Book of football

ego THE BOOK OF FOOTBALL
highly deceptive ruse of " missing out a man " when
passing—an artifice for overdoing which, in the annual
match between Ararat v. the Rest, Shem got into fear-
ful hot water with Noah, the paternal touch-judge.
I mention this little
histoire
as being typical of
the sometimes extraordinary attitude of Rugby Union
officialdom towards pressmen and journalists generally,
and as an illustration of one of the chief difficulties
against which those who write on Rugby football have
had to contend. The generally antagonistic spirit
shown by that same officialdom towards the Press
is wholly inexplicable. The official attitude is most
markedly one of: " Let them find out." Why
this should be I cannot say, since every official con-
nected with the game is invariably civil and court-
eous whenever and wherever approached, so long
as he is not asked anything about the game. But
that a policy of secretiveness has dominated the
Rugby Union to the detriment, as most of us think, of
the game is beyond argument. The only reason I can
give for this consistent reticence is that at some time
in the past some serious breach of confidence has
taken place, and that from then onwards Pressmen
have been taboo. At that I leave it, with the remark
that from my point of view it is quite immaterial
whether Rugby Union officialdom in town is secretive
or not. I do not suppose I have asked any Rugby
Union official a dozen questions all told. I prefer
to act upon the evidence of my own eyes guided by
whatever knowledge of the game may be mine. The
quest of " exclusives," whether at the saloon bar or
elsewhere, has no charms for the writer.
With the Association game things are very different.