catch when meaning to punt into touch, so they must always be on the look-out for taking them when near their opponent's goal. They should never take them near their own goal, unless they feel absolutely certain of being able to dispose of them safely. We once saw a player, evidently of suicidal tendencies, make a fair catch so close to his own goal-posts that he had to retire between them to get his kick, and this against a strong wind.
CHAPTER VIII.
FORWARD.
The work of a forward can be suitably divided into two branches, play in the open and play in the scrummage. It is given to few—very few—to be equally good at both; but as every player, however good he may be in the open, has to go into scrummages whether he likes it or not, he can at least learn not to spoil the play of the genuine scrummagers; and as every scrummager has to make a show in the open, he can learn to follow up and to tackle, even if nature has not intended him to shine in the finer arts of passing and dribbling.
It is only by working on these lines that a captain can hope to overcome the great difficulty of settling what number of each class to have in his team. If he has good men behind, including a pair of halves who know how to pass, he can afford to increase the number of forwards for open play, provided always that he retains a modicum of clever scrummagers who know how to bring the ball out to advantage. If his halves are no good at
