THE UNIVERSITY'S PLACE IN SENIOR RUGBY

Press, Volume C, Issue 29506, 6 May 1961, Page 5

THE UNIVERSITY'S PLACE IN SENIOR RUGBY

THE proposed admission of a second University team to the senior Rugby championship, advocated by “J.P.S.” in a letter on the sports page recently, has provoked “Concerned” - into a detailed study of a problem which the Canterbury Rugby Union may soon have to solve. “I am just as concerned as he is to see the senior competition revitalised, but I am not of the opinion that the action of permitting one club to have two teams in this competition will necessarily bring about this revitalisation,” said “Concerned.” “Would ‘J.P.S.’ agree that in any sporting competition the presence of a competitor who is year after year vastly superior to all his opponents, leads to a competition that is ‘greatly stimulated' (his words), or does it lead to a stultifying of the competitive element with all its ramifications? “The argument used by the Lincoln College Rugby authorities, in their efforts to obtain permission to, enter their senior team in the Christchurch senior grade, was that this very fact of their continued superiority in Ellesmere senior Rugby was detrimental to the sport both from the player and spectator point of view. “Would the entering of two University teams in the senior competition lead to a strengthening of this club or a weakening of it? The answer must be, of course, that it would undoubtedly lead to a further strengthening of the club—if this is possible after witnessing the almost complete subjugation of a reasonably strong Albion side by the University senior team. “With these points in mind, should the Canterbury Rugby Union amend its competition rules to permit the University club to enter two senior teams, thereby inevitably leading to a still stronger

University ’A’ side —or should steps be taken by the New Zealand University Rugby authorities to make more stringent the eligibility requirements of their students, who wish to play Rugby for the separ’ate universities? “It is my opinion, it is over to the university authorities to take the first steps in this direction, rather than expect the local administration to aid and abet the strengthening of University Rugby still further. "From where does ‘J.P.S.’ obtain the idea that all the seven University senior Rugby players who were regraded, would ’fly into many of the leading club sides?’ This is surely stretching the players’ ability and our imaginations a little far. I would agree that this could possibly be the case in respect of two or three of these players, but even these hardly fall into the category of *the province’s leading players.' Judging by the way in which one of the University forwards had to leave the field on Saturday because he aggravated a rib injury, and then returned to the field still obviously in pain, it would appear that perhaps the senior side is not carrying many forward reserves and that some of the regraded players may receive promotion again in the near future. “Has ‘J.P.S.’ checked the opinions of a cross-section of the Dunedin Rugby public (players, spectators, and administrators) to see if they agree with him on the fact that ‘Otago successfully runs two University teams in its senior competition’? I feel that he is taking rather a distant view of this matter and that perhaps his statement should be reworded to read that ‘the Otago University successfully runs two

teams in this competition,’ for I see by the newspaper reports that the Taieri club (which was by no means a weak club in my playing days in Dunedin) has met and been summarily dealt with by these two University teams, to the tune of 58 points! Does this lead to a ‘greatly stimulated’ competition? “Could your correspondent tell me what happens to the ‘senior players' in the open clubs in Christchurch, who cannot make their club’s senior side? It has been my experience that probably eight out of 10 of these players in general transfer to other clubs to continue playing senior football. This step is surely open to the University players who are placed in a similar position. “In any Rugby-playing ‘public’ there can only be a certain percentage of the players who each year fall into the category of senior players. If any factor leads to a marked imbalance of the spread of these players, this would inevitably lead to a similar imbalance of the competition, in which these teams are taking part. This is surely what is happening today, not only in Christchurch, but in other University centres. It is my firm belief that this satisfactory spread of players cannot be maintained by allowing a club which >s already upsetting the balance of a competition, to become even stronger, by permitting it to have two senior teams without there being any ‘internal’ spread of resources within that club. "With the gradual implementation of the Parry Report, the University population in New Zealand is going to increase rapidly, and with the wider application of the bursary system the majority

of these students will be attending full time. It would appear, then, that the restricting of their memberships to full-time students is not going to solve the problem. To this end I would like to offer the suggestion that the University Rugby authorities examine the possibility of their entering in the senior competition, either separate faculty teams or combining two or three faculties, such as science and engineering, or law, commerce and arts, etc., and that the CJi.F.U. amend its competition rules to permit these teams to be entered in its senior competition. o “This would serve several purposes. It would decentralise the administration of the great problems which must face the University Rugby Club at present; it would give rise to a healthy competition among the faculty teams and so stimulate the playing of Rugby at the University; it would revitalise the senior competition in Christchurch in that it would be unlikely for these faculty teams to reach the provincial strength of the present side with its juggernaut proportions, and these faculty teams would tend to have their ups and downs, as other clubs do, instead of the present situation whereby the possibility of there being a weak University ‘A’ side in the future is extremely remote. It would also permit the Canterbury Agricultural College, which next year becomes a corporate part of the University of Canterbury, to enter a ’faculty’ team in the Christchurch senior competition. If these faculty teams were limited to the senior grade only, and all other grades were made of sides selected from the whole of the university, as they are at present, this would probably serve the double purpose of placing these lower teams on a more equal footing with the other clubs. “It is obvious, however, that a sacrifice would have to be made by the University Rugby Club, in that if it put such a system into operation it would probably give up its virtual mortgage of the Harewood trophy. It would also have to be prepared to forego the experience of winning its matches by 30 and 40 points and be content with having to struggle for victory as other teams do. There are many other things the club would have to give up, but it is obvious to me that the game would benefit immeasurably and ultimately University Rugby in New Zealand would be in a much healthier state than it is at present, for although their sides are winning with monotonous regularity, let Us not delude ourselves into thinking that Rugby in the Universities is in fact in a healthy state. How can it be when so many students have to spend their Saturdays as emergencies for teams, and many others just stop playing the game because they feel that they are not good enough to make a team? I am sure, however, that common sense and sportsmanship will prevail and the University Rugby authorities will be prepared to make this move, which can only benefit the greatest game I know. “If they are as deeply concerned with the situation as everyone else is. and begin by taking positive steps to restore the vital balance to the Rugby competition in Christchurch, then I am sure the Canterbury Rugby Football Union administrators would be prepared to cooperate with them as far as possible, in an endeavour to arrive at a satisfactory resolution of this major problem facing the future of the game in Canterbury, if not in the whole of New Zealand.”