THE BIG TEST

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 69, 3 January 1936, Page 6

THE BIG TEST

PROSPECTS FOR TO-MORROW. ALL BLACK TEAM DISCUSSED. FAULTS AND GOOD POINTS. (United Press Association--Copyright): (Received This Day, 10.20 a.m.) LONDON, January 2. Though the majority of the All Blacks are confident as to the result of the match against England, at Twickenham on Saturday, some of the team are apprehensive, believing that the changes in the back division are in the nature of a gamble. A great deal depends on Tindill. Should he play as well as he did against London Counties the New Zealander*! should win. The Wellingtonian, however, has not yet fully learned positional play and has still a tendency on occasions to watch the ball instead of the man. He may find the tall, careful Gadney a handful. Gadney is most skilled at breaking away from the scrum. He is a determined runner and needs lots of stopping. He has penetrated the All Blacks’ defence on a number of occasions in earlier games. On the other hand ; the Tindill experiment is justified, for he has a thrust which has been sadly missed when Griffiths played. Tindill’s amazing skill in dropping goals makes him a potential match-winner. Corner has earned his selection. Sadler, who was the star of the team a few weeks ago, is over-inclined to try to make openings for himself instead of feeding his backs, which Corner did successfully against London Counties. ~ „ ,-d ~ On present form, Mitchell ana -t>ail must be preferred to Hart. Both have ability to make openings and are experts at taking advantage of the opponent’s mistake. Ball’s defence has improved out of sight. He wil have to be at his best to hold Prince Obolensky, said to be the fastest international Britain has ever had, and a strong runner. _ The general opinion, is that the -English inside backs— Cranmer, Gerrard and Candler—are not in the same class as Wcoller, Davy and Cliff Jones. They play rather mechanical football, mostly being content to send the ball out to the wings, typical of the present English style. There is still a doubt regarding Caughey’s leg, which troubles him on several occasions during training. Remembering what happened at Swansea, where Caughey played, though not keen to do so, it is considered that it will be a bad thing to let him take the field if he is not fully confident that his leg will stand a hard game. Critics believe that the All Blacks have little chance without the Aucklander. _ , , The visitors’ forwards can be relied on to do their part, though King, Reid and Mahoney did not show then- usual dash and liveliness in recent games, due to staleness. The English selectors have adopted* safety-first tactics as far as the forwards are concerned. They have picked experienced scrummagers, banking on their beating the New Zealand pack with weight and strength. That is why veterans like Webb and Dunkley are preferred. There has been much comment concerning the selection of the Russian, Obolensky, and the South African, Owen Smith. The selectors have departed from the rule of choosing only English-born players. Mr V. R. Meredith has left Porthcawl for London. En route he will visit Tarr, who is still in hospital m Cardiff with a fractured spine. It is reported that leading New Zealanders in London may pay the expenses of the team on a visit to the Continent next week. The teams, as announced in a cablegram published last Saturday are: All Blacks. Full-back: Gilbert. Three-quarters: Ball, Oliver, Mitchell. Five-eighths: Caughey and Tindill. Half-back: Corner. Forwards: Lambourn, Hadley, Hore, Manchester, King, Reid, McLean, Mahoney. England. Full-back: H. G. Owen Smith (St. Mary’s Hospital). . Three-quarters: Prince Oboiensky (Oxford University), P. Cfanmer (Richmond), R. A. Garrard (Bath) and H. S.' Sever (Sale). Half-backs: B. C. Gadney (Leicester) and L. Candler (St. Bartholomew’s Hospital). Forwards: D. A. Kendrew (Army), E. S. Nicholson (Leicester), R- JLon gland (Northampton), C. Webb i(Navy), A. Clarke (Coventry), E. Hamilton-Hill (Harlequins), P. E. Dunkley (Harlequins), W. H. Weston (Northampton). Obolensky, Sever and Hamilton-Hill are newly capped. The remainder include old stars.