TEST DRAWN AT DUNEDIN

Press, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 26124, 29 May 1950, Page 8

TEST DRAWN AT DUNEDIN

RUGBY FOOTBALL

British Isles Team’s

Improvement

BRILLIANT PLAY BY KYLE

From Our Own Reporter DUNEDIN, May 28. The British Isles Rugby team surprised its most enthusiastic supporters with a greatly improved display when it played a drawn game in the first test against New Zealand at Carisbrook yesterday. On the run of the play the British Isles team was unlucky not to win. Each side scored two tries and kicked a penalty goal. The weather was almost perfect and the ground in excellent order. The crowd was estimated at about 35,000. The display given by the New Zealand team for threequarters of the game was most disappointing. Only in the last 20 minutes did the forwards ruck as they are expected to in New Zealand. It was then that the backs began to handle surely and run determinedly. The British forwards, who had been soundly beaten by Otago, showed renewed vigour. It was the backs, however, on whom the British Isles team’s success turned and as a combination they were superior to the New Zealand backs.

Weakened by injuries, the team put in the field by the visitors was experimental, with W. B. Cleaver the second string full-back and utility back, taking the place of the regular full-back. G. W. Norton. Another later alteration was in playing R. McDonald, a centre 'three-quarters, on the wing. Ivor Preece, a stand-off half-back, took his place to-day at centre threequarters. The bad luck that has followed the British Isles team with injuries since the team arrived in New Zealand has created a wave of sympathy with every follower of Rugby, and while the New Zealanders were applauded for all their successes, the praise bestowed on the Britishers was no less hearty. There were phases of the game in which the British Isles forwards were completely outclassed. In the decisive set scrums they enjoyed little success, winning only seven to New Zealand’s 19. It says a great deal for their work in the line-outs and loose play, and for their solid defence, that they were stil] able to break even.

Only 15 penalty ‘kicks were given, nine to Britain and six to New Zealand. There were 106 line-outs during the game, in which the British Isles had a slight advantage, and at least 40 scrums, when New Zealand held control.

The New Zealand forwards, especially in the second spell, had the edge on the British Isles team, which was given a sample of hard tackling and hard rucking, a brand df football quite foreign to its style of play. Mistakes by Beatty In the very first scrum that went down New Zealand hooked the ball and V. D. Bevan sent a good pass io G. Beatty at first five-eighths. A simple pass 'was dropped. Beatty, who may have been nervous and feeling the Strain of his first appearance in international football, continued to make glaring mistakes. He is not as bad a footballer as his work to-day indicated. Twice within a few minutes his passes to R. R. Elvidge were Intercepted by Preece, and he missed his tackle when J. W. Kyle twice ran past him to open up scoring moves. With Beatty making mistakes, Elvidge usually a sure handler, began to drop passes. He made unsuccessful attempts to burst through the most solid tackling he has seen for many a long day. Elvidge was well below average until well on in the second spell, when he gave the crowd a taste of his real ability as a hard, straight-running five-eighths. Roper’s Brilliance

