English Past-President Has Very Decided View

Chronicle (Levin), 12 February 1948, Page 8

English Past-President Has Very Decided View

TIMARU, Feb. 11. . In his opinion the Bnglish Rugby Gnion vvpuid not consider the proposai by All Black M. P. Goddard, lor adequate pav for A'li'Blacks on tour, sa'ui Sir Basil Hill, president of the Englisl Rugby Union from 1937 to 1939, when asked for His comment today. If a /piayer could not make a trip beeause of' his obligations to -his family or hir eiuployer, then he should stay at home, he said'.' "Riigby was purely a ganie anu not a professional sport. Rugby was not so. importan't that a player should impose a hardship on his family to represent his country. It vyas against,. the- amateur rules for any player to accept nionej' from his elub or his unibn to defray his expenses while on tour. A legitimate means of making financiai provision for such a player was-for his emplover to continue paying his wages while he was away. Rugby, he coiltinued, was one.of the few remaining sports in Britain that was administered on a stfictlv amateur ba=is. A player 's career was the lirst consider^tion and Rugby was merely fitted in as a pastime. Bir Basil was a member of the English team which played against the 1905 All Blacks. N. A. Mitchell, who toured Britain With the Ali Blacks in 1935, said that he had no fault to find with the travei ling arrangements or the acconimoda tion during that tour but a player, tc maintain peak form, had to have relaxa tion. away from the game. The 3s t day allowed was not sufficient to defra.A - .-•uoh. cost. He did not advocate pro fessioMal Rugby in New Zealand but plavers chosen to represent thei; country should not be expected to make financiai saerifices. It was diffioult to know where to draw the line between amateurism ani professionalisxU, but one thing was cer tain, that no player chosen for All Bbiek honours should be dependent on the charit.y of others to make the trip, said D. Lindsav, a member of the 192s All Blacks team which toured South Africa. He believed that tours wercsufficiently remunerative-for the Rugby ITn.ion to make reasonable allowances for plavers. The present rate of 4s a day was not enough. It would be a sorry day for Rugby when the eligibil ity of a player for All Black honours was determined by his financiai status.