The Waikato Times TUESDAY, JULY 27, 1937. SOUTH AFRICAN REPRESENTATIVES.

Waikato Times, Volume 121, Issue 20256, 27 July 1937, Page 6

The Waikato Times TUESDAY, JULY 27, 1937. SOUTH AFRICAN REPRESENTATIVES.

Yesterday the South African football team arrived in Hamilton and to-morrow the visitors will try conclusions with a fifteen chosen from Waikato, King Country and Thames Valley players. The match will be the outstanding event of the current football season, and given good weather conditions the visitors will be afforded further proof of the hold the Rugby game has in this part of the Empire. A mutual liking for sport in its many forms is one of the strongest ties between people, and it is to be hoped that the present visit of the South African players will strengthen those ties still further. Both on and off the field the visitors will find that they are among friends desirous that they should thoroughly enjoy their tour, and sharing with them the hope that the games will be played in the true spirit of Rugby. The memory of the previous visit of the South Africans is still clear. New Zealand learned the lessons then taught and can be depended upon not to commit the fatal mistake of under-estimating its opponents. The mission of the team is to play football but there are other aspects of no little importance. The personal contact is always of value, and there are branches of production that will be of interest to many of the visitors. At the present time parties of farmers from the two countries are making a joint tour of Great Britain and in that way establishing another valuable contact. The Dominion welcomes them all, and the visitors will be able to carry back with them, whatever the results of the games they play, expressions of the goodwill entertained here for the sportsmen and the people generally in the Union. Rugby football, though a good game, is only a game, but if each generation of players in the two countries can meet in friendly rivalry, see something of each other’s country, form personal friendships and strengthen the understanding between the two units of a scattered Empire, then there will be a mutual benefit that will be lasting. To-morrow, of course, the one thing that will count locally will be the match, but whatever the result the visitors will be assured of a warm welcome, for it is the general desire that their visit to the Waikato may be among the most pleasant of the recollections they will carry away of their tour of New Zealand.