RUGBY FOOTBALL RUNAWAY WIN FOR ALL BLACKS

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26462, 2 July 1951, Page 8

RUGBY FOOTBALL RUNAWAY WIN FOR ALL BLACKS

Australian XV Beaten By 56 Points To 11

(From B. L. HEWITT, Special N.Z.P.A. Correspondent with the AU Blacks.) (Rec. 8 p.m.) MELBOURNE, June 30. The All Blacks scored a runaway victory of 56 points to 11 against .an Australian XV on the Melbourne Cricket Ground to-day. The match was the All Blacks’ sixth successive win and their most decisive victory over a major team so far on this tour. They dominated the game, especially in the backs, from beginning to end and had a 16-point lead by half-time. The richly turfed ground and the cold clear afternoon were the nearest approach to New Zealand conditions the Ail Blacks have found in Australia, and they made the most of them. Unlike most cricket grounds, the midfield had not been churned up into a quagmire and there were only odd patches of heavy mud. The attendance figure was 8900.

After the dour battle in the test last Saturday, the All Blacks were amazed at the standard of opposition they encountered in much better conditions to-day from a side which included at least seven internationals. The New Zealand backs stepped through tackles and repeatedly found great gaps in the Australians’ defence. The Australian team finished the game with 13 men on the field—both their captain, A. Winning, and the full-back, G. Gleeson, were injured—but long before then the outcome was well beyond doubt. The New Zealand team lost one man, the young Taranaki lock, Peter Burke, who had his neck muscles injured as he went down into a ruck. The All Black forwards, who were up against stronger opposition than the backs, worked together magnificently as a pack and had by far the best of the scrums, lineouts, and rucks. They gave the backs the chances they needed to show their true worth in reasonable playing conditions. The backs gave their most convincing display of the tour to date. Every man played his hardest and the backline produced a succession of thrilling and precisely executed attacks.

Sarden Scores 28 Points Ron Jarden, the star winger, did not have to go hunting for opportunities. They came his way in abundance, and he made the best of them. Jarden scored half of the All Blacks’ 56 points. He scored five tries, converted five, and kicked a penalty goal. None of the Australian backs had the pace to catch him, and only once when he had barely a yard in which to start, did his opposite, I. Cranston, bring him down from behind. But again in this match, the fascinating feature of Jarden’s play was not so much his speed as his truly remarkable ability to shake off even determined attempts to stop him. From the viewpoint of the future of the team, the most pleasing feature of today’s game was the excellent combination developed between the half-back. Brian Steele, and the first five-eighths, Len Wilson, who played. their first game together for nearly three weeks. They showed clearly to-day that they should develop into the best attacking combination of the All Blacks inside backs. Steele is improving and gaining confidence with every game, and his passing from the scrum in this match was of a standard rarely reached by New Zealand half-backs in recent years. Wilson was obviously much happier than he has been in recent games. He took Steele's long passes with ease and set the whole backline moving smoothly. The second five-eighths, Tom Lynch, now firmly established as one of the key men of the side, outplayed the Australian inside centre. K. Gudsell. Lynch shrewdly varied his play to give the men outside him the right chances. The centre. John Tanner, soon found weaknesses in the defence opposite him, and took full advantage of them to get Jarden under way. Most of the play went to Jarden’s wing, but when the other wing three-quarters, P. Erceg, got his chances he ran with his usual zest and determination and scored two tries.

The pick of the Australian backs were the half-back, R. S. Jacobs, and until he was Injured, the full-back, G. Gleeson. The Australian pack had a hard day. but was unable to control forward play for very long at any stage. First Try to Lynch

New Zealand's first points came from a try scored by Lynch in the first three minutes of play. Jarden converted it, and five minutes later kicked a penalty goal from just outside the twenty-five. In the next minute he scored again with a converted runaway try from half-way. Wilson got the next, try by doubling round behind the backline and racing over in the corner. Jarden missed the kick. After 20 minutes’ play. Tanner scored from a break-through by Lynch, and Jarden narrowly missed with a kick. The All Blacks forwards were penalised right on their goal-line and Gleeson kicked a goal. The Australians kept up the attack, and from a line-out. the lock forward. Cameron, dived over. The try was not converted as was Jarden’s next, right on half-time.

The score then was: New Zealand 22. Australia 6.

The second half opened with a magnificent try by Tanner between the posts. This Jarden converted. Winning scored Australia’s second try from a forward scramble on the line, and Gudsell converted it. Then Steele worked the blind side and Erceg scored a try which Cockerill converted. Then the New Zealand forwards drove down to the goal-line, where H. Wilson barged his way over for an unconverted try. All the New Zealand backs, including the full-back. Cockerill. were in the next attack, from which Jarden scored and converted the try. From right on his own goal-line, Tanner got the ball and raced three-quarters of the length of the field before he passed to Jarden who scored by the posts. Stee • converted. Then Lynch made a clear break for his second try. and a minute or two later Erceg also went over for the second time. Jarden converted Erceg’s try and scored another himself, which was not converted. The game ended with the score: New Zealand 56, Australia 11.