THE OTHER SIEDE.

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

THE OTHER SIEDE.

Views Of An Ex-,African Resident. ALL BLACKS CHANCES GOOD." is n ° nee< i for pessimism regarding the results of the All Blacks' 7*l i ln ., ] Sou . tll Africa and that New three out of the four Test matches is the opinion of a Dunedin [ lved for man y years in Africa and who played Rugby in the land of the Springboks. rather the New Zealanders would experience throughout the tour, ne told a Times" reporter, would resemble a mild summer's day in Dunedin. , ere would be no wind and no rain, or at this time of the year in South Airica six and sometimes eight weeks passed without even a shower. As a, result the majority of the grounds would be hard, but in some cases, where playing fields were irrigated and well tended, conditions would be quite equal to Carisbrook Cricket Ground at its best. Hard grounds were ploughed before matches, and he had actually played in a game in which water carts had been taken on to the ground during the interval. Players wore bandages round their knees and elbows for protection and the forwards used headgear. It was a common practice for forwards to smear vaseline on their faces and ears to protect them in scrums from the dust and grit which clung to the players' clothing. The New Zealanders would also have to wear bandages and headgear and to some of them they would feel strange. It was fortunate. however, he added, that the Test? would be all played 011 good grounds. The grounds at Johannesburg, Capetown, Durban and Maritzburg were exceptionally good. It was an interesting fact that at the Maritzburg ground the ball was often lost in the trees and in the river which flowed nearby. The South Africans had arranged the team's itinerary so that New Zealanders had to play their hardest matches at the beginning of their tour, when the team was not properly fit and after weary train journeys. The All Blacks had travelled a distance equal to the length of New Zealand before meeting We item Province. From his knowledge of the conditions he considered that the team had done remarkably well. South Africans did not like to be beaten by Britishers, and they would play "all out" until the final whistle. That was a factor which must not be taken too lightly. The Western Province was the stronghold of Rugby in the Union and Transvaal, at the present time was also very strong. In Natal, play was not of such a high standard. It would be safe to prophesy that 75 per cent of the members of the Test teams would come from the Western Province. African forwards were big, strong mep who did only forwards' work. The rest they left to the backs.

When questioned regarding the effect of the high altitude of Transvaal on the New Zealanders, the Dunedin man stated that they would be playing thousands of feet above sea level and that whether the effect of atmosphere was apparent or not, it would nevertheless tell against the team. The AU Blacks were now coming into conditions more like their own, however, and they would be physically better equipped for their matches. It was not generally known, he added, that the 1916 Springboks team which toured England suffered a defeat some time before it left South Africa at the hands of the Durban New Zealanders' Club, with 120 members, the score being three points (a penalty goal) to nil.