THE ALL BUCKS.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 167, 16 July 1924, Page 8

THE ALL BUCKS.

DEFEATED IN FIRST TEST. CAUSES OF THE DOWNFAIX. FATJLTY HANDLING AND POOR FOLLOWING. \ (From Our Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, July 7. Prior to the departure from New Zealand the 1924 All Blacks were acclaimed in most quarters as being! superior to the great 1005 combination, and so no doubt the news of their defeat in the first test against New South Wales will have caused a big shock to Rugby supporters across the Tasman. Without detracting in the slightest degree from the merit of the New South Wales win, or without making all sorts of excuses for the New Zealand defeat, the causes are not hard to trace. It will be remembered that in my last week's dispatch I mentioned that half the team suffered rather badly from sea-sickness, and having missed two days' meals it can be readily understood that it would take them a few days to get back to normal. Well, in the first spell on Saturday the forwards appeared absolutely lifeless. It took them quite half-an-hour to settle down. Some of them were so slow in getting up to the line-outs that the ball had been thrown in from touch and was away before they actually arrived at the spot. They improved considerably in the second half though they did not follow up at all well. M. Brownlee was the only one to follow up with any consistency. Of course there were numerous occasions Upon which they would have required greyhound speed to get up with the ball. This was the outcome of injudicious kicking on the part of ijoth backs and forwards. All the same the forwards did not display the dash which they put into their work in the trial games in 'New Zealand. The backs handled the ball very poorly in the first spell and lost innumerable opportunities thereby. They settled down better after half-time, and some of their efforts were good and gave one an idea of what a really fine dashing division they will he after they have acquired combination. For a first game together it was'only natural to expect mistakes, hut they occurred with a rather monotonous regularity. Dash of Home Forwards. Summed up tbe main causes contributing to the All Blacks' defeat were faulty handling of both backs and forwards, lack of dash by the forwards in the first spell, round the neck tackling, or rather non-tackling, the fine dash displayed by the home forwards in the loose, and the ability of the New South Wales hacks to profit by the mistakes of their opponents. Play had been in progress .twenty-five minutes before a score was registered. Grossman, * diminutive but speedy wing dashed over near the corner after a snappy bit of passing between Stanley, Sheehan and the scorer. Another good try was registered by Smith five minutes later. This also was th* finishing touch to snappy passing. With eight points against them the All Blacks shook themselves together. From a penalty just outside the twenty-five Nepia sent the ball between the 'posts, much to the delight of the New Zealand supporters. This success urged them on and a really ; fine try resulted a fow moments later. Mill got possession from a line-out and sent it out smartly to Badcley from •whom it went to Cooke, to Brown, to •Lucas. The latter passed upfield to Cooke who ran over between the posts. ! Nepia goaled and the excitement was [intense. New South Wales gained the jlead again before the interval. In a passing rush Stanley had possession with Grossman outside him. They Tan up to Hart who, instead of tackling Stanley, looked for an interception, with the result that Stanley ran past him I to Nepia and then passed to Grossman who dashed over -unopposed at the corner. With a. fine piece of dribbling White reached the New South Wales line, wher he picked np, but had the •bad luck to lose possession just before grounding the ball. The home team led 11—8 as the bell rang. Why a Scrum? The All Blacks quickly/ got busy on resuming. Richardson -wrenched his ankle badly and limped badly for the remainder of the game. Passing amongst the forwards saw M. Brownlee cross the line and ground the ball, but he was brought back and a scrum ordered. This was a decision which was hard indeed to follow. The handling had been clean all through, without the slightest semblance of a knock-on. If one of the forwards had taken his pass off-side a penalty should have been given. If not, play should have gone on. What the New Zealanders could not understand why a scrum T This was ordered under similar circumstances on at least half a dozen occasions,' and twice the player with the ball had actually crossed

the'- line. I am not for a moment suggesting that the referee was acting partially, but this ruling is a stranger to New Zealanders. The home team added to their score when Porter foolishly got off-side by playing the ball after it had rebounded off Lucas behind him. A short bout of passing saw Brown dash through and make a fine opening for Hart, who ran over near the corner. By speculating when in a tight situation Nepia nearly landed his side in grave difficulties, and Hart did likewise by again looking for an interception instead of going for the man with the ball. High mis-tackling let Thorn across after a passing rush by the home forwards. Following a fine dash by Stanley, Fox knocked the ball on. Greator.ex gathered it up and went over the line. Fox's breach was not observed by the referee and a try was awarded. Just on time the All Blacks came with a well-sustained rush, and Masters finished off a short bout of passing witji a good try. The bell rang immediately after Richardson had goaled with a fine kick. The N.S.W. supporters were naturally very elated over this victory, which will do a tremendous amount of good to the ganje in this State. This being the jubilee year of the union, the public interest in Rugby is at its zenith, and as the League game appears to be losing its great hold inch by inch it will be all the better still for Rugby to have scored such a victory over such a side as the All Blacks. j Turning to the individual players, Nepia did not give a good display. His I kicking was poor and ill-directed. In I fact, on several occasions he kicked across the field and enabled the N.S.W. i backs to set up passing rushes. His kicking did not assist his forwards in the slightest, while one bad speculator, 'which failed to come off, nearly cost his side a try. Lucas. Brown and Hart all displayed dash. As already mentioned, the latter made two bad mistakes by not tackling the man with the ball. Cooke and Badeley had plenty to do. The latter made some good straight runs, ibut he cut in just a little too frequently. Mill was slow behind the pack, and he was altogether disappointing. Porter was closely watched by the New Zealand supporters, who expected that he would be freely penalised at wingforward. But throughout the game only four free-kicks were given against him, and one of these was not a good decision as the opposing half had the ball in his arms when Porter came round. The forwards played spasmodically. M. Brownlee was the only one to follow up consistently, and he played a very fine game. Richardson also went well, though greatly handicapped by an injured ankle in the second spell. White made some fine dashes up till the time he, too, injured his foot. Masters locked the scrum well. C. Brownlee looked too much for opportunities. Munro and Invine did not get so much of the ball as the opposing trio, but they did not appear to be getting the weight from behind that they should have. Harvey was unable to see the game, as he had gone to the hospital the previous day suffering from tonsolitis. Badeley wrenched his knee, which w-ill probably cause him to miss the remaining matches here. Richardson and White both injured their ankles.