Page:Football, the Rugby game.djvu/24

14 keeping the ball tight in the scrummage, or punting it constantly into touch for a while; but we hope that no captain will ever make his team adopt the tight game as their regular style of play. The object of the game is not merely to avoid being beaten, but to win the match, and to get as much enjoyment out of the process as possible. Defensive tactics are quite justifiable in special cases, but we should be very sorry to be a member—whether forward or behind—of a team whose ambition was to make a draw of every match, or at most to win by a dropped goal with luck.

We have said enough to show that the captain must be a man of many resources, ever ready to meet unforeseen dangers, or to take advantage of unexpected openings that may occur in the varying phases of the game; but, beyond this, he must always have an eye on the individual members of his team, to see that they keep in their proper places and do their proper work. Without constant warnings and exhortations from the captain, bad habits soon grow up, and disaster ensues, which he might have averted. Backs and three-quarters come in too close; half-backs fail to pass at the critical moment; a chance for a dropped goal, where no try is possible, is lost, or is taken and missed, when a try was a certainty; forwards fail to mark their men at the line out, or to follow up a kick-off, all for lack of a word from the captain.

It will thus be seen that, as the captain has to use his eyes no less than his head, it is better, if possible, that he should play behind the scrummage. Any place behind is fairly good, but centre three-quarters is undoubtedly the best spot from which to control the game. If he is playing forward he must either damage the scrummage by keeping his head up, or he must miss many of the points which he ought to see.