With both Beatty and Elvidge making simple mistakes, things were not made easy tor the Taranaki centre, R. A. Roper, who, however, found his feet quicker than the others, and as the game progressed he played brilliant football. In tne passing rushes he showed great speed. He handled well, and as the opportunity offered he straightened up the attack with a deceptive change of pace and a break through the centre. It was only the splendid tackling of the British Isles centres that prevented him from making openings for W. A. Meates, who did not receive a single chance to score, but was as solid as ever on defence and covering up the mistakes of others. The North Auckland wing three-quar-ters, N. Cherrington, was off colour at the start of the game, and did not improve at any stage during the afternoon. R. W. H. Scott, at full-back, was the Scott New Zealand and South Africa ' knows so well. His display was not flaw- ■ less, for he was in a measure respon- I Bible for one of the tries scored against j the team. His handling and line-kicking could not be faulted, and it is many a day since such effective work has been done at Carisbrook. With ease and grace, he took the most difficult kicks, and towards the end of the game the spectators were disappointed if he did not gain 40 or 50 yards with each line-finder. The failure of the New Zealand backs to function as a. team—and they had a feast of the ball from start to finish—may be put down to the wretched handling of Beatty and Elvidge at five-eighths, and the poor showing made by Cherrington. The half-back, Bevan, could not be blamed, for while he did nothing that any good half-back could not have done with such a feast of the ball, his passes were easy enough to take. His solo dashes from the scrum were few and not effective. Good Tackling by British While several bad lapses by the New Zealand backs let the British Isles standoff half, Kyle, and the centre, Preece, through, the British Isles, with much more tackling do do, seldom made the error of letting a man with the ball go past them, and if they did it was oddson that the man with the ball was running into a pocket. All seemed to have a better understanding of one another’s plav than in previous games. The game had not been long in progress before the mercurial Kyle was the crowd’s favourite. Slim and neatly built, with nothing showy about his play, he was the genius behind the British Isles pack. He took hurried passes, many of the back-hand whip type, and only when the forwards were on top of him did he ever look like dropping a pass, while his tackling was sound and correct. He was responsible for the two tries scored by the British Isles team, the first when he took, racing at top. a short positional kick by Bevan. This was the classic of the day. He raced between Beatty and Eividge and beat both Scott and Cherrington, who attempted to tackle him. This was a really good try’ after a fine run. In the second one he went through an opening between the two New Zealand five-eighths, and with his outside men well cornered, he sent a long punt to the New Zealand line and trusted to the speed of the Olympic runner Ken Jones, to get results. His trust was not misplaced. Kyle is a great player and so unobtrusive as to deceive the opposition. Black's Good Game Often A. W. Black, at scrum half, received the ball with the New Zealand breakaways, J. R. McNab and P. Crowley, on top of him. At these times he could do little. At other times he showed unexpected qualities in his quick whipped pass to Kyle, his clever kicking on defence. and his two solo runs, that had the crowd on its toes. Black, who is the number one scrum half, had not played such a game previously on the tour. Usually a stand-off half, Preece showed to-day that he had all the attributes of a high grade centre. Quick off the mark, he had New Zealand defending hard when he intercepted two passes and made off for the line, and later in the game he burst through with great speed and only lack of support lost him a try. J. Matthews, who has now played tn five of the six games, gave the same sound display that made him a favourite in other games. His tackling was sure and certain, and his good undei standing with Preece made the combination a formidable one. Jones, the wing threequarters, is something more than a sprinter, although it was mainly his great pace that gave him a try. Unlike many fast runners, he is game, tackles well, and will race inside when all hope of the corner flag try has gone.

R. McDonald was in a new position at wing three-quarters, and gave his best display of the tour. He is normally a centre three-quarters. Cleaver played a tradesman’s game. Never was his handling at fault and, while his kicking was not as long as Scott’s, it was just as certain. Cleaver is a fine all-rounder.

The New’ Zealand Forwards Although the New Zealand forwards hooked the ball regularly right from the start of the game, there was not the fire and dash that might have been expected. Half-way through the second spell they seemed to realise that on them alone depended the result of the game. Then they worked like a team, securing the ball, not only in scrums but in hard, solid rucking. It was not the fault of the forwards that New Zealand did not win the match. Although the eight included four men who had played for Otago on the previous Saturday, their work could not compare with the dour, purposeful work of the Otago pack. Harvey was again the best line-out forward, and for allround performance the palm must go to P. Johnstone, a fine type of forward, just under 14 stone, who handled as well as any back and has the speed of most. K. L. Skinner and J. G. Simpson were more subdued than usual, except in the hard rucks. White, who received a hard knock in the second half, was always a good line-out forward. The whole pack will need a lot of hard training if it is to play up to New Zealand form in the three remaining tests. The British Pack

There was only two stone difference between the aggregate weights of the forwards of both teams. New Zealand having the advantage. The New Zealand forwards were the more rugged, yet in much of the loose play they were fully matched. J W. McKay and J. T. Clifford were two forwards who lived up to the reputation gained by Irish forwards for fire and dash. They appeared two of the fittest men on the field. Clifford glories in the hard, tight work, while McKay has more tricks in the open than many backs. D. J. Hayward and E. R. John, and P. W Kininmonth were at their best in the line-outs, in which they held a slight advantage over New Zealand.

Again the British Isles forwards gained long stretches of ground when they marked short kicks from the twentyfive or half-way. They again illustrated the folly of an opposing team using the short cross-kick.

