TEST AT DURBAN

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25913, 20 September 1949, Page 7

TEST AT DURBAN

POOR DISPLAY BY BOTH TEAMS “ NEW ZEALAND WEAKNESS AGAIN AT HALF ” [Specially written for “The Press” Uy T. O. NELSON, Sports Editor, “Rand Daily Mail”] JOHANNESBURG, Sept. 6. The cable messages will have told you much about New Zealand’s third successive defeat in the present series of Tests. The match was playea at Durban, whicn has a climate like that of Brisbane, xhe heat was oppressive, and this no doubt had much to do with the poor display ol both teams. The former Irish and springbok international, Mr Jack Gage, summed it up as the worst international match he had ever seen, and I must say that the exchanges left 30,000 spectators “stone cold." Although the penalty business weighed heavily on the All Blacks, they failed to exploit a big advantage their forwards gave them in the set scrummages. Seldom has a Springbok pack been so mas.ered in tne tight. The New Zealand weakness again lay at half, where Black was by no means an unqualified success. Although the heel.ng was sluggish, Black should have got Kearney and the other inside backs moving much more quickly. In spite of the general mastery of the All Black forwards, your men spent most of the second half defending about their twenty-five, after having had much the better of the first half, during which they seldom appeared likely to score. Geffin’s two penalty goals in this half should not have had so disheartening an effect on the team, and a third early in the second half appeared to depress the whole fifteen. The New Zealand try scored by M. P. Goddard was quite the best thing in the match; it came as the result of a fine cooperative movement with Elvidge. It was not an easy conversion for Scott, ,and he failed; but two or three penalty kicks fairly easily within his compass- might have swayed the result. Scott may be a great place-kicker back home, but here he has missed many chances, and once again I wonder that he does not try the drop-kick, of which he is a master, or leave the penalties to Kearney, who, in my opinion, is an even better exponent of the drop-kick. Generally it is the South African marauding forwards who have played havoc with the New Zealand backs. Muller, a tall, rangy type, is ideally built for this type of forward, whereas the New Zealanders are too heavily built for the job. Crowley, McHugh, McNab, and Johnstone are all good forwards in their way, but, lacking the requisite speed, they turn their activities to defence rather than attack. I have expressed the opinion before that Thornton is the best marauding forward in this All Blacks’ team, but he was un • fortunately not available for Saturday’s Test. It is a great pity that M. P. Goddard was injured so early in the tour, for he is a very fine attacking back; but unless the half-backs can give the centres some little room in which to manoeuvre, the best centres in the world are at a disadvantage. South Africa has won the rubber, but the plain fact is that the standard of Rugby of both countries is at a low ebb, and all sorts of suggestions are being niade about amending the laws, and curbing the activities of the loose forwards. Comment on Loose Forwards Early in the All Blacks’ tour. Mr P. Carolin, a Springbok of former years, described the loose forwards as the “mongrels” of Rugby football. I do not think that is fair comment, for in our interprovincial matches we see some very good Rugby. I rather imagine that the standard of play in this series of tests has been caused by boj.h countries placing too much stress on defence. It is a proud boast of the All Blacks that their line has been crossed only seven times so far during the tour. With more emphasis on attack, as was their policy in the first test at Cape Town, I think the results would have been far more favourable to them. Anyway, South Africa can glean little satisfaction from these tests, in spite of being three up. The poverty of our back play is revealed in the fact that all four three-quarters who played last Saturday are primarily centres—once again the emphasis on defence. I do not know that there is so much wrong with the game as with the players. The All Blacks have agreed to play an extra match at Newlands after the' last test, to raise funds to send a South African team to the Empire Games at Auckland next year. South Africa is the holder of the Empire Games championship, and there are many fine athletes, boxers, wrestlers and other sports representatives in this country: but funds are so low that unless the public comes forward with generous support little more than a token team will be sent away. This gesture of the All Blacks will therefore be greeted warmly by the sportloving public of South Africa, although many will view the fact that "outside" help has to be brought in to finance our team with a certain amount of distaste