. It brings together world -champions who are more than boys, who realise the dangers as well as the delights df limelight, who know that the background of conduct and character Is as significant as the combat itself.

: : : : 1 1 Football Is a game for younger men. No one wants to put old heads on young shoulders. The. social etiquette of Rugby may not be developed Into a ritual, to the extent reached m tennis. But a high sporting standard is an essential of any real success. Leadership Is needed, both managerlally and In the captaincy.

The fact that so many intra-Imperlal athletic tours aro now fragrant memories emphasises the Importance of preserving Rugby as a common bond. A veteran of tho Natjvo team has rightly written In "Truth" that that toam'sEj^tour helped mightily "to put New Zealand on the map." And Rugby will help to beep us on the map. Though It now has rivals In New Zealand, whero once it stood peerless, tho fact remains that Rugby la the only game In which this country can challengo the world's attention.

For some reason which one foels rather than fathoms, Rugby suits the athletic genius of New Zealand better than cricket. The indigenous race has never shown marked ability with the willow. But the Maori Is a born footballer, and so is the nattve-born pakeha. Rugby prowess has m tho past helped to rntso the Maori m the white man's esteem. Which Is another way of proving the binding character of. common' games.

It is now many yeara since tho newa that one throe-points defeat of tho 1905 All Blacks was hoisted on newspaper windows. In shops, hotels, cluba, etc, throughout the length and breadth of this fair land. Oh, tho disappointment of it! And tho argument is not finished yet, and never will be. "What Is there In politics (abort of war) that can move countries thusly? And have we not a generation to-day that remembers tht> unfortunate Boer War far less than tho glorious invasion by the Rugby Afrikanders?

Because it Is & game of youth, football produces nn enormous proportion of veterans. In fact, wo aro nearly all veterans, and, after tho manner of veterans on tho bank, wo may think

that the youth of to-day falls abort of the old standard. But on© of the- oldest veterans of All — Williams of tho Native team— rounds tho cheery note of "good as ,e?or." And why not? Then here's a, toast:; "To the Old, and tho Young,