THE PLAY The teams were:— New Zealand Full-back: R. W. H. Scott (12st 81b). I Three-quarters: W. A. Meates (12st 101 b). R. A. Roper (list 81b), N. P. Cherrington (13st 131 b). Five-eighths: R. R. Elvidge (12st 21b), captain. G E. Beatty (list 81b). Half-back: V. D. Bevan (list). Forwards: Back row, P. A. Johnstone (13st 111 b). Middle row: J. R. McNab (14st 21b), L. R. Harvey (14st 121 b), R. A. White (15st 61b). P. J. B. Crowley (14st 21bL Front row: J. G. Simpson (14st 111 b). A. M. Hughes (13st 41b). K. L. Skinner (14st 81b). British Isles Full-back: W. B. Cleaver (12st 41b). Three-quarters: K. J. Jones (12st 61b). J. Matthews (13st 81b), I. Preece (12st 101 b), R. Macdonald (list 121 b). Half-backs: J. W. Kyle (12st 71b), A. W. Black (lOst 101 b). Forwards: Back row, P. W. Kininmonth (13st 71b). Middle row: J. W. McKay (13st 81b), D. , J. Hayward (Isst 41b). E. R. John (13st 71b), R. T. Evans (13st 71b). Front row: J. T. Clifford (14st 71b), K. D. Mullen (13st). captain, J. D. Robins (14st 101 b). Eight minutes after the start. Robins opened the scoring with a good goal from 40 yards out. The kick-off was marked by Mullen, who gained a good stretch of ground, and the British Isles backs had the crowd on its toes with a good bout of passing by Preece, Macdonald, and Matthews, which badly beat several New Zealand backs before a knockon spoilt the movement. A penalty saved New Zealand when the British Isles backs and forwards attacked. * Beatty went round on the blind side, but his kick was charged down, and from a penalty Robins had a shot from 40 yards out, the ball going just outside the P Johnstone and Meates almost scored after following up fast. Twice in succession Preece intercepted Beatty’s pass, and Preece and Jones narrowly missed a try, Meates saving by putting out the ball. In two passing rushes, the New Zealand backs went away in a style that promised results. Bevan sent to Beatty, and Elvidge. the latter being well tackled by Matthews, and when play swung back across the field. Jones effectively stopped Cherrington with a fine tackle. There was more passing, and Beatty kicked instead of sending out to Meates, who was in a scoring position. Roper dropped Matthews with a good tackle and the British Isles was in trouble when Macdonald slipped as he was taking the ball. Scott earned applause for clever handling and a long kick. At half-time the British Isles led by 3 points to 0. The Second Spell Early in the second half, Elvidge dropped two easy passes and he made another error, when in passing rush he sent a bad pass to Roper. After the British Isles had gained ground by quick breaks from the line-outs, Cherrington made a poor attempt to take an awkward pass from Roper. Kyle, who had been playing well, capped his efforts when he took a short punt from Bevan. He went through a gap in the New Zealand backs and raced for the line with Scott and ■ Cherrington converging on him. Kyle ' fooled them both and scored wide out. The kick missed.

Cherrington picked up a rolling ball and, racing to the open, set the backs going, but Roper spoilt a good chance by holding o-i too long in an attempt to break through. Cherrington next got the side into trouble when he sent a wild kick towards his own goal-line, only the cleverness of Scott saving the position.

Robins and Clifford for the British Isles, and Simpson. Skinner and Johnstone for New Zealand, led hard forward rushes without result, and only brilliant work by Cleaver stooped a try when Roper cut through and centre kicked. The New Zealand backs opened up a passing rush in which Bevan. Beatty, Elvidge, and Roper handled, Roper cuttingin in fine style to open New Zealand’s scoring with a try. The whistle called Jones back after he seemed on the way to a try after snapping up a ball that Elvidge had knocked on. Evans retired to the side-line with an injury, and soon afterwards Kyle raced through a gap in the New Zealand line; when blocked, he sent a long kick to the corner flag, and Jones scored. Clifford was ruled ffside, and Scott kicked a penalty goal. Scott narrowly missed with another shot, and Kyle gained 30 yards with a tricky run and kick. W : th six'minutes to co. Bevan worked the blind side, and Elvidge shot up to take a pass and make a beeline through the British backs. 1 : scored a fine try. Scott’s kick failed. Bevan, Beatty. Elvidge. and Roper were working well together, but failed to pierce the defence, and there was no further score. Mr E. W. Tindill (Wellington) was the referee.