The Shady Side of Rugby Football.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLVII, Issue 22, 29 May 1912, Page 58

The Shady Side of Rugby Football.

“Half-a-dozen years ago we were — according to our temperaments—weeping at the death-bed of Rugby football, of rejoicing at the prospects of dancing in its wake. Now' the patient is not merely well again. He is stronger than ever he was,” writes Major Philip Trevor in an excellent article. “Rugger Tricks and Tangles,*’ in the April “Pearson’s Magazine.” To Mr. Adrian Stoop and his little band of Harlequins we owe the great reawakening. Theirs is the coat of many colours, and theirs the play of many shades. Satiated by the unrelieved selfishness of golf, and bored to tears by its smileless gloom, men and women go light-heartedly of a Saturday to Twickenham for an antidote to their midweekly poison. “Increasingly popular does Rugby football become, and with increasing popular appeal we, of course, get trickery and chicanery. “The boot lace trick is held to be a good one. Your side is being ‘rattled' Increasing success i s encouraging your opponents; a temporary stoppage of play w ill chill them, and give your own people time to pull themselves together. Therefore, try the boot-lace trick. I am told that a convenient knot has been invented, and that thy captain is the best man

to deride when exactly his boot lace should became undone. It takes at least a couple of minutes to tie it up again. “Handling the ball in a scrummage is another piece of knavery, which, to bring off successfully, requires a good deal of practice. Feel for the ball andt keep your eye on the referee. That, 1 am assured, is the best rule for a forward who wants to gain an aitvantage by this kind of trickery. To cheat at the wrong moment is fatal.’’