WELSH RUGBY.

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 413, 21 April 1937, Page 2

WELSH RUGBY.

Trek Abandoned. The success in international Rugby of Wales over a period of many years has often been ascribed to the complete enthusiasm for the game fostered among the young. And an instance of the zest of the Welsh for the game occurred last month on March 12, when a snowstorm which caused the abandonment of the Ire-land-Wales international at Belfast caused disappointment to 10,000 Welshmen who were planning to make a special trip to the match. For weeks before the proposed match, what are known as “outing” clubs had been collecting a few coppers a week from members. The pennies were going into a general fund to cover the cost of the trip by train and boat. Twenty special trains were arranged and the organisation worked to the last detail. The return fare by train and boat to Belfast had been fixed at a pound. The postponement brought enormous disappointment, because most of those intending to travel had arranged for the time off and were not in a position to change their dates. But collecting pennies by speciallyformed clubs seems a new idea. When the last All Black team was in England, members were surprised at the intense devotion of the Welsh spectators to the game. And many found that for weeks before some of the All Blacks’ matches, those of the poorer districts had been scraping together a few pennies a week to cover the cost of ground entrance. New Zealand, it seems, is not alone in a fanatical devotion to Rugby.