1937-11-29 — Page 21

THE CHINA MAIL, NOVEMBER 29, 1937

RUGBY REFORM MUCH IN NEED

RETURN TO GOOD SCRUMMAGING

IS MOST ESSENTIAL

PLEA FOR PLAYERS TO

STUDY

THE NEW RULE

CLIFF JONES' INTERESTING VIEWS

(By HOWARD MARSHALL)

London, October 26.

ly blamed for obstructionist tactic

But, he adds, "the wing for does not live who can close the against a dy half with speed off the mark who is benefiting by heel, preferably from the loose"

The paramount importance of quick heeting, in short, is Jones's remedy for the destructive menace of the wing forward. There

will agree with him, but the pr

IV WAS talking the other day to a referee who said that in his opinion the even the crustiest of old stagers

revised laws would be very helpful, if only players would read them.position is not new. "But they won't," he added, and went on to discuss, a little severely, the in- Quick heeling means sound telligence of serum halves. He admitted that scrum-halves might be ex-maging, and sound scrummaging cellent classical scholars, or mimble operators on the Stock Exchange, but have argued on these lines until it galled him to discover that they still thought they could roll the ball in-fear my readers must be weary of to the serummage along the ground.

means a return to old principles.

it. The foundation of all tactics lies in the scrummage, and that im-

by directed and honest shoving by all eight forwards.

A SMALL POINT, PERHAPS, AND THE MISSIONARY WORK OF ENLIGHTENED RE- plies proper packing and intelligent- FEREES AMONG THE BARBARIC PLAYERS WILL DOUBTLESS SMOOTH OUT THE DIF FICULTY. AS FOR THE PLAYERS, THEIR FORBEARANCE WITH BIGOTED REFEREE WILL SURELY BEAR FRUIT IN DUE COURSE. IN THE MEANWHILE I HAVE A LETT FROM AN EMINENT LEGISLATOR, WHO SAYS:

So far as I can gather all over the country practically no attempt is being made by either players or referees to see that the new scrummage law is carried into effect.

(1) Few scrum-halves put the ball in properly. It is either rolled in along the ground or thrown in at excessive speed.

(2) Practically no attention is paid to feet being illegally up. It is a physical impossibility for the near flank forward to hook the ball fairly with either foot.

He goes on to point out that if, it is recognised that only the middle man can hook the ball the efficiency of scrummage work is greatly increased "and what is equally important, the joy of scrummaging."

PLAYERS AND REFEREE Next, an interesting letter from

Here Cliff Jones, most brilliant of Burton-on-Trent. May I say, inci-modern stand-off halves, cats in very dentally, how grateful I am to my effectively. Cliff Jones for the various correspondents, and how life of me I cannot think of him as much I value their views on the Mr. Clifford W. Jones, the author game? This letter begins thus:

has just published a book on Rugby The Rugby Union each year seems football. to be painfully "delivered of a few It is a good book, shrewd and minor alterations to the rules which stimulating. It drags us out of the don't seem to eliminate the exist-stand by the scruff of the neck and ing trouble and, at the same time, sets us down once more on the fam cause a certain amount of friction liar field of play. between referees — who; poor fel- lows, have enough to think of when all goes smoothly - and players who set out to enjoy a pleasant game and find themselves so cribbed, cabined and confined that they scarcely know which foot to set down first.

OUTLOOK CLOUDED ~ This is important. It is not al- ways easy for the critic or the legis- lator to look at the game from the player's angle. When we pack our boots away for the last time. we close one period in our lives with horrible finality. We become spec- There is fruth in that. It is en-tators, and our outlook is clonded by tirely wrong that players should be memories.

man

THE WRONG IDEA

forced to regard the unfortunate re- Let us but see a promising for- feree as a tiresome kind of police-ward, and our minds project along- Iside him the shades of W. W. Wake- My correspondent then takes a field or. G. & Conway as we knew crack at the thought that "the South them at their splendid best A is too often regarded as the only stand-off half flashes into brilliant place in England were Rugger is attack, but that is not enough We played,” a point of view which is er must needs, for comparison's sake, roneously prevalent among good make W. J. A. Davies or Adrian Stoop accompany him in our imag- North Countrymen.

ination

He continues with the suggestion

PLEASANT BUT DANGEROUS that we might profitably adopt the

We are for ever comparing, analy Rugby League scrummage-rule: “That the scrum-half stay sbehind his sing, raking up the heroes of the own pack until the ball is out, and past. A pleasant pastime, but it that the forwards do likewise.”

CLIFF JONES' VIEWS

has its dangers and begets intoler ance and injustice. As It is with

Now I put these opinions before players, so it is with theorie

you partly becam

disenss them and

you may like to sche

We

ORGANISED SCRUMMAGING The wing forward proper is no new phenomenon. His part in the game is a natural and justiñable de- velopment of theory. The player we object to is the man who is neither fish, fowl nor good red herring, the

rover or lurker who hangs about and takes no share in the essential

essentially a modernist. He flings Scrummaging down provocative challenges

"The whole theory of modern de- fence," he says, "is based on the play of the open side wing forward, whether you know it or not, and whether you like it or not.”

"Banish the wing forward, BYS Cliff Jones, and you banish one of the most interesting features of mo dern Rugby. You also tamper with the game's evolution Never fear, the old rule of the survival of the fittest will work, once the serum- maging gets organised.” Well, we did know it, though we There is common sense from do not aways like it, a fact which brings me to another of Cliff Jones's player who has had had good rea- son to consider the wing-forward dogmatic statements. The wing forward, he argues, has been unjust problem Organise the scrummag-

(Continued on Page 22).

CLIFF JONES" DOGMA

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