RUGBY.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LII, Issue 1701, 17 April 1926, Page 8

RUGBY.

•;NEWS.rJE®O2| ALL SOURCES. BAY OF PLENTY j PROGRESS. The .tabled at. the ..annual meeting!''of the Opotiki Rugby Union, +•■ held indicated a substantial forward . move since the beginning l ' of f?'i last year. The Union holds the Slial-. foon Shield and the Kusab Cup, thCT of the Bay of Plenty ■inter-Union competition, ta£ port comntpnted upon the dmproyc}nen| £ in the stdpdnrd of play witnessed the ma^osjjfopji.thciai|.hioldr; : The opppfituHity^ : *£ to businoss associated.! themselves with the, game that successes otc|i asL,.thesQ. advertiser <tho disjtrict,aml tp. _• mgipta.i| good' feeling; the province and another. - J ' ■ The president commented upon thjt public spirit shown by. the*"donors of: ■* trophies^,,and in, pafti‘c,ulav, mpptipneß*i that twso sets of, caps had., .beon< pre|f' ; sentod teethe winning senior,.J 2 an|j;' junior teams. The total receipts' for; the;,-.season were. £202,. ofhjyMcJp v £B|d'i v ; wasuieftn|jjbuted-;by, the gates from homOjtrtsaptEesentative matches, while dubgames had,..yielded ..£33, and. £39. ■y r ,The/-es;penses inf ] ; clnd®J^li s spentibiߥisits to-,fl.then ; ceiffi|’' tresjj ’andtamounted inwall,., Four tpanis visited , thep-Opotiki-grounds? during the winter. ' The Union,'.ded.d c .d to 'adhere to the ; principle'- of a 'seientjojic motion -for- the adoption of : .the- : selector, system a«ufeAn attempt was also made to introduce the .district .system,, in .-plnoe of the club, system, and after a lengthy discussiom^this.'.innovation i« T as-.t : aiso turned db.wn. One new departuro that wasr endorsed: ; isuggestecl «, tlie , forpiat.ioni' p£ which,- lacking; in- ? thet’past. rThe .iaeet;ing;f i ,dCf , i^ c d; to* ■ thcuelnbs' to b&,,nsked. to,rmcct 'in thp mo;tntin\e ; ;.and-discuss a proposal fof the; inauguration; ■of an dnquijuncp scheme y Mr. Gy Shalfpoji is tp have thodireetion of .the Union’s affairs throughout the ensuing year.t . XO “RAGINGi TIGERS.” : • A EE- BLA CKS - YIN D I.CAT ED. . | An,Evening Standard (London) writer, described ■ the Rngb.v match,, between' Wales and ?y Eng|and at Cardiff, on Januy ary 16, as ; .undoubtedly one of the most unpleasant-,for .many years—fists werjj; used as in a street brawl, feet as if .the players, were the ball. “It was disgraceful that the ( game,should have degenef-: ated into -a, brawl, • and that it did not come to fix\ end altogether was , : due. to the firm and.impartial rulings, of Mr. Acton, of the,lrish Union, and to the persuasive powers of Mr; Wakefield, the English captain, who on more than one j occasion made an appeal to the playerp • not to lose their heads but to, play the j game fordtself.” And yet at the close I of last season some English writers would have their readers, hejieve that-. British., lvugbyites were as .harmless as . the do-*} mestic tal)by, whereas the All Blacks were raging tigers. This, of course, was| a gross slander on as fine •a- body , of , .sportsmen as.ever toolc the field, and was ■disclaimed by?,leading writers, who did not hesitate to point.out- what.was-well-known to the regular followers of the -gampT-that certain abuses had crept iff .long before the appearance of the AU - Blacks.