RUGBY FOOTBALL

Hokitika Guardian, 27 July 1932, Page 3

RUGBY FOOTBALL

WESTLAND V. MERIVALE. Considerable interest is being shown 'locally in connection with the visit of a team from the Men vale Club of Christchurch, the runners up of. the .Canterbury Rugby Union senior competition, who are coming to Hokitika ;bn Saturday next, to play Westland ,‘Sqb-Unioh representatives that arterjnoon on Cass Square.. The visiting jteam is reported to be a strong combination, and as Canterbury Rugby is of/a'. high quality this season, they fshoiild ibe ’ able to give a good,,exposi|tion of the winter pastiiq^,.-Tl:e iWestlpnd team selected on Saturday 'last a number of new faces ; io (that which played in the Dittman HhijekV match against Greymouth, and /should provq a solid one both in the forwards and backs. The forwards are, a fairly light set, # hut are hard nor Ivors and fast, while the backs shouk he able, to hold their own, and are •'good solid tacklers. The game should prove an interesting one and attract a large attendance. The curtain-raiser wilt be a match between School and Kiwi, (R. B'. Collet, referee.) ; WEST COAST RUGBY UNION. / At the weekly meeting last evening >at Greymouth of the executive,, th Canterbury Rugby Union wrote that the question of the West Coast team’ expenses for the match aga'nst th , .Canterbury representatives at Christ church on August 27, in the event o ihe game’being a Ranfurly Shield match the Union was willing to pay the. rea sonable expenses of the West Cor.s team’s trip, with a maximum of £BS. or the amount of the nett gate receipts. if less ''than this amount. Ifthe'Shield w.a. s not held by Crnterbu- = at the date of th e match, the " Canto" bury Union, were agreeable to guarant : the. West Coast Union half the . net' .gate with' a maximum of £SO. Th' o?.er wag accepted. •Star. (flub were declared winners of the senior championship. It wrs d' cided that' the question of closing the

’• nior competition be held over pen' ing the decision of the protest by “ Cobden 'Club. In the meantime it was decided to start a junior knock-or competition for the Hannam Cup. lh Secretary explained, that ,in the junk» competition at present Blackba'l wen 16 points/and .Cpbden and Kumara 1 points. If Cobden’s protest were ;sustained they would also be 16 po’-nts. It was decided to p ay the challenge match for the Dittman Shield with the Westland Sub-Union at Greymout on August 6, after which the team to play Buller in the T eturn home and home match at Westport on August 13. would ; be selected. . ' BAD REFEREEING. ( . LECTURE OF MR S. I*. WILSON. CHRISTCHURCH, July 26. Last evening, in addressing thf members of the Canterbury Rugby Referees’ Association,, Mr S. F. Wilson had some trenchant remarks t< .make regarding the attitude adopt.c bvpresent-day referees in Canteroury and elsewhere. The whole root of tin trouble was in the' fact that referees did. riot realise that the game was for’ tire players and not for the referee. When Rugby was started in Canterbury about 50 years ago-, it Was' played under all sorts of conditions an: under all types of rules. ' ORGANISATION OF THE GAME, There was no definite 'organisation until the foundation of the Canterbury Rugby Union, and it must 'be- emphasised, said Mr Wilson, that the formation of this body was purely to help the players, to assist them’ in getting matches,- in the provision of grounds, and the arranging of persons to control, same. The union then consisted/. and still consists of the players and the players .alone, and it was only with the idea of helping them in their enjoyment of. the gamei that the Referees’ Association was formed.

iTile.original idea of the r force being provided to. help the players.obtain a decent game was being lost sight of nowadays, and the real, teat .of the effectiveness of a referee’s work was the answer to the question, “Was he a bt'e’nVpting to give the players the maximum amount of pleasure out oi the game?” Thera, seemed to be an idea amongst referees that each and every player was a. deliberate, cheat and should be treated as such. This was quite incorrect. There were ‘‘pointers” amongst the players, bat , the

*-iriajbfify of them were-riot offt-tb uSat-t-he referee, and fop that official to take up an attitude antagonistic to the players was not .in. tlie best iin terests of the game. TOO MANY PENALTIES. liar too many pen' ity kicks Were given by the majority of referees at tlie present tune, and, in a recent match on the Oval .at .Lancaster Park? lie had counted, over iorty penalties. J This was sheer pin-pricking, and through the referee going out with, the idea that be must enforce the maximum penalty on all occasions. Rules were necessary in this life, but it did not always "follow that their, Breach led to a penalty, let alone to the maximum, However, in football, one. always got the maximum, penalty, and this was., quite in opposition to the spirit of the law. Referees should not go out as policemen, but, unfortunately, in New-, Zealand the're. were, too .many cases where this attitude was. taken up. In. Eng-,, laud, however, at the time of,/ the: visit of the 1924-25 All Black team,, he had frequently noticed that referees, did not enforde the maximum For instance they would often. : giycy a. scrummage for offside play .when /the, referee considered that such infringe* ment was not deliberate, A penalty,, kick should only be awarded in. tlie.j caige .of a'serious breach of the rules, j as it was a potential gaol, and the same applied to th'e knock-on. Here, referdee would frequently give scrummages when the so-called knock-on was ; nothing more or less thqn a fumble or a lhisliaiidling of the hall. OVER-LEGISLATION A DANGER. ' Over-legislation spoiled any game,:, and tlie officials in Rugby—both members of the unions and the yeferees—. were far too inclined to tyeat the from a legal standpoint. In England the standard of refereeing was.paytjc,; ularly high, but-, so far as. Mr' soii knew, there was only one,.referees’ association, this being the , -London j Society of Referees, ’ hufj "that .body | had no powey .in the game , ail'd was. I not 'officially recognised by the authorities. Aid rulings were issued /by the. International Board, and that 'body would not tolerate . any , interference whatsou ver. They were very j pf their right to Control the game, /and wlien the London Sbeiety on .one occasion had attempted to issue, rulings they had received a- 1 vfeiy' 'definite .ueßuff from the Hoard. THE GAME SHOULD BE ENJOYED. Referees should their task, and anyone who took up the attitude that the thirty players Were all attempting to heat him' was'not fit to be in controi of a match,;. / He should look upon himself as the th’i'fty-first player and allow .considerable' elasticity in his ridings. 'To seize' ujion' alll ' the ‘'little’' . points wliioli oecurred' and . to "penalise for' them Was ’definitely interl'ei ing with' the' players’' enjoyment, * and justified;; the 1 statement' that “the referee had rot allowed the players to play.” Officiousness—dr what might be bettor, termed over-zealdt)Sness—would lead? to the game losing its g'rjp. Too; much' Whistle for minor irf. irigemiehtis rasped. Upon the players, and there Were fflr too many" stoppages. The players, wbrle riot going to stand 40' penalties in. addition to about a’like number of scrum® and, peijbajis, SO or ’6O line-outs: In fact, if such’’was to be the no time would be left’ for'play, a «tate wliioh would sdori. sicken the public as well as the. players'.*