LATE TACKLE MENACE

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 19988, 13 July 1939, Page 9

LATE TACKLE MENACE

FAULT IN AFRICAN RUGBY CLUBS WARNED South Africa has been having trouble with the late tackje .menace in Rugby. In consequence, a warning has been issued to all clubs. "There seems to be the idea among a number of Rugby players that the tackle is not for the purpose of making a player ineffective so that he cannot pass the ball, .but rather to render him unconscious," stated Mr. L. D. G. Warwick, the Transvaal selector, at a meeting of the committee of the Transvaal Rugby Football Union, when the subject of late tackling, and particularly tackling with intent to harm an individual, came up for lengthy discussion, Mr. Warwick, who said he held no brief for Tony Harris, the Springbok fly-half, said he had witnessed a number of instances in which this player had suffered unnecessarily from the attentions of players who seemed to have this idea in mind. He referred to flank forwards in particular. “I feel it is high time that we did something about it," declared Mr. Warwick, who added: “Referees are powerless to deal with the matter.” Their attentions were often occupied with the flight of the ball, lie stated, and they were not always able to see what was happening.