POLICY OF CAUTION

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 147, 23 June 1928, Page 9

POLICY OF CAUTION

' I Concentrating On Defence. lack of confidence. ■Apparently the Press Association representative with the All Blacks ha-j gathered thnt the team which is to play Xntal to-morrow will be the team tj» represent New Zealand in the first Test match, with the exceptions of Dalley and Finlavson, nominated to take the places of Kilbv and McWilliams This apreps with the indications of the teams chosen for the games to date, and confirms the judgment formed at #nd that the All Black selection •oibmittee is pursuing a policy of extreme caution by concentrating on heavy forwards and defensive backs. Viewing results and experiences of the earner games from a distance, with a knowledge of the players' New Zealand John, enthusiasts here are inclined to disagree with t"iat policy, which hints at lack of New Zealand's confidence in thWr own game, and an attempt to c &Uige to the South African style. On results to date a rearguard with Robilliard, Lindsay, and Lucas in the three-quarter line and Strang and Sheen at five-eighths would appear much more like a match-winning combination than that chosen for to-morrow. Hitherto attack has proved the All Blacks* best defence, and thus lack of confidence on the part of the selection committee "waa rather surprising.