RUGBY BOOM

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27082, 17 May 1949, Page 6

RUGBY BOOM

EXPERIENCE IN AUSTRALIA

INFLUENCE OF UNIVERSITY TEAMS

There are more Rugby players in Sydney this year than ever before, according to Dr Robert Mackey, manager of the Australian Universities’ Rugby team which arrived in Dunedin from the north yesterday morning. Dr Mackey added that no fewer than 160 players turned out for the opening practices of the Sydney University Club, and all the Sydney clubs reported that they had more players than they could cope with. Dr Mackey, who is president of the Australian Universities’ Rugby Council, was in New Zealand in 1933 with an Australian Universities’ team. He also played for New South Wales in interstate football. In an interview with the Daily Times yesterday, Dr Mackey said that the gradual spread of Rugby in the various Australian States was due to the progress the game had made in the various universities. The code had always flourished in Sydney University. and/ after the 1914-18 war, the game was gradually developed in Queensland, Melbourne and Hobart Universities, and latterly in Perth where the influence of army units was being felt.

An annual match has been played by'Queensland and Sydney Universities since 1932 and possibly earlier than that, Dr Mackey said, and evidence of the- strength of the former team this year is revealed by the fact that in its first four games the University side scored 210 points with only 29 against, one match being won by 85 points to 3. The Australian universities —Queensland, Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart and Adelaide—-will engage in a tournament at Adelaide over a period of a week in August. Dr Mackey said that all university sport was controlled by the Australian Universities’ Sports Association which co-ordinated the various branches of sport, but the Australian Universities’ Rugby Council had been formed to control football although under the jurisdiction of the Sports Association. Hopes of Return Visit Hopes are entertained that a New Zealand University team will visit Australia either in 1950 or 1951, the final decision to be made after consultation with the Australian Rugby authorities so that there will be no clash with other tours. If the visit does take place, it is probable that the selectors of the New Zealand University team will have to restrict their choice to undergraduates, which is the basis upon which the Australian Universities’ team was chosen, although Otago University' is the only one in New Zealand following a similar practice. Dr Mackey said that the match at Sydney in 1931 between an Australasian Universities team and a Metropolitan team was still recalled with pleasure, and if the return visit were made next year it was possible that a game would be arranged between an Australasian Universities side and the touring British team. Although several of those who accompanied the Wallabies on their tour of Great Britain are not playing this season, Dr Mackey expects the Australian team which will tour New Zealand later in the season to be a strong combination. The side should be well served forward, and good hookers in Don Furness, Cotterell, of Queensland, and the Wallaby W. Dawson will be available. The Australian selectors are Messrs Syd. Malcolm, A C. (" Johnny ”) Wallace (New South

Wales), E. Bonis (Queensland), and D. Cowper (Victoria), with Mr Justice Herron. chairman of the New South Wales Rugby Union, as chairman of the committee

A source of strength to Sydney University Rugby, Dr Mackey said, was the flow of students from New Zealand taking the veterinary science course, and among them E. Callaghan, J. Stewart, and a clever half-back named Blakeley had played for the State. The former Wellington half-back, Ranfurly Jacob, who was now taking this course, was not playing football this year.

A number of former New Zealanders are coaching in Sydney, the coach of the University senior side being the 1922 All Black, Harold Masters, whose son, Elliott Masters, is a front-row forward in the Australian Universities' team, Harold Masters was one of the selectors of the Wallaby side which visited Britain. Ken Hart and Frank Austin, both ex-New Zealanders, are coaching University junior teams, and the former All Black and Australian international forward, E. Jessup, is coaching Eastern Suburbs, which recently stopped Sydney University’s winning run. Good Side Dr Mackey believes the present side is a good one, and it is now striking form. Ralph Garner, the winger who scored two tries in Saturday’s test at Wellington, lost about three-quarters of a stone in weight through seasickness on the trip across the Tasman, but has apparently made a good recovery. R. Taylor, the 6ft 6in, 14st 121 b forward, broke his jaw in the test and is unlikely to play again during the tour, while R. Tooth, the centre three-quarter, who is regarded as a very promising player, pulled a muscle and is an unlikely starter in Dunedin. One of the most promising players In the side is Dave Brockhofl, a 20-year-old, 6ft 2in, 14st 21b forward, who is a protege of Dr Frank Cotton, professor of physiology at Sydney University, whose scientific Ideas have revolutionised training for swimming and athletics in New South Wales. Brockhoff is regarded by Dr Mackey as a likely Australian test prospect. Dr Mackey says that the differences he has observed in interpretation of the rules of the game in New Zealand compared with that in Australia relate mainly to forward play. He has been surprised to find that a forward is permitted to get the ball out at the top of a ruck and throw it back to the half-back, a practice which would not be tolerated in Australia, and also at the number of forwards who get on the wrong side of a ruck, waiting for someone to bring the ball through. He described the arrangements for the tour as " perfect.”