The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1910-12-02

Late papers from the coast contain
columns of comment upon the hold
which Rugby is gaining among colleges
and outside teams there, and we find
men prominent in many walks of life
loudly proclaiming the excellence of
the Rugby game compared to Ameri-
can football President Benjamin Ide
WHEELER, of the University of Califor-
MIA, declares that "the old intercolle-
giate game deserves to be driven out
of all American institutions" and
while other critics do not go quite so
far it is evident that the trend of
public opinion is in favor of the more
open game provided by Rugby. Even
Walter Camp, the well-known Yale
coach, finds much to praise in Rugby,
though he has not yet swung right
round to the extent of hailing it as
superior to the intercollegiate game.
Just after the Stanford-C California
match Camp said:
THE Rugby game has been played
in California for three or four years
now and seems to fill the place of the
American game very satisfactorily. 1t
is claimed that Rugby draws just as
large, if not larger, crowds than Anne
rican football, but whether it would
do so in the east is a question. The
game as it is now played on the coast
is not strictly intercollegiate. One of
the games which l saw was between
the University of California and
the Barbarians of San Francisco,
which is an athletic club, correspond
ing to the old Olympics who used to
play Stanford and California.
There are some very good football
men out there and the individual work
is excellent, especially in handling the
ball and in kicking. Possession of
the ball is not nearly as valuable as
in the American game, so that pass
ing has reached a high state of de-
velopment. Shere still seems to be a
chance of injuries as in other football,
because men drop on the ball when
others are trying to kick it, but large
squads turn out and are willing to
take the risk
LELAND Stanford and the University
of California are the only two uni
versities which play Rugby, but many
of the preparatory schools have also
adopted the game. Athletic club teams
have been formed in San Francisco by
old English or Scotch players, and it
is with these teams that the universi-
ties fill out their schedules. The game
is open and furnishes many changes
but whether it will supplant the Anne
rican game in other localities has vet
to be decided"
President Wheeler comes out bodily
in favor of the Rugby game He
says:
THE superiority of the Rugby game
for high schools and colleges is so APP
parent, so certainly established that
the issue now presented as between
this and the old intercollegiate game
has taken the form of moral Ques-
ton and a moral issue.
"The old intercollegiate game de-
serves to be driven out of all Ameri.
can institutions. No one who is well
versed in the two games can say any.
thing else. The perpetuatlon of the
old game can be only regarded as
officially wrong. All the oft repeated
artificial efforts to remodel it have
proved ineffective. The great and
in fact the only remedy is the intro
duction of the Rugby game"
Doctor Wheeler firmly believes that
the spectators enjoy Rugby more, that
it is more scientific, open and even
spectacular and at the same time de-
void of the danger and the brutality
which has resulted in changing and