MANAGER'S VIEWS

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25935, 15 October 1949, Page 8

MANAGER'S VIEWS

RECOMMENDATIONS TO RUGBY UNION SHORTER TOUR MORE DESIRABLE (New Zealand Press Association.) WELLINGTON, October 14. “We are going to benefit very greatly from the experiences we had in So.uth Africa,” said Mr J. H. Parker, manager of the All Black team which returned to-day from its tour of South 1 Africa. “We certainly are not going j to make a haljit of losing test matches ’ every time against South Africa. When the time comes for them to visit New Zealand, they are going to have an experience similar to what we had/ and I am sure it will be of great benefit to them.” Referring to the strength of the opposition encountered. Mr Parker said that in three visits to Great Britain New Zealand teams had lost fewer matches than in the course of two tours of South Africa. The results, however, could not be considered completely unfavourable The general run of play right through South Africa was stronger than it had been in the past, even if the Springbok test sides did not differ greatly in strength from those of previous years. In South Africa to-day there were at least a dozen strong unions, and every one of the 24 matches played by the All Blacks was a tough one. Mr Parker said that the defeats had usually been suffered by a margin of only about two or three'points, and in almost every game the tourists played the final result was in doubt until the end. Mr Parker expressed the highest praise for the South African people and said the action of a section of spectators could not alter the fact that South Africans w T ere a wonderful sporting people. Choice of Referees Referring to refereeing, Mr Parker said they had one or two decisions at which they w’ere dismayed at the time, but on the whole they had no complaints to make. “The referees in the tests were chosen by Mr A. McDonald. Fred Allen. Ray Dalton, and myself, on the basis of what we had seen.” he said. “We never chose a referee for a test if w r e had not seen him in action. That was one reason why we did not use the other referees whose names had been mentioned. In each case five names were submitted to us. and we chose the one we wanted.” One of the greatest difficulties was the amount of travelling, and he felt that for future tours that could be reduced. Mr Parker said. “I am gorng to make recommendations to the New Zealand Union to see that future teams have a favourable itinerary. “We had not had a game for eight months,” added Mr Parker. “I will recommend that the time for the tour be changed, so that our bovs have the opportunity of some play here be-1 fore they leave. I will also recommend that preliminary trials be held in the previous season, and 50 or 60 players sorted out to participate in the; final trials in the year of the tour. Another point is that on this tour we had too many games with a week in between. I do not think this gave us, a reasonable chance to keep all our players fit.” Mr Parker thought that both the number of matches and the duration of the tour could be reduced. Throughout his remarks. Mr Parker emphasised that neither he nor the team had any excuses to make. The points of comment that he mentioned 1 were intended purely for the benefit: of teams which would follow in the! path of the 1949 All Blacks. He said *>»«t half-way through the tour it l •eemed that the players were at last 1 properly fit, but then the Rhodesian | section of the tour came, with its long i and arduous travelling, and it was very difficult in those circumstances to keep the players up to the mark. Mr Parker said that Africa had had the driest and hottest winter it had ever experienced. If the South Africans had had to confine their test selections- this year to the 30 players chosen last year,

they would have been in a very different position. Mr Parker said. Bob Scott was accepted in South Africa as an absolutely outstanding full-back, Mr Parker said. Most of them considered Scott to be the best full-back they had seen. Mr Parker expressed his appreciation of the assistance he received from his co-manager, Mr MacDonald, and from the captain and vice-captain, Allen and Dalton, and of the members of the team . s a whole, who had never caused him the slightest trouble. Allen’s Comments Observations on the tour, particularly on the playing side, were made by the captain. Fred Allen, as follows: Style of play: The Springbok game does not commend itself either to New Zealand players or spectators. It accomplished the desired results, but everywhere the team went the reaction of the public was that the All Blacks were more attractive to watch. The public’s angle: Linked with the above was the significant fact that though the tests attracted up to 70.000 persons, club matches in the big cities drew comparatively small attendances. The establishment of a rival code in »South Africa might worry Rugby unless play brightened up. Sportsmanship: The Springboks were splendid fellows to play against and had freely mixed with the All Blacks on the friendliest of terms off the field. The crowds as a whole were no better or worse than New Zealand crowds. Disturbances had been caused mainly through the colour question. The weather: The All Blacks never managed to get fully accustomed to playing in the phenomenal heat The result was seen when the forwards, who were as fit as the hardest of training could make them, could not get to the ball as quickly as usual Stars: The best of the Springboks were probably Duvenage and Bubbles Koch. Probably the outstanding successes of the All Black team, with an eye to the future were Kevin Skinner, of Otago, in the forwards and Peter Henderson (Wanganui) in the backs. Hennie Muller was an extremely fast and heady South African forward who was a constant worry to the All Blacks. Selections: There might have been changes in some of the All Black teams fielded if it had not been for certain players being on the injured list. Bob Scott: It was not the eightseamed ball which beat Scott when it came to goal kicking—it was just a spell of sheer bad luck.