"BECOMING PANICKY"

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Volume 58, Issue 72, 27 April 1929, Page 10

"BECOMING PANICKY"

NEW ZEALAND RUGBY UNION CRIT1CISED. QUESTION OF ALTERING RULES Criticism of the effort that is now being made to introduce internationai lules for club and representative football during the ensuing season was vciced at the meeting of the Hawke s Bay Rugby Union last night. The opinion was expressed by several memhers that to revert to the old kicking into touch 011 the full rule would slow *ip the game and alienate public support. Mr N. A. McKonzzie expressed the opinion that the New Zealand Union «as becoming "panicky" over the visit of the Britishers, and Mr J. W Norrie remarked that the men who were now clamouring for a reversion to the old rules were the very ones who had for vears and ycars striven to secure dispensation to play under the new rules. "Now they want to thr'ow thcm oxerhoard," he said. "just for the sake of a visiting team that will he in the conntry about three months. The whole fact of the mattor is that Wellington, which is at the baok of this movement, is the most eonservative nnion in tlie country, but has great influence on the New Zealand Rugby Union." Mr A. Kirkpatrick commented that the movement for tho reversion to tho old rules seemed designed to give the pla^'ers practice under thosc rules 111 view of the visit of tho Britishers. He tnought that if the old rules were playod in the trial games next year that would meet the purpose. To institute the old rules in club games would slow the game up and detraet from its at-trac-tiveness. Mr AV. O'Neill remarked that when a New Zealand team went ahroad it had to play in accordance with the rules of the country it was visiting, and he asked why visitors to New Zealand could not adopt our rules. Mr Norrie, replymg, said that it was the recognised custom for games in New Zealand with visiting tcams to be played under internationai rules. "Anyway," declared Dlr Norrie, "the winning of the matches is not irvolved. We certainly want to do our best to beat the Britishers next .vear, but it does not matter if we lose a game; Our dnty is to provide attractive foothall for the public." Decision on the matter was deferred tor one week, it being intimated that instructions will probably be given to the Hawke's Bay delegates to oppose the suggestion at the annual meeting of the New Zealand Union.