BAY OF PLENTY BEACON Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. WED. AUGUST 10, 1949 FOOTBRAWL

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 23, 10 August 1949, Page 4

BAY OF PLENTY BEACON Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. WED. AUGUST 10, 1949 FOOTBRAWL

While the fans undoubtedly like their Rugger rugged, most also like it clean. But what passes for football in some of the matches seen in this part of the Bay of Plenty makes one wonder • whether it was a step towards civilisation to introduce sports into this country in which tribal warfare was once the traditional pastime. There was the recent, deplorable incident at Rotorua when Whakatane supporters wanted to introduce fisticuffs into an argument with the -referee. There was a disgraceful exhibition of uncontrolled bad sportsmanship in a senior club match here on Saturday when a number of players on both sides swapped blows quite openly. Arguing with referees is by no means uncommon. Fists are often swung in anger in local rugby, and the authorities who are elected to control the sport seem as yet to have failed to take any firm and effective steps to keep the game clean. " Possibly the referees are not altogether blameless. But without evidence of a genuine desire on the players’ part for cleaner sport, and without a definite indication that the Sub-Union will back up any action, however drastic, there is little a referee can do—particularly in view of the Rotorua man’s experience. It should be made clear to these all-in brawlers that, even if their tough-guy methods do get results sometimes, such tactics have no place on a field of sport. Good, clean rugby is one of the finest sports on earth. But when it is allowed to deteriorate into a series of skirmishes between groups of grown men displaying the bad tempers and bad man- ] ners of spoilt children, then it is | small wonder that club games are not well attended and that the*clubs themselves find it hard to scrape together teams capable of giving a decent exhibition. While no one wants to pretend that Rugby should be a nice, lady-like pastime where all the boys keep their little white panties spotless, it is about time that players, referees, officials and the ardent club supporters who are sometimes not above fighting on the sidelines, realised that} the only way to get the game back onto a decent basis is to resolve not to tolerate any repetitions of such incidents as those • which have occurred recently. Let any dirty players be ordered off without parley. Let any of their team mates who want to argue with the referee go with them. Let brawling sideliners be cleared off the ground. In short, let New Zealand’s tradition of clean sportsmanship reawaken here, that players and spectators may again enjoy their sport in the proper spirit.