HARD GOING.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 59, 10 March 1936, Page 14

HARD GOING.

RUGBY IN JAPAN.

THE CLIMATE SEVERE,

N.Z. STUDENTS' IMPRESSIONS,

(By "Star" Special Correspondent with the

N.Z. University Rugby team.)

TOKYO, January 27,

Arriving at daybreak on January 2 the N.Z.U.F.T. were greeted at Nagasak by a heavy fall of snow. Considerin. we were only about ft week out of tli tropics the sudden change had a ver; bad effect on some members of the team Drake and Chapman, who were botl V suffering from chills, were sent 011 t( Kobe bv boat instead of catching tin train. We were welcomed at Nagasak by Sir. Kawase, an ex-student of Lineoli College, Canterbury, who lias s?ne< proved invaluable to tho team as <midi and organiser. His never-tiring effort: to arrange everything for us have dom much to make the tour a success as fai as we have gone. Mr. Shigeru Kayama who is travelling witli us as representa tive of the Japanese Rugby Union, als< came aboard as soon as we droppec anchor. A practice was held 011 shore but was not very impressive owing tf the intense cokl. At 2.30 we embarked by train for Kobe. Mr. Martin Smitli had previously been received by the Governor of the Nagasaki Prefecture who also sent cases of mandarins and cakes to the train. New Zealand Greetings. At South Koshien the. next morning we were greeted by cadets of the Shintoku Maru, which visited Auckland last year, and members of the Kansai Rugby Union. The team were somewhat embarrassed by the attentions of the Press photographers, who appeared at every turning. Among those welcoming us was Mr. Spence, described by all as Japan's "Father of Rugby," who is still a true New Zealander in spite of some years in the East. Mr. Massey, manager of the Goshu Trading Company, was another New Zealander to greet us. Previous to our arrival at South Koshien we had been greeted by Mr. Averill, a son of Archbishop Averill, who lias been teaching at*a university hero for some time. We were very pleased to be greeted so early in the tour by a New Zealander. The practice at South Koshien on the morning of our arrival was watched by a. large crowd of Press and public, and to judge by the tributes of the Press we impressed greatly. Japanese Interest and Sympathy. On the afternoon of the next day we were the guests of both of the leading newspapers of Japan, the "Osaka Mainichi" and another. These two papers have a wonderful circulation, and according to inquiries we found that «. they, could turn out the circulation of . any New Zealand newspaper in one minute and a half. ✓ Both play a wonderful part in the sport of Japan, and the visits of many American teams arc sponsored by the papers. The premises are very elaborate, even to the extent of having a full-size theatre run by the paper. v • To aid reseirch work in the medical world of Japan, the team then went through exhaustive tests at the Kitano hospital. Already injuries were making themselves felt in the team, and Parsons was not available for the first game owing to an elbow injury. The, team was greatly impressed by the manner in which the sympathy of the Japanese nation was conveyed to us on the death of our late King. All of our fmictions were commenced with a fe\> seconds of silent prayer, and our firs duty on our arrival at South Ivosliiei had been to attend a memorial service First Game an Eye-opener. The first game was attended by ; crowd estimated at 20,000. In the ab sence of Parsons, Bush led the Nov Zealand team. Before the game botl teams were presented to the Governoi Our first glimpse of the Japanese a Rugby was indeed an eye-opener to us They are small of stature but ver; fast and well trained. Playing wit' half a gale behind us, we could onl; finish the first half with the score 8— in>bur favour. It .was not until late ii the second half that the New Zealani team really gained the upper hand, bu once the forwards mastered the method of the opposition the backs were givei a chance, and tries were scored quicklj The refereeing left a lot to be de sired from our point of view. Manrules are apparently interpreted differ ently here from in New Zealand. The were allowed to charge the. line-out, an the hall was put in the scrums wel before our men were near' the place fo the serum. A conference between tli referee and our captain and vice-captai; cleared a few of the difficulties up, an we are hoping for a better spin for tli rest of the tour. As a matter of faci we were awarded no free kicks to Kan sai's 22. It has been the custom in Japan t play spells of 35 minutes each, but fo the remainder of the games we are t play 40 minutes' spells. On arrival in Tokyo we wore met !>• Baron Takagi. We were taken strain], to the Imperial Hotel, which is 011 headquarters for our 13-day stay i; Tokyo.-Although at the time of writin wc have .only, been here two days w' have been overwhelmed by the - hospi tality: Our programme is verv full am wo have very little time to ourselves. Sickness and Injury. The team has of late been very unfor tunate in the way of injuries and 'flu which is very prevalent in Japan a present, has laid low many of oui players. Lewis and McVeagh have botl been in hospital since we arrived, Lewii only'for observation with the 'flu, bul M<:\ eagh has had to undergo a minoi operator to his ear. Although not a( all sgrious, it may keep him out for a game or two. Parsons is still 011 the injured, list, but hopes to plav against Meiji University in the third game. Fookes has had a- recurrence.- of an old back injury, and will probably not play again! 011 the tour. \ Hard Playing Conditions. These, with minor eases of 'flu, have greatly upset our selections, and the team for the second game against Keio University is one picked from necessity: F. B. Tricklebank (full-back); Grant, Bush, Jones; Wild, Gillies; McAuliffe (half); forwards, Thomas, Lanev, Burke, . liapman, Hudson, Drake, Simmers, itace. The ground at the Meiji Shrine itadium, where our next three games •re to be played, has been frozen for •11 our stay to date, but by covering it vith straw the Rugby Union announce hat it will be in good condition. The 'act tlia,t there is practically no grass n- turf in Japan anywhere makes their grounds difficult to judge from New iealand standards. At our final run o-day the ground was somewhat like a ombination of an Eden Park wet day nd a Southland midwinter.

