"NOTES."

"Famous Midland visitors follow famous London visitors, and to-day at the Athletic Grounds the notably popular and talented Leicester team will again provide the English type of Rugby so much appreciated by our supporters. Newport and Leicester have, in all, met on 70 occasions, out of which Newport can claim 52 victories, but in the many brilliant and exciting contests which the two teams have staged, the actual result has invariably been of secondary importance to the spirit and brightness of the display."

"Even so, victory over these worthy Midlanders cannot be dismissed altogether without due recognition of considerable merit, so we should perhaps record Newport's double success last season when, following a narrow win early in the season at Leicester by 8 points to 6, they were more clearly victors in the return game at Rodney Parade last February by 15 points to 5. This year Leicester would appear to have more than a useful side. Last Saturday they held the strong Neath XV. - conquerors of Cardiff - to a draw, and this is doubtless indicative of the stern opposition they will provide in today's game to which we look forward with customary delight."

"The main impression remaining from the game with Blackhealh last Saturday is again the marked superiority of the methods by which English forwards contrive with almost perfection to serve their backs from loose scrummages and the line-out. It is no new question to ask ourselves why this outstanding merit in Rugby football is so markedly absent from Welsh forward tactics - indeed the real answer has eluded discerning critics of Welsh Rugby for generations - but when we see such methods of opening up play exploited with the perfection shown by the Blackheath pack last Saturday the old question comes back very much to mind, and again we ask ourselves - why? We were certainly left with the impression that had the Blackheath outsides possessed sufficient initiative and penetrative power their opportunities must have broken down the strongest defence, but as it was they failed to cross the Newport line."

"This is in ho sense an implied criticism of the Newport side - that is neither the function nor policy of this publication - but it is a criticism of Welsh tactics generally which continue to ignore and play second fiddle in one of the most important aspects of Rugby football. Welsh half-backs and three-quarters must plead and sigh in vain for a quota of the opportunities their English counterparts enjoy."

"THE PLAYERS OF TO-MORROW"

"By S. T. CARTER, Secretary of Newport Schools Rugby League."

"It rs not generally realised by Rugby supporters what a tremendous debt is owed to the Newport Schools Rugby League. This League functioned for about 35 years until 1939, and during- that period at least 7,500 boys between the ages of 11 and 14 were taught the game. Almost every Newport player from 1920-39 received his early training in inter-school games under the guidance of many loyal schoolmasters, and with the encouragement and interest of his parents."

"We can remember such players as J. Dunn (1905), Harold Davies (1913), H. C. Vaughan (1913), R. J. Panting (1921), S. Danahar (1921), K. Squire (1927), J. R. Evans (1927), and T. Whitfield (1937) who gained great prominence by playing for the Welsh School XVs. Others, too numerous to mention, later played for the Welsh Secondary, Newport and Welsh XVs., and all of them received their introduction to Rugby through the Schools League."

"However, the League has not functioned since 1939, and this seven years' lapse has great significance. It means that almost a Rugby generation has been lost, and that in a few years time the number of local players available to Newport will be limited, limited, in fact, to those who learn the game at the two High Schools. This is a very disturbing thought. Nevertheless, the League has re-started this season, and before long we hope to see school matches again. But it will take several years to regain lost ground, for to introduce Rugby to the "soccer-minded" boy of to-day is a task requiring patience and enthusiasm. Newport schoolmasters are tackling it without delay, and the N.A.C. will give every assistance and facility."

"But to the real supporters of Rugby who are parents we ask, "Will you help, too?" Bring your sons to Newport matches, explain the game to them, infest them with the spirit of the game, and above all encourage them to play in school."

"They are the Newport Rugby players of to-morrow."

"AND BRIEFLY."

"We bring to the notice of all our supporters the article we are pleased to publish to-day on page 3, by Mr. Stan Carter, Secretary of the Newport Schools Rugby League, and to add our own quota of encouragement in this effort to revive the game in the schools."

"In a word, as we see it, the great tradition of Newport Rugby demands it as a heritage that every Newport born boy at least gets a fair opportunity of learning and playing the game whilst he is at school, and to this end all Rugby minded citizens of this town should give every encouragement and all practical help they can, especially those scores of old players whose Rugby careers were moulded and nurtured with such care in the Elementary Schools of Newport."

"May we very quickly see Rugby posts on the playing pitches in Newport, once more."