POINTS OF VIEW

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 55, Issue 3929, 21 July 1937, Page 7

POINTS OF VIEW

OPINIONS OF OUR READERS. FOOTBALL ? Sir,—There have been recent articles in the press urging the need for more stringent dealings with infringements and rough play in football. In the game Ngutunui versus Hospital it was my privilege to watch the greatest exhibition of incompetence ever displayed by a referee. The game was never under control at any stage, and so roused the ire of the spectators that at the conclusion of the match the referee was hurriedly escorted from the ground. Surely it is time the Rugby Union took drastic steps to prevent the taking of a referee’s whistle by men so obviously incapable of controlling a game. The Pirongia team refused to play under this referee, and in the interests of Rugby football the other club teams should follow suit.—l am, etc., DISGUSTED. COACHING PROVINCIAL RUGBY TEAMS. Sir, —I think it would be of great assistance to all provincial teams that are to meet the Springboks if the New Zealand Rugby Union were to appoint suitable coaches throughout the Dominion to help to prepare the different teams that are chosen to meet the South Africans. Months were spent by the Rugby Unions of South Africa in deciding on their choice of players to form the Springboks team, and it behoves our Rugby Unions in the different centres to be up and doing so that they may mould their chosen teams into strong combinations. It is certain that if our provincial teams are the best procurable it will greatly help our test teams to be able to wear the Springboks down and prove that New Zealand can win the three test matches and be the premier country in the Rugby football world. Previous to our last All Black trials we were all of the opinion that New Zealand possessed no inside backs, but the trials have proved otherwise. If coaches were appointed in different centres a large number of provincial teams could give the Springboks far greater opposition than they perhaps expect. Hoping that this suggestion will have the support of all centres as well as the New Zealand Rugby Union, —I am, etc., B. F. O’ROURKE.