The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun. SATURDAY, APRIL 15, 1939. RUGBY AND YOUTH.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 88, 15 April 1939, Page 8

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun.

SATURDAY, APRIL 15, 1939. RUGBY AND YOUTH.

For the cause that lacks assistance. For the wrong that reeds resistance, For the future in the distance, And the good that ice can do.

In the season before last a happening at Eden Park, Auckland, upset some fondly cherished ideas about New Zealand Rugby. Our best players (though use of the word " best" may be provocative) found that they were not so good as they thought they were. There followed a period of lamentation and heart-searching which suggested that New Zealanders might be losing their sense of proportion, and that the Dominion, and not just the decisive game in the " rubber," had been won by the South Africans. When equanimity was restored such views were seen to have been exaggerated, and Rugby followers began to talk about the " next time," when the result would be different. More important, Rugby administrators and coaches began to take stock of the game in New Zealand and to revise their methods. The general .conclusion was not revolutionary or new; it was, quite simply, that the methods and the spirit which enabled All Black teams in former years to be nearly always victorious were not out of date, but were sound, and likely to be as good now as in the past. There is, it was concluded, no substitute for hard 'and thorough fitness, nor for honest forward play, nor for straight running and faultless tackling by the backs. Points such as these have been emphasised by Mr. George Gillett in the series of articles written by him for the "Auckland Star" Sports Edition, and none of the many other qualified judges of the game will be found to dispute them.

But a first-class team, though it will not deserve the name unless all its players have the qualifications mentioned, needs something more. The dismay felt by all who watched the All Blacks of 1937 was evoked less by the fact of their defeat than by the manner of it. The Springboks, it was clear, were quicker in action; it was also clear that they were quicker in thought and superior in guile. Henry Ford's famous distrust of "experts" on the ground that they know too well " what can't be done," may be usefully remembered here. A team is not necessarily strong because it consists of "experienced" players; its tactics may become so stereotyped that its opponents can always anticipate them. Will Rugby selectors this year, with a tour of South Africa in the offing, look for brains as well as brawn, for mettle as well as experience? It may be said that they are always looking for these qualities, but can it be said that selectors in recent years have been willing to take risks with young players ? Has not the committee system of All Black selection resulted, inevitably, in a contest between members each anxious to have his province well represented ? When such considerations are given weight the claims "of young, inexperienced players, however brilliant, are ruled out by the records of others, experienced but uninspired. The other consideration, that of match winning, which is so powerful a factor in the selection of many club teams, also has a deadening effect on initiative. It results in a preference for "safe " players, and tends to defeat its own object. The New Zealand team for South Africa does not have to be chosen before September. Nothing can therefore be lost by a policy, deliberately followed this season, of experimenting with young players, even in the most responsible positions. The public would enjoy it, too.