Welsh Journals

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introduced in the last 50 years. It would be clearer if at this point I touched on the development of the game and explained why this has become necessary. In the beginning the rugby game bore no resemblance to its present form. It was a forward struggle of indeterminate numbers in which handling of the ball was permitted but no passing was thought neces- sary. It was a glorified combination of a rough and tumble and soccer. Backs came into being as it was realised that passing was an aid to for- ward movement. By 1900 the backs had perfected their technique and the forwards had been relegated to a mere heeling machine designed to provide the backs with the ball. The golden era of Welsh back play, unhampered by the uncouth attentions of the forwards, dominated the early years of this century. Back came the forwards with the menace of the winging forwards, close-handling, and carefully constructed de- fence. They grew bigger, faster, and more intelligent in their work until the Springboks, under their fine coach and thinker, Dannie Craven, evolved steam-roller packs who took charge of the whole tactics of the contest and relegated the backs to mere serfs at their disposal. No longer in New Zealand was the youngster's hero a fast moving three-quarter. It became a tough and mobile forward. The whole balance of the game had swung, and to the detriment of both the player and the spectator. Wales, far-seeing in matters Rugby, had in the early thirties, tried to break the stranglehold of the winging forwards by curbing their acti- vities in a domestic season, but their fellow members of the Inter- national Board, England, Ireland and Scotland, conservative of view to the bitter end, disapproved of the experiment. It was discontinued. At long last a genuine attempt has been made to redress the balance of power between the backs and the forwards, and I think the new laws will meet with general approval when players have had a season or two to work out the best tactics to use. One need not be too techni- cal in dealing with the new laws. Briefly the ball can be brought into play without the use of the foot after a tackle. Hitherto the fast moving forwards have had time to get around the man who was tackled, and so another loose maul has been the order of the day with its attendant waste of time and open play. This season the ball can be flicked away to a back and a movement started within seconds of a break-down. The slight fumble with the ball which has previously registered as a knock-on will now be ignored. That will cancel many irritating stop- pages which merely result in another set scrummage. Finally, although