LEAGUE FOOTBALL

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 184, 6 August 1928, Page 13

LEAGUE FOOTBALL

FIRST TEST MATCH.

VICTORY FOR NEW ZEALAND. ./■ — - DESPERATELY HARD GAME. FINE VISITING FORWARD?. Bright sunshine, a blue sky, anil a snap in ilio air were the ideal weather conditions for the first Rugby Leaguu Test match between England and New Zealand on Saturday afternoon, and. metaphorically speaking, nil roads led to Carlaw Tnrk, where an attendance of 30,000 was recorded. Tlio game did not rise to superlative heights —it wns ever so in Test footfortll—'but it had its thrill*, its individual, triumphs, its magnificent setting, and pulsing moments. New Zealand wbilifor the reason that they showed greater collective Speed and ability in the'-first half of the game to seize scoring'ehances. England were in winning vein' near the end. but they Could not I (overhaul the lead that bad been estab- j lulled against them. Teams: — ii . New Zealand. Full-back: Dufty. Three-quarters: Hardgrave, -Li-t, L. Scott.-, Five-eighths: Wetherill and Trentice. Haft rDelgrosso. Forwards: L. Hutt, Somers, J. O'Brien, Timms (South Auckland), M. O'Brien (West Coast), Goodall (Buller). 4 J iw'- ■ * England. Full-back: Sullivan. •Three-quarters: Ellaby, Brough, Oliver, Askin.. -Halves: Rces and Fairclongh. .Forwards: Burgess, Bontham, Bowen, Fillies, Slottiaiij llorton. • The Play. Officially the game opened with a set serum, and then'the New Zealand forwards drove down towards the visitors' lino with J. O'Brien and Timms in the van. The Englishmen and amid a tempest of clieering Dufty sent ,tho ball high over the bar. With just two minutes gone, New Zealand had opened the scoring. Dufty and Sullivan had a kickingjiuel, both men getting tremendous range, and with great dash the black forwards went through to the English line. From a penalty at handy range ' Delgrosso hoisted the flags. New Zealand 4, England 0. . For the first time the English backs got going. Passing carried the play to the right wing, and just as swiftly it swept to the left wing, and then back to the centre. The ball was thrown about in bewildering style. For the moment the New Zealand defence was hopelessly nonplussed. Oliver eventually gathered the ball, swept a wide pass on his right tc Fdlaby, and England's crack wingei .nailed across near lha corner flag. Sullivan'ji shot —a brilliant effort from the touch line—sailed outside the uprights. Slowly the play swept back tc the other end, where England were penalised under the posts Wetherill took the ball, baffled thi Englishmen by kicking across to th< left flank, where List ran through gathered the ball cleanly and dive< through a tackle to score. There wai great cheering when Delgfosso kicked i neat angle goal. England were hammering at the Nev Zealand line when half-time came witl the scores reading:—*■" New Zealand 9 England «■ 3 Play soon went to the tourists' cm in the second half. The visitors wen

penalised immediately on resumption, and from 30 yards out, straight in front, Delgrosso landed a pretty goal. New Zealand 11, England 3. Thp English forwards began to play desperately in an effort to retrieve the situation, From a stet scrum Sotoers raked the ball and Delgrosso got it away to Wetherill. The 4jity man was caught standing, but swept a very wide pass,to List. The latter raced on a diagonal line and whipped the ball on to Len Scott. Amid a scene of great excitement,. Scott tossed back his head and ran for the corner flag. Ask in put in a flying low tackle, but the Shore man kept his feet and amid delirious excitement went across wide out. Delgrosso's shot from the touch-line struck the New Zealand 14, England 3. New Zealand were outplaying the Englishmen, although the latter when hard on'the defence did not hesitate to throw tho ball about. There was swirl of play in front of the posts, then it went to the right corner and Scott was choered to the echo when he fielded the ball and flashed across near the corner flag. Delgrosso's shot went wide. The game was swinging to the right across the home team's twenty-five, when Ellaby change<l the direction with a dash to the left. He sent the ball to Oliver, and Sullivan shot up to take part in the movement. Then the ball went to Fairclough, to Brough, and the latter gave a reverse pass to Fairclough.' The little English half ran .in under the p<»ts unopposed, the climax to a glorious concerted movement, every man making headway and passing crisply Sullivan added the trimmings. New Zealand 17. England 8. ' The Englishmen were now" rising to it', and combined play by their backa wa« driving New Zealand hard 7 on to the defensive. Another kick and follow through movement saw Dufty collared right under the posts. Oliver snapped the ball away to Ellaby, and the wing Tan in with the defence out of position. Sullivan converted. New Zealand 17, England 13. There were ten minutes to go, and the Englishmen were fighting desperately for the lead. Rees got the ball away from a set scrum, and Fairclough, in a diagonal run, cut out three of his' opponents in dazzling style. He swung a high in-pass that was meant for Sloman, but Delgrosso pounced on 111 o fall and cleared. The ball oaino to Wetherill, who kicked across the field. Hardgrave and Ellaby had a great race for the ball, the Englishman forcing just in. the nick of time. New Zealand got another scoring chance with a free at linndy range, but Delgrosso could nol improve the position. New Zealand wen attacking when the end came, with the final scores:— New Zealand ><•«,•*«•»••• 17 England ..• '13 Mr. L. Bull was refere*.

