RUGBY ITEMS.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVIII, Issue 147, 25 June 1914, Page 2

RUGBY ITEMS.

(By "Spectator.")

Members of the Rugby Union at the meeting on Monday night remarked upon what was,'- unfortunately, such an unsavoury, feature of last Saturday's contest between Awa--itere and Moutere--I he unusual amount of betting that was indulged in. No secret has been made of tho fact that much monoy changed hands over the result of the game, and that this evil is on the increase must be viewed with general regrut. Betting on a proper basis, such as the totahsator for instance, may bo all right, but .when Rugby football, orany other sport for that mattor, is exploited. h,y members of tho gambling community, the game .is ap,t to lose its grand sporting qualifies, and, na has otten been the case, there is often a tendency among players to become dead-heads" for a pecuniary con-

sideration from some of the individuals who stand tQ win or lose such an amount of money- if a certain team wins or loses. And it is fthese "nontryers" that also bring the game into disrepute, and therefore the practices of these sporting parasites vill be generally deprecated. ' | The suggestion made by Mr i Griffiths that in order to preclude the ; possibility of a recurrence of Saturday's trouble through the encroachment of .spectators country clubs should make an endeavor to raise funds for the purpose of erecting fences to keep the public within reasonable distance of the playing grounds is a good one, and should receive the earnest consideration of the clubs concerned. An enthusiastic body of spectators caused similar trouble at Renwick recently, and such was the excitement during the concluding stages of Saturday's game that the Moutere line was swarmed by a collection of players and spectators. Although the referee intervened frequently it is not always advisable to subject the game to a series of stoppages through encroaching spectators, and any measure adopted to erect barriers to the public will be advantageous. It may not be generally known that the home team is always liable to penalties through the trespassing on the field of play, but it is doubtful if their enforcement would act as a sufficient deterrent to somo transgressors. Playing on the High School ground yesterday afternoon, High School defeated 20th Company Senior Cadets by 19 to nil. Mr J. H. Goulding refereed.