RUGBY RULES AND PROBLEMS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20156, 21 July 1927, Page 5

RUGBY RULES AND PROBLEMS.

By Chevaliee. Some little time ago I referred with pride to the beneficent effect of the exercise of discipline within thp ranks of the Rugby code. This is very largely due to the fact that Rugby Unions have realised the necessity of maintaining the authority of tlie officials who are appointed to control the games within their jurisdiction. Under no other system can the game succeed. The public has come to recognise this with the result that demonstrations against referees on the Rugby fields of the Dominion are very few and far between, and when they do happen are of the mildest description, even when the referee has given unpopular decisions, or has proved himself unequal to the job. Unless unions give their whole-hearted support to the referee the cTiy is not far,, distant when an escort of police may be needed to conduct him from the field. Even if that does not happen the position will prevent the men most fittest for the job from taking control of the games. I am sorry, therefore, to have to refer to an incident in a recent Ranfurly Shield, match. First of all, two leading players are sent off the field by a most experienced referee. Mr H. J. M’K.enzie has controlled more Ranfurly Shield matches than any other referee in the Dominion, and there is no question as to his knowledge and ability. It is never easy for an experienced referee, in a first-class match, to send a player to the pavilion. Sometimes it has to be done for the good of the game. lam sure that no man would have been sent off in, the Hawke’s Bay-Wairarapa match unless the referee considered that he had seriously offended. Newspaper reports indicate that the crowd approved the action of the refereeYet in the face of this the Hawke’s Bay and Wairarapa Unions both break all the traditions of the past, and exonerate their respective player to the detriment of the referee. The Hawke’s Bay Union evidently acted on the famous slogan, “You leave Mr Brownlie alone.” I wonder whether this union realised that, in endeavouring to whitewash a player, it badly needs in order to retain shield, it also endeavoured to cover with ignominy a referee who had fearlessly done his duty. More than that, the referee was not one that had been sent, by the N.Z.R.F.U. to control the match, but was one that the contending unions had mutually agreed upon. , Things are coming to a bad state when teams go into camp for protracted training ; when commercial men hold meetings to consider the business that will be brought 'to a town when its team holds the shield and when unions will deliberately sacrifice a man, faithful to his duty, when the carrying out of that duty touches important individuals belonging to the team concerned. Evidently the time has come when Hie Ranfurly Shield should bo split into kindling wood and its silver mountings melted down and the proceeds given to the unemployment fund. The action of the New Zealand Rugby Referees Association on the decisions by the Hawke’s Bay and Wairarapa Unions should receive whole-hearted support throughout the Dominion.

Then when we come to the South Island wc read the following in the Christchurch Star from the pen of “W.G.G.” What this writer does not know about the game and its control is not worth knowing. Ho says: “During the last two weeks the Management Comfhittco of the Canterbury Rugby Football Union has not appeared in at all a favourable light; in fact, its action has been generally condemned and the attitude of its members severely criticised. The trouble has been caused by the action of the committee towards referees and reported players. For some time past there have been complaints about rough and foul play in all classes of games, and referees have been blamed for , not bringing offenders to book. Two officials, however, reported a couple of players, and then the trouble started. The committee, with one exception, set out to prove the offender not guilty, and the referee quite wrong in his contention. The one exception was Mr S. F. Wilson. Most of those now holding seats as commiteemen have been old players, and surely they know that the referees’ decisions on all questions of fact are final. They wanted to cross-question the referee, and in some cases try to prove him wrong. Having watched the doings of the committee for more years than one likes to remember, I cannot recall any instance where a referee’s word has been questioned on a matter of fact until at present." Those who know Mr Sam Wilson, who has been president of both the New Zealand and Canterbury Unions, will know what' a strong and just man ho is, and therefore will not be surprised to learn that, even though he stood alone, he defended the right of the referee to, have his Word accepted as a matter of fact. There is no doubt that many committeemeu are in danger of placing club interests before the interests of the game as a whole. I know from bitter experience. When one becomes a member of a Rugby union he is expected to be above club interests and look upon the evidence as it affects the game in its entirety, and act accordingly. That brings me to local conditions. Two cases have been before the Otago Union, and it seems as if the spinal weakness that developed in the north has spread to Dunedin. The weak action of our union was treated as a matter of urgency by the Referees’ Association at its meeting last Saturday, and a resolution, since published, was unanimously passed. A more stringent and less dignified motion was at first proposed, but after the position had bceu fully canvassed the amendment became the motion in its present terms. The action of one referee, in criticising the hooker of a team, has given rise to a new situation winch will no doubt be further debated at the next meeting of the association. The weakness of tlic unions action lias cicatcd an unpleasant impression upon referees, with the possible result that some referees, if not all, will be tempted to allow players to act as they see fit. Other referees will withdraw from active service. This, I understand, is no idle threat. The position, therefore, is in danger of becoming very serious. Because one of the referees has become involved :u charges and counter charges there is a danger of the serious aspect of the other complaint being overlooked. This jas a case of criticism of the referee in the dressing shed and the use of foul and insulting language. It is impossible to print the words that were used. the offence was admitted, and yet the offenders were sent to their own club for repnmand. One referee said, “If those wo.rds were used to me I would take the law into my own bands.” Every magistrate would justify him in doing so. They were words that no man should use to another. Have referees to sit down under this sort of thing? Have decentminded young fellows to be driven out of the game to other sports because they are expected to put up with the filthy talk of uneducated boors This may seem strong language, but it is not strong enough, and the time has come when some protest must be uttered and some action taken. lam not mealy-mouthed on this question, hut I am convinced much is going on that is “over the odds. ’ Little slips of youngsters gather in the dressing sheds to" listen to the kind of language reported to the Rugby Union. If referees report it, the whole tiling seems to be accepted as a matter of course, and part of the education of to-dav. Some reader may resent these remarks, but, if necessary, chapter and verse can be given, and the time is rotten ripe for the chief authority to take action when the offence is reported and not remit the matter to the club concerned. There seems also to bo an idea that a spectator cannot be effectively dealt with, lie can be. In extreme cases the ground may bo disqualified. This may be difficult in connect ion with reserves, but there is no difficulty in warning an offender < off 11 10 grounds under the jurisdiction of Rugby Unions. The success of (ho game depends on the referee. It is not a perfect system of control, hut it is the best that can be devised. Ail referees look to the unions to protect them. 1

am sure that as the seriousness of the position is revealed the local union will do its utmost for the men who have given up so much time for the good of the game.