DOUBTFUL PLAY IN RUGBY FOOTBALL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21390, 18 July 1931, Page 16

DOUBTFUL PLAY IN RUGBY FOOTBALL

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —We are to witness the game of the season, Kaikorai v. University. The proceeds will be devoted to charity. Will the game be played in a charitable spirit. or is Kaikorai, as is its wont, to be allowed to “ get away ” with paltry tricks which make Rugby here second rate in comparison with that of the North Island. By tricks, I mean taking advantage of the referee’s back being turned to employ such tactics as running at opponents before the ball is out of the scrum and being considerably in the opponents territory before the ball is kicked at. Kickout from the quarter distance. The Kaikorai wing-forward, in my opinion, never puts the ball in squarely in the scrum, but shoots it in sideways under the Kaikorai hookers’ feet. The ball is hooked; if not cleanly hooker, the back row holds it with the object of catching the opposing wing-forward offside. In the lineouts Kaikorai forwards are addicted _to elbow-fouling and shinning. We wonder why our teams fail when on tour. It is due to the game here being spoiled and fouled by offside play. Consequently a back has no chance of developing. Our forwards are slow, bullocky.-mostly without brains; they slog hard on our grounds, but on tour crumple up .when-the crowd is against them, and where there are referees who know how to put down “ pointing. Kaikorai would never have been so high in the flag competition here but for leniency on the part of referees, and “ pointing ” on the team’s part. May the best team win to-morrow on its merits. Let “pointing” be dropped. Let the referee be alert and hard, presenting little of his back to players. These sentiments, I am sure, are shared by the thousands who will visit Carisbrook. —I am, etc., Fair Play.