RUGBY FOOTBALL MANAGEMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 July 1921, Page 2

RUGBY FOOTBALL MANAGEMENT.

(To the Editor.) Sir,—As a keen follower of football in Taranaki, and also as one who has played the game in France, England, and Australia, as well as having many years’ axperienece in this country, I cannot help but notice the apparent lack of management in control of the game in this province. The union should be congratulated on adopting the up-to-date “Auckland rules,” as there is no doubt that the want of them has been long felt, and I sincerely hope they have come to stay, but it is just with, the adoption of these rules that the lack of management makes itself manifest. The rules were first played three Saturdays ago, and there was some excuses on the first occasion for the “A Grade” referees not being quite conversant with, or unanimous in their interpretation of them, but then we find that on the second Saturday, and then again today/ the two different referees of the matches I witnessed gave entirely different and wrong rulings on the points involved, and. the only conclusion > one can come to is that the Union, through the medium of the Referees’ Association, have not taken the necessary steps to advise each individual referee of the rules in detail, and certainly not of the required unanimous interpretation of them. The rule regarding kicking into touch is simplicity itself—“the kicker must be behind his own twenty-five line to be able to find the line “on the full,” a ball kicked from any part of the field may bounce out." Tte referee under notice on the second Saturday allowed the bounce out for awhile, then changing his mind did not allow it, while to-day’s referee never had to change his mind. He never allowed the bounce according to the Auckland rule, a penalty kick cannot be charged; in fact, in Auckland the opposing player “holding” the mark turns his back on tte kicker, as in league, yet the Kaponga club lost one game through two penalty kicks being charged down, and another club nearly went down yesterday through the same cause. There is only one interpretation to every rule, and that is the correct one, and it is up to the Rugby Union to advise every referee of it. Better still, publish them in the papers, so that every player will knew wkat he's doing, and be done with all this argument between spectators, players and some referbes, whil® a match is in progress. Regarding the improving of the standard of play in Taranaki, I have came to the conclusion that there is only one way to do it, and that is. on the “tan" In the training shed. 90 per cent, of our players are physically fit all the year round on account of tteir occupation, and all that is required is team work. -The men are here, and in my opinion in greater numbers and better quality than tn any other province. I am convinced that the Union would recoup their outlay in one season, and at the same time give the game a lasting big lift if it made itself responsible £or the hiring or erection of a training shed in each club centre. Our country players are not too far from their centres and would with very little encouragement (if only a diversion from their farms), turn out two nights a week for a run, scrum, a rough and tumble and a yarn, over the last ma^ch—mistakes made and how to correct them—and after the first couple of wedks you couldn't "keep the players away practice night. In this way every player would handle the ball well and know every move of his mates in the team, arid we would have fooball worth going miles to see—and we would go.—l am, etc., “SIDE LINE.” Opunake, July 2, 1921.