ROUGH RUGBY.

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 328, 8 January 1937, Page 3

ROUGH RUGBY.

TERMED “DOG FIGHT.” Two Oldest Clubs In Wales. Extraordinary scenes took place recently iri a'Rugby Union match between two famous Welsh clubs, Swansea and Llanelly. “It was so rough," states one report, "‘that it was more like a dog fight than a Rugby match . . . From the start the forward’s took change of the game, and there was never any ’beg pardon’ about it." Llanelly won B—3,8 —3, the game being played on the Swansea ground. When it was over, there was swift action by the committees of the two | clubs, and a mutual agreement was reached- to cancel the remaining fixtures arranged between the two teams'. This affected -t|wo further games his season and- four next season. Created Sensation. The clubs concerned are two of the leading and oldest in Wales and consequently the affair has 1 created a sensation in Rugby football circles. The London Daily Mail states: Players were constantly laid out. and one was kicked in the head and rendered unconscious. He was l Joe White, Swansea, who subsequently returned to play, and was later ordered: off by Referee Jarrett for alleged rough play. F. L. Morgan, Llanelly, was also given marching orders. Unparalleled. The Daily Herald report states that the match hat no parallel in Welsh Rugby for years. It reports: “Fierce, rough to the point of dane.r, with players on both sides responsible—rarely, if ever, has there been such a match. Better by far that the two. teams' shall not meet for the present. Now we must await the action of the Welsh Union. “But tempers were frayed, fists were flying in all directions. The referee, Mr Maurice Jarrett (Cwmbran), son of Mr J., J. Jarrett, a Welsh representative, on the International Rugby Board, had a very difficult task, but he held his hand as long as possible, without standing players off the field.

Swinging Punches. “The tackling was fierce on both sides, but halfway through the first half the bounds of legitimate play were overstepped, when players on both sides began ‘swopping’ Swinging punches.” Rowe Harding, a member of the British tea-m that toured South Africa, reported the game for the Daily Telegraph. “It is all too obvious that a series of feuds exist between various players on eit-hei- side.” he states. “The forwards were too intent on their private quarrels to feed the backs.”