RUGBY FOOTBALL

Waipa Post, Volume 31, Issue 1764, 29 May 1926, Page 5

RUGBY FOOTBALL

MAORI FOOTBALL TOUR.

SEVERAL MATCHES ARRANGED

(By Telegraph. Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day.

Twelve matches which the Maori Rugby touring team will play in England are announced. Mr S. S. Dean, chairman of the New Zealand Rugby Union, received a cablegram from the French Rugby authorities yesterday pointing out the datte of the first match in France as September 19th. then follows four matches, after which the team goes to England, where ilt meets Somerset on October 16th. After this there will be matches against Newport, 'Swansea, Gloucester, the Harlequins. Devon. Cardiff, Yorkshire, Middlands, London Counties. Hampshire and Leicester, Three matches remain to be arranged. IN-GOAL PLAY. At a recent meeting of the Referees' Association in Wellington a valuable idea was, put into effect by the president (Mr T. A. Fletcher), when he gave an illustrated lecture on "In-goal Play," a subject on which much more general knowledge might be disseminated among players and referees. Points brought out were as follow: That for any 'breaches by the defending side in their own in-goal the penalty was a five yards scrum, unles under the advantage rule the attacking side managed to score The only law which was relaxed for the defending side was the offside rule, as a player could not be ruled offside in his own in-goal. In cases of obstruction the referee had the power to award a penalty try if he thought a try would otherwise have been scored. For any breaches in their own in-goal by the attacking side, such as a. knock-on, throw forward, offside playing the ball on the ground, etc., the penalty was a force-down. He also pointed out that as the goal line was in goal, it was quite a force-down by touching a ball down on the line. It was also pointed out that no scrums could take place in the in-goal area, so that if a scrum was pushed over the line it automaticallv ceased to exist the moment the ball reached the goal. The tall therefore could then be played by the hand„d and a try or force-down made as the case might be. These points are well worth considering by local players.