TOO MANY TOURS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 665, 17 May 1929, Page 13

TOO MANY TOURS

RUGBY VISITS TO AUSTRALIA INTERFERES WITH WORK (Special to THE SUN) WELLINGTON, Today. i The question of the frequency of tours between Australia and New Zealand by Rugby teams was discussed at length by the annual meeting of the New Zealand Rugby Union yesterday on a motion from Canterbury that the Management Committee reconsider the agreement made with New South Wales last year providing for two yearly tours between the two countries. ‘ The frequent international tours interfere far too much with players’ employment,” said Mr. S. Wilson, moving the remit. He said the position would soon arise that a footballer would not be able to get a decent job because they want too much time off to go on international tours. He said that two-yearly tours interfered too much with club and provincial footballl, and suggested four-yearly tours. In supporting Air. Wilson. Air. H. Harris, Otago, said there was a distinct understanding from a previous annual conference that no international agreement should be entered into without the knowledge of delegates of provincial. unions.

Mr. S. S. Dean, Management Committee chairman, said that that body had no knowledge of such understanding, but Mr. J. Prenderville, Wellington, said that at a conference for or five years ago he moved a motion to that direction which was withdrawn on the distinct understanding that agreements be not made without consulting delegates. Messrs. G. A. Nelson, Otago, and J. McLeod, Taranaki, stated that Air. Dean promised in that direction. Comment was made by several delegates that the agreement was entered into in secret, and Air. G. A. Maddison, president, stressed the opinion that tho Alanagement Committee in future should take the provincial unions more into their confidence when making international agreements. Drafts of proposed agreements should bo submitted to the unions for opinion before being finalised, and when sealed should be circulated to the unions for information. JTe said a great deal of the present trouble arose through misunderstandings by unions through not knowing tho provisions of the agreement. As the discussion had given the Alanagement Committee a chance to gauge the opinion of the unions on the matter of international tours, the mover withdrew the motion, the general opinion ; being that as the agreement was now signed and sealed the conference could not go behind the Alanagement Committee. *

CALM AFTER STORM QUIET RUGBY MEETING N.Z. UNION AFFAIRS AMENDED RULES TO STAND (Special to THE SUN) WELLINGTON, Thursday. Popular anticipatory opinions that noteworthy developments would ensue at the annual meeting of the New Zealand Rugby Union yesterday failed to materialise. The suggestion that the control of the gam© wa# in the melting-pot and that dissatisfaction with tho present Management Committee’s administration would culminate in changes in the personnel this year were scarcely borne out in the election of officers. The whole present Management Committee was returned with the exception of Air. VV. F. Hornig, manager of the 1928 AJJ Blacks in South Africa, who did not seek re-election, being replaced by tha t highly salaried and much-dis-cussed public servant, Mr. 11. H. Sterling FEW COMPLAINTS The Alanagement Committed was criticised for entering into a secret agreement with New South Wales regarding tho frequency of the interchange of international visits, and its proposal to revert to the old rules this and next year was thrown out. otherwise, however, there was little complaint with the present administration. Suggestions that there would be a lively discussion on happenings with tho All Blacks in South Africa last year also did not eventuate. Air. Hornig delivered a written report on the tour, which he elaborated at some length by word of mouth before the report was adopted without discussion. Later in the meeting, however, one delegate twitted Air. Hornig with the fact that though he said our team was not as fast as the Africans, that our backs could not line-kick, that our forwards could not push, and that the team could not get fit through the long train journeys, yet the All Blacks broke even with the Springboks!