FINDING WORK FOR RUGBY PLAYERS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19668, 9 December 1933, Page 16

FINDING WORK FOR RUGBY PLAYERS

UNEASINESS AMONG CLUBS IN WALES AND ENGLAND One day the Rugby Unions will tackle seriously the question of the transfer of players from one club to another (says a writer in the “Athletic News”). There is an uneasy feeling in some quarters that the love of the game and the playing attractiveness of clubs are not the determining factors in some cases, and that offers of employment often enter into the calculations. Last season there were cries of “sham*amateurism” from more than one quarter, and there was the prospect that the English and Welsh unions would be called upon to hold an inquiry. But the storm belew over. Now it has returned in modified form, and again it is the migration of Welsh players to English clubs, and the prospect that more will follow that is the cause of the uneasiness, though a proposed change from one Welsh club to another (which has not yet materialised) might also develop into a domestic matter for the Welsh Union.

It is a difficult problem. A man unemployed for a long period is not likely to think twice before agreeing to transfer his affections if “a spot of work” is also available; but the clubs (or members of clubs who use influence) lay themselves open to drastic action by the unions if a case of “inducement” is proved. It is curious, but Welsh Rugby en-

thusiasts prefer to see a player turn professional rather than he should ••leave the country.” There has been talk lately of Rugby League activities in Bristol and the West of England for the purpose of establishing professional football in that area. To what extent there is sound basis for the suggestion or in what degree it is imagination cannot be ascertained, but, on the face of it, Rugby League football is not likely to be a success in the comparatively sparsely populated areas of Somerset, Devon and Cornwall if it cannot be established in the thickly-populated areas of South Wales. Only one thing will give the professional body a real return for its propaganda in the South—sufficient clubs to form a league of their own.