RUGBY TOURS

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 83, 4 October 1924, Page 7

RUGBY TOURS

ALL BLACKS' PROSPECTS VIEWS OF BRITISH PLAYERS FORM IN SOUTH AFRICAN ; . GAMES.

From members of the British' Rugby team on tour in South Africa the special representative of "The Post" obtained interesting opinions about the strength of the clubs and counties which have engagements, with the All Blacks. This opinion, as well as observations made during the tour of the British team in South Africa, indioate that some of the sides already defeated by . the All Blacks have been weakened and that harder games may follow. ■ One point of special interest is that Leicester, whom the All Blacks meet to-day, play a wing-forward. (From the Special Correspondent of " "The Post.") BLOEMFONTEIN, 24th August. Points of interest in view of the tour of the All Blacks have been obtained from members of the British touring team. Mr. Packer, the manager of the team, who is an ex-Newport and Welsh international player, said that the Welsh club teams compared quite favourably with the English county Sides. Wales at present relied mainly on forward play, and had no great back teams, such as the All Blacks met in 1905. Rowe Harding will not be back from South Africa in time to represent Swansea, as the British team does not arrive Homeagain until the second week in Octobeer. Gaisford, a member of the team, expressed the opinion that one of the hardest matches during the first half of the All Blacks' tour would be on tlie 25th October, against the champion county, Cumberland. Somerset were the champion county for 1922-23 season, but had not a very strong team at present. Gloucester will miss the "best forward in England," A. T. Voyce, Cheshire will lose Maxwell, and Somerset will be minus Gaisford. Newport, who would otherwise be the All Blacks' strongest . opponents up till November, are. considerably weakened by the absence of such fine players as Neil Mac-phei-Eon and Dr. Roche (forwards), Harold Davies (centre-three-quarter), and Will Griffiths (fly-half). Leicestershire play a.wing-forward, as in New Zealand, and is the only county to do so regularly This county team is generally comprised of Leicester club men, and has better combination than is usual in a county side. ILL-LUCK IN SOUTH AFRICA. : The British Rugby tourists have been, suffering so severely in tha matter of injuries that it would -be most unjust to judge them solely on the record of the lour in South"- Africa. They lost the first Test at Durban on the 16th August by 7 points to 3 after having easily the bet^ ter of the play. A week later, at Johannesburg, they met South Africa for the second time, and lost hy. 17 points to nil. In this game, however, the score does not truly ind-':ate the p-lay, as thereferee, in addition to giving other wrong decisions against the visitors, disallowed two perfectly fair tries. One try was disallowed in the first- spell, and one immediately after half-time, when South Africa l«.i by 3 points (a penalty goal) to nil. After the second try had been ruled out, the British players lost heart, and all the Springboks had to do was to score against a team demoralised by the whistle. With the Test match in view the visitors were able to field only a weak team against the Witwatersrand on the 20th August, and lost by 10 ' points to 7. I. S. do Villiers, the Springbok, dropped a field goal and kicked two -penalties, while lan Smith scored a magnificent try for Britain, and Voyce kicked a penalty goal. The British team have complained of the poor refereeing right through tho tour, and, with the exception of L. D. Oakley, referee in tho first Test, there seems to be some grounds for complaint. There is no doubt that the visitors have had their play affected by rulings not familiar to them. For a time the tourists had all three full-backs injured. Holliday has not been able to play since the first match. Drysdale, the best of the remainder of these, played in the full-back position, is a Scotch international, and the All Blacks will not meet him. Gaisford plays for1" Somerset, and", of 'course, would be absent for that county's match with the All Blacks. Harris, who has acted as full-back on occasions, is resident in Johannesburg. Drysdale is as good as Nepia, and showed his versatility in the Kimbeiiey match, when he scored a try from the full-back position. BRILLIANT WINGS. ' Hart, Lucas, or Steel will need to improve greatly if they wish to rank as good as lan Smith 'or Rowe Harding, both of whom are by far the best wings of any seen in New South Wales, New Zealand, or South Africa this season. Rowe Harding is the nioro brainy player of the two, and takes a deal of stopping. He is the Lucas ' type of wing, but is far more experienced than the New Zealander. Lan Smith is stated to be thc_ fastest man playing Rus^y in the United Kingdom, and is probably more fieety than any player South of the Line. The try he scored in the Witwatersrand match resulted from a brilliant dash in which he galloped away from the opposition. He is a Scotch international, but as ho is at Oxford University ho' will probably appear against the All Blacks. He is built on generous lines (sft llin in height and list 71b in weight), and is only 20 years old. He is the most handsome player of tho British side. W. Wallace is another good scoring wing, but is' of much the same type as Hart. As- ho is yet only 19 years of age he should improve greatly. Smith is not too sure at taking his pass, but otherwise his play is perfect. THE OTHER BACKS. Of the centre three-quarters, Harold Davies, of Newport, has shown up best. He is the best at making an opening or at beating his man, but, in doing so, is inclined to mil away from his wing. Kinnear and Maxwell are fair, but none of these men have shown any signs of possessing the genius of Cooke, as shown by that player in Wellington. It must be remembered that New Zealand's second five-eighth position is similar to the English inside centre three-quarter position. Young, the English international scrum-half, came out with a great reputation, but has never given more than glimpses of his reputed play, and has been mo3t inconsistent. Whitley, of Northumberland, was practically unknown when the tour began, but has, •by his excellent headwork and sound defence, beaten Young for the position in the Test matches. Neither of them are any better than the All Black halves, and they both show Mill's mistake of giving high, lobbing passes. They are generally content to pass when they obtain the ball, and on about the only occasion Whitley dummied through he scored {hi tlie first Test). Of the fly-halves, Wsdjlsll is easily ___ b.ettsr,,

but, being V Scot, will not trouble the All Blacks. COMBINATION POOR. _ Mainly owing to their inability through injuries to play the same men frequently together, or to play men in their accustomed positions, the British team, up to the second Test, had been unable to work up combination." Loose play was the order. However, during the first speE m the second Test, the ball travelled through, the whole back line time after time, and the wings were frequently, within an ace of scoring. The passes were well given and taken, with the exception of the scrum-half's lobb pass. The .All Blacks should, generally, beat their opponents in all phases of back play, with the probable exception of the wing three-quarters position. Rowe Harding will probably appear twice at least against the All Blacks (for Cambridge University and for Wales), and WallaSe once (for Northumberland),' while Smith should be in the Oxford University team. J

The Britishers and the South Africans P y u Is e up and tackle 'mtll> witk the result that play seldom becomes as open as New Zealanders are used to. The All blacks passes will require to be sharp and short, otherwise the opposition will intercept. Our men will find it much harder to evade the tackier in the Old Country The English player makes sure he downs his man; there is nothing-half-hearted about it. Whitley, in particular, is a wonderful tackier, and this little fair-haired boy did not hesitate to bnn_ down "Baby" Michan when necessary.