The Team's Orator. Much of the success of the tour to date from the international relation pouit of view has been due to the able oratory of the manager, Mr. P. Martin Smith. His speeches are always suited to the spirit of the function, and his reply to our Rotary Club welcome here in Tokyo was a masterful piece of oratory. Japanese Rugby Comment. Commenting 011 the team's opening game against Kwansai, won by l(j to 3, the '"Japan Advertiser" says:— Of the forwards, State, Eade, Chesterman and McVeagh were particularly good, Stace being the pick of the lot. The tourists packed 3-4-1, Stace forming the last "row." Extremely fast, he was as prominent in backing up his own threes as in the worrying of Kinoshita. This backing-Hp, so much a feature of New Zealand football, in the end was the deeif>ivc factor, the tourists blending splendidly toward the close of the game when they added four goals and a try in something under 15 minutes. • I Kwansai was absolutely helpless in the ' face of this sudden storm. To pull down the-man with the ball was not enough, j There were always several more up, \ clever dribblers and adept at flicking the ball up again so as to start a new handling movement. These short passing attacks were much the best thing in the game, something new to Rugger in Japan, and Kwansai had nothing to counter it with. Whether the Tokyo teams will fare any better may be politely doubted. The tourists are not invincible, of course, but 110 side in Japan is likely to stop them if they produce the sort of football that marked the last 15 minutes. It was bewildering, and it also spoke volumes for their staying power, a quality that was not Conspicuous among Australian virtues. It appeared that every 0110 of the tourists' forwards is on occasion prepared to become a three-quarter, with the result that there is a minimum of kicking to touch, since somebody or other is always up with the ball ready to take a pass or lead a dribble. This is a new conception of the game for Japan, and though the perfect demonstration of it on Sunday was left until very late in the day, it was a smashing success when at last the machine began to click.

Defence Appears Good. That the visitors were rattled at the beginning is indisputable. They played very ordinary football, and it was diflicnlt to reconcile it with the praise lavished on them in Hongkong. But they redeemed themselves in the end, even Rae and his two five-eighths improving out of all knowledge. Rac revealed that he is a difficult man to stop for all his lack of inches, having the happy knack of boring through the thickest opposition in the most amazing fashion. With Rao at last doing better behind the scrum, the three-quarters were able to show their quality. They handled extremely well, and, more to the point, ran straight. They will score lots of tries before the tour is over, attack I through the centre holding an element of j surprise for Japanese teams. j

Summing up, the New Zealanders—on the strength of their inspired finish and that alone—are the best side yet to visit Japan. Given dry grounds and another game in which to find their stride, they should I'e capable of brilliant football. Whether they will set a record by winning all their matches remains to be seen, but at least they have thS possibility in them. One thing is certain: given half a chance they will play open, spectacular football, and that's what the crowd wants for its money. ,