RUGBY IN AMERICA

Evening Star, Issue 22459, 2 October 1936, Page 5

RUGBY IN AMERICA

SID. CABOT'S IMPRESSIONS COACH OF HARVARD FIFTEEN [By Hooker.] Interesting impressions of the Rugby game in Hie Eastern States of America are convoyed in a fetter to the writer from Mr 11. S. do Q. Cabot, who is coach of the Harvard University fifteen and a member of the Eastern Rugby Union. Mr Cabot is now a director of the Cambridge Behaviour Studv at Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A. The season in the United States, ho writes, is always a short though intense one. The Harvard team, which Air Cabot still coaches, had a successful enough trip to Bermuda, where they defeated a Naval . team by fo points, and then, heat Yale hy a smaller margin. To wind up the week, which is now regarded by Bermudans as an annual event, a combined HarvardYale team also defeated a representative Bermuda team rather decisively. Altogether, Harvard has had a good season, winning all its games and defeating Yale twice, and Princeton the only tune they met them. These two colleges, and the New Y'orlk Club in New York City, were Harvard's strongest opponents. In seven games Harvard scored 11J points, with HI. points against them. It had been particularly pleasing, Mr Cabot proceeded, to see plenty of back play of an open nature this year, although their forwards had been trying to carry on with good hustling tactics and short passing which, to him, wore very important aspects of forward play. Next season they would miss the services of Donald Meiklejohn, who had been one of their mainstays in the back lino for the past live years. His centre threc-t|iiarter play reminded Mr Cabot of Jack Murray (the famous Otago player), and he had no doubt he would have gained his Bine at Oxford. Several new clubs have joined the Eastern Rugby Union, while the founding of a new club in Boston was an encouraging sign of the times. When negotiations broke down between the somewhat discredited United States f’ugby Union and Oxford University after the disappearance of trust funds, which were being handled by an official of the American body in California, the Pastern Union tried to induce Oxford to make a tour of its territory, but it was too late to complete negotiations after the thoroughly

bungled arrangements conducted hy the United States Union. During the coming season the Eastern body hopes to be able to have Oxford or a team from another country visiting the States under their own auspices. “ I have just read in the ‘ Sports Snecial ’ of Otago’s successful defence of the Shield against Southland. What a “party”! The thought of Africans coming over to New Zealand almost impels me to return, not only to the une, but to Carisbrook. At any rate, I am, still as lit as ever,” lie writes, “ and I find that when refereeing every Saturday during the season I can still manage to keep up with and sometimes (alack! as was my wont) ahead of it. Refereeing and coaching 1 find a most satisfactory outlet for my Rugby propensities on the field.”