LEAGUE TEST.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 186, 7 August 1936, Page 12

LEAGUE TEST.

TO-MORROW'S GAME.

ENGLAND V. NEW ZEALAND.

KEEN PLAY ANTICIPATED,

Keen interest is being displayed in the first Rugby League Test match between England and New Zealand, which will be played at Carlaw Park to-morrow. Although the visitors have suffered a crop of casualties they will field a strong side and can be relied upon to produce football of the same high standard which they served u.p to the public in the match against Auckland and in all their other games on their tour to date. The New Zealand thirteen is a combination which gives promise of great things providing the forwards can win a fair measure of the ball. The inclusion of several South Island forwards of the weighty and rugged type enhances the prospects of the home side holding the visitors forward, and it will then only remain for the backs to play their part in countering bhe fast and dashing English ■backs. Providing the weather is fine and the ground holding the game should be crowded with thrills and keenly contested from bell to bell. ... The New Zealand team and English players available for selection are as follow:— New Zealand. Full-back: J. Hemi (Auckland).. Three-quarters: L. Scott (Auckland), W. Tittleton (Auckland), L. Brown (Auckland). Five-eighths: T. Trevathan (Auckland), A. Kay (Auckland). Half-back: R. Powell (Auckland). Forwards: W McNeight (West Coast), W. Glynn (West Coast), J. Calder (West Coast), J. Cootes (Wellington), F. Pickrang (Auckland), S. Watene (Auckland), captain. England. Full-back: J. Brough or W. Belshaw. Three-quarters: A. Edwards, A. Rieman, 8. Brogden, B. Hudson.. Half-backs: W. Watkins, E. Jenkins. Forwards: T. Arjnitt, H. Field, A. Woods, J. Miller, W. Hodgson, J. Arkwright, L. A. Troup. Mr. P. Rogers will be referee. Speedy and Thrustful Backs.

It is probable that the Englishmen will again be captained by Brough, and ' Belshaw might possibly be cast in one of the back roles other than full-back. The' backs are all of the thrustful and straight-running type who play to their wingers, Edwards and Hudson, two of the finest try-getters that the New Zealand public have be.en privileged to. see in action with touring English sides. Edwards, the "baby" of the team, has any amount of pace and dash and has a delightful swerve which has proved disconcerting to many an opponent on the present tour, while Hudson relies on straight running to get results. Risinan and Brogden are a pair of pivotal centres who have any amount of artistry and enterprise, while the half-backs, Watkins and Jenkins, are a delight to watch. The halves give good delivery of the ball and vary their play judiciously by working both sides of the scrum or by kicking on a diagonal line to their three-quarters. The forwards are of the big, heavy and fast English type, and all, with one exception, Troup, figured in the Tests against' Australia. Actually the visitors' pack is the strongest that can be fielded at the moment, owing to casualties. New Zealand Team Fit. The New Zealand team has been training assiduously throughout the past week and will take the field as fit as it is possible for them to be. In between .training they have been studying the Englishmen's tactics and yesterday many of them travelled to Huntly for the purpose of seeing the visitors in action. * The ; scrum has much-needed weight owing to the inclusion of three big South Islanders, I McNeight, Glynn and Calder, who will compose the front row. Much will depend on the hooker Glynn, who has been playing consistently this season and might possibly succeed in raking the ball from Armitt or Field. Pickrang, the dashing Manukau forward, and Cootes, of Wellington, will pack down in the second row, while Watene will be. breakaway. The scrum is a compact one and, if every man pushes when weight is needed, New Zealand might win the amount of ball that will be needed if the visitors are to be pressed closely.. The backs are a promising lot. Powell, the half-back, is sound in all departments, while Trevathan and Kay should combine well in the five-eighths line. Tittleton has only to reproduce the form he revealed in the Auckland game to be a reliable centre. On each flank the wingers are speedy. Len Scott, who has gsored many runaway tries in club football this season, has played his way into the team, while Lou Brown selected himself because of his allround ability. Great interest will centre in the appearance'of J. Hemi in his first international match. The Maori full-back, after his spell on the injured list, is playing as well as ever, and his kicking ability should be a great asset to New I Zealand.

In to-morrow's game the Courtney Goodwill Trophy, which was donated for world supremacy at Rugby League, will be at stake, as England is the holder of the trophy as the result of winning two of the three Test.- played in Australia. The visitors, with so much at stake, will be all out to cans' the day, while the home side is equally as keen to get the verdict. Test Series Results. It is interesting to note that in the Test series 20 matches have been played between New Zealand and England. .New Zealand have won five games and England 15. The Dominion thirteen won the rubber in England in 1007-8 and in New Zealand in • 1924. On its present New Zealand tour the Englishmen have played five matches and have won on each occasion. The results of the games have been as follow : —Against Auckland, won 22—16; against Wellington, won, 48—8; against South Island,. won 17 —3; against Taranaki, won 35 —4; against South Auckland, won, 21 —6. The Test match will commence at 3 p.m. and it will be preceded by a match commencing at 12.30 between the Marist and Otahunu schoolboy teams and a game starting at 1.30 p.m. between the Richmond and Ponsonby third grade teams. There will also be the usual seven-a-side schoolboy games at intervals during the various games.