TOO MANY MISHAPS

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Volume 59, Issue 101, 31 May 1930, Page 12

TOO MANY MISHAPS

CASUALTIES IN LAST .WEEK'S RUGBY. , SEVEN SpNIORS GO OFF I • V

, (Notes by "Scrum.")

Evidence of willin'g play was provided in the unusual number of injuries received by Rugby players in both Napier and Hastings last Saturday. Besides numerous minor mishaps, there were c'asualties in eveiy senior game, which necessitated pjayers leaving the grounds. No fewer than seven senior players — two in the H.S.O.B.-Tamatea match, two in the Celtic-T.C.O.B. match, two in the Hastings-Pirates match, and one in the M.A.C.-Hastings H.S.G.B. match— -were put out of action, And, in addition, there were countless mishaps in the junior and the third and fourth grade games. GROUNDS NOT HARD. It is the contention of many that hard grounds are the cause of the trouble. Such an explanation cannot be overlooked on days when the grounds are hard. hut last Saturday they were in a condition that was anything hut rock-like.. And, moreover, a hard ground cannot be held responsible for a player having to leave the field with a severe injury to the face, received at a moment when he was on liis feet. STRINGENCY NEEDED. ,Over-eagerness, of which involuntary or even unconscious liarm is a concomitaut, may be held as the cause of many of ihe casualties, hut the large pile of claims for insurance received eveiy Friday night by the management committee of the Hawke's Bay Rugby Union, alone suggests that referees should exercise more severity in their control of matehes. To see two players facing oue another and exchanging blow for blow, or even stnnding on tiptoe, faces grim, fists clenched and, anns quivering menaringly in re- • straint without actually striking one another, is a spectacle whichTnvariably raises a laugh from the crowd ; but even the most amused will not deny that such oceurrences are incontestably ileleterious to the best interests of New iSealand's national game. A BRJSK FINALE. A game which did not really reach is maximum brightness until the last 20 minutes, was provided hv Celtic and T.C.O.B. at McLean Park. After a first half in which there was plenty of incident, hut rather more ragged play,

■ T.C.O.B. set out to pass, or at least . to equal, the 3-point lead which the Greens held. The result of their siege, and also of Celtic' s detenmined,- ! and, as it happened, successful efforts to keep them out, was a whirlwind quarter of an hour, during which the crowd were frequenfly on their feet. *" * * CELTIC'S 1MPROVEMENT Of the Celtic forwards, McKay rnd Wilson were outstanding. Tait, at wing thyee-quarter, was lmpressive, especially as he was playing his first senior game this season. The playing of Geddes at half, instead of at fullback, appeared to be a great improvement. EX-JUNIORS SHINE. T.C.O.B. 's two best backs were the promoted iuniors. Johnson* and T. Evans. Clark was probably the pick of the pack. Jde has been playing a good forward game since the beginning of the season, and has also been hooking well. E. Evans, at full-baek, per« fonned consistently. WILSON IN * HOSP*ITAL . Walter Wilson, incidentally, , baal • been in the Napier Hospital this week. He underwent an operation on Monday and within a day was well 011 the road to recovery.