PROMOTION OF FRIENDSHIP

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27990, 9 June 1956, Page 10

PROMOTION OF FRIENDSHIP

SPRINGBOKS’ AIM IN NEW ZEALAND

(New Zealand Press Association) HAMILTON, • June 8. The main object of the Springboks in New Zealand is to make friends, according to the team’s manager, Dr Danie Craven. He told a Hamilton audience of 1000 that, if the SpringHoks carried on in the same amicable spirit as had marked the Australian portion of the tour, the two countries would be richer for it. The scores in the matches would be put m the record books and would be studied in the future, he said. However, people reading those alone would never sense what the Springbo wer . e feeling in New Zealand. ‘ That is the warm glow coming ♦L° m -^ o V r People, and I want to accept that it is not only enthusiasm about Rugby. It is something more,” said Dr. Craven. “Our two countries are similar. Your sense of values is the same as ours. Your outlook, not only on Rugby but on life, is the same as ours. If we can weld our countries even closer together, this tour will have done more than scoring points.” Dr. Craven said the Springbok party had been kept so busy since its arrival that the members did not know quite what had happened. That did not mean they were “scared,” he said. The best test match he had ever seen was the one in which South Africa beat Scotland by 44-0 in 1951, said Dr. Craven.

“I would still call it a freak test,” he said. “I am sure I shall never see such a game again in my life.” He referred to a scoring movement that day in which the ball was passed 26 times. That was the type of Rugby on which the Springboks had concentrated for some time. That was the type of game they would try 4o play in New Zealand, he said.