IS IT NOT TIME?

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17526, 1 May 1925, Page 7

IS IT NOT TIME?

I ABOLITION JF THE WING FORWARD. •Out old tt-iend tlic wing-forward w*s the manner in which Mr H. Frost (president of the Now Zealand Rugby Union) introduced a subject for tne consideration of delegates at the annual meeting of the New Zealand Rugby Union on Thursday. The speakor intimated that lie had no desire to* raise again an. endless discussion about the modifications of the old rule-*, adopted by various unions, but he felt compelled to say something about the wing-forward. “Has not tli© tune come for us to abolish him altogether?’ 5 he asked. “I am convince .1 that the wing-forward is the cause of endless trouble. We all know that whatever it may be in theory, wingforward play in practice leads to undesirable incidents and systematic obstruction. while referees have the greatest difficulty in administering the rules of the game so as to keep the wing-forward ‘on-side.’ It is not the individual players, but the system which permits this sort of tiling, that is at fault. And when we come to play outside teams in Australia or England, where the wing-forward as we know him does not exist, naturally our opponents fail to understand what we think is a legitimate form of play, our players get involved in difficulties with the referees, our reputation suffers, and an undesirable spirit frequently creeps into the game. “And what do wc gain? I maintain that everything reasonable and legitimate in the way of spoiling and intercepting and tackling that is now done by the wing-forward illegitimately can be done fairly and as effectively by a rover, whether wc class him as a lonward or a back, so long as he is removed from the difficult and dangerous position in the field now allotted to the wing-forward, and is allowed to exercise his strength and skill in ways more consistent with the rules of the game as played and interpreted else- j where. 1 say this not because I am in favour of following other players or unions Mindly in their views about Rugby, but because, in my opinion, the wing-forward does incalculable harm to the game.”