THE REASON WHY. j i i NOTES ON THE GAME. ! ( FAILURE OF ENGLISH CENTRES. THE TEAMS COMPARED. 1 There may have been more brilliant and scintillating expositions of the League game, but surely not one that was more strenuously and desperately fought than to-day's Test. New Zealand thoroughly deserved to win. Territorially they had the better of the game, and it was the wonderful collective speed that they showed in the first half of the game which placed them in a position that proved to be impregnable. Undoubtedly, however, there was a time near the end of the game that the Englishmen were in the ascendancy, and but for the faulty play of their centre threequarters they may have won. Spirit Behind Play. In a Test game, with a big excited crowd worked up to the greatest heights of enthusiasm, and players more imbued with the spirit of stopping the other fellow than trying to team with their supports, combination is apt to falter. I Still it was a great game, a thrilling encounter; and the fact that the New Zealand lamb subdued the rampant British lion sent the big crowd home 'with feelings of intense delight. On the 'day the New Zealand team played right up to form, but -the .Englishmen played below it. Ou the showing on Satur day, England had a pack who could eclipse in form any touring vanguard in previous years in all-round play a capable set of halves, wings of ability, who got surprisingly few chances, and a great full-back. The English tragedy was that their centres failed, and made too many mistakes for men reputedly high-class. Tho New Zealand backs played right up to expectations without rising to superlative heights, and, although in the face of. clever, fast and deadly covering defence, they did not star as a combination in attack, it can, at least, be said that the defence never faltered, and the tackling was all that could be desired. Only praise could be showered on the New Zealand forwards.

Individual* Compared. And now for snapshots of individuals. As expected the duel between Dufty and Sullivan, the two full-backs, proved to be one of the features of the game. Both men kicked a magnificent length, but, on the full run of the play, the New Zealander was the better player of the pair. Sullivan is claimed by the Home to be the greatest full-back that ever lived, so it is hard to know what pedestal to place the Newton player on. Tet, in a more or less subdued light on the day, there was much to admire in the Englishman's play. He knows the virtues of possession, and to him the ball was something not to be kicked away in the hope of a chance materialising. 'Jig was quick to sight the possibilities oC any movement, and, if he did run at a tangent, it was with the express desire of linking with his three-quarters, and to launch them on still another raid.

Ellaby was the most impressive of the English wings, with a style of play reminiscent of Van Heerden, whom New Zealanders know. But he got very few chances, and those he turned to the best advantage. .On the day he did not eclipse L. Scott, and, it must be said that the North Shore man has proved that he is in international class. What Lost the Game. Beyond an occasional glimpse of great speed, Hardgrave, the Dominion greyhound, rarely got into the spotlight, much for the reason that the play rarely came his way. List played to form in the New Zealand centre, and made one of the tries that came New Zealand's way. The English centres, on the other hand, comparatively failed. 'Yet Brough and Oliver are both men with big reputations, the former in the Rugby Union game, when he was the national fullback, being hailed as the Rugby dis-

coverv of a decade. In the five-eighth line, Fairclough, the mercurial Englishman, decidedly took the honour*. He has amazing pace off the mark, a bewildering swerve, and was the real brains of the English attack. It was he who played the role of "gateopener" for the tourists. He played true football, conjured, side-stepped, swerved, studied the outlook in a flash before making a move, plied his centres with a generous and subtle touch, and flashed the ball far across the field in an open and telling way. He is a great halfone of the best England has sent this w a y—and we are not unmindful of the deeds of Smith and J. Thomas. Wetherill, on the New Zealand side, plaved lieadily and well, while a bouquet can be cast at S. Prentice for his superb defence and glorious tackling. Prentice took all the principle that the bigger they are, the better they fall, and not once in the game did he fail New Zealand. At scrum half both teams were well served. Rees, the Englishman, did not start too convincingly, but he gradually came on his game, and. at times, Teached quite brilliant heights. Delgrosso was soundness personified. Merits of the Packs. The criticising of the respective spearheads is a matter of more difficulty. The New Zealand pack were certainly the first to get going, and up to one period

they certainly outplayed the great' .1 talent arrayed against them. It was a . very even New Zealand six. O Brien, the West Coast man, stood out in the earlier stages of the game with his superlative dash, and Goodall, as in the interisland game, was a great allrounder all the way The , others were not far behind —the best bouquet deserving, of being thrown at the front row men, who had to stand up to a very hard mauling. The English six were even, robust in their methods, and surprisingly virile in their attacks. Their close rucking worK was superb, ; and in the loose they were ever reafly to open up the game for the men behind I 1 Their, tackling was of the frenzied I kind, and when they got hold of an ■ opponent they dumped him unceremonit ously. Some of the spectators' thought r that tho visiting forwards were.too hard 1 in their tackling, but, when one rememt bers Sievwrigl'.t and Swannell—-two t great English forwards known to ans other generation—there is nothing' to j • cavill qt. In fact, the policy of putting r the man with the ball out of action, is, according, to all Rugby standards, something that can only be praised, and it was certainly an object lesson in'these ►/days when "tug-you last" tackling is

often in evidence. The handling of the game by Mr. L. Bull was commendatory. Some of his decisions did not appeal to the visitors, but the real trouble is that the referees of England and New Zealand interpret the rules differently.

The Englishmen are good sportsmen. They openly congratulated New Zealand on their victory and this should go a long way to stimulate the League code in the Dominion. GAME ON WEDNESDAY. AUCKLAND SIDE CHOSEN. The team to represent Auckland in the League match against the Englishmen—the third of the tour —at Carlaw Park on Wednesday is as follow: — Full-back: S. Rayner (South Auc-k----la nd). Three-quarters: L. Scott (Devonport), Li*t (King.®land), Beat-tie (Devonport). Five^eighths: Hanlou (Richmond), Seasrar (Devonport). Half: Peekham (Ponsonby). Forwards: Menzias (South Auckland), Stephenson (South Auckland), Maisley (Marist), Hall (Newton), Clarke (New-ton),-Tones (South Auckland). 'Reserves. —Backs: Wilson (Mangere), Davis (Richmond). Amoe (City). Forwards: Payne (Ponsonby), Trevella (South Auckland), St. George (Devonport).