Rugby Football PACE AND PASSING FROM LIONS

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28936, 2 July 1959, Page 16

Rugby Football PACE AND PASSING FROM LIONS

Universities Beaten, 25-13 If first impressions are, in fact, lasting, Christchurch will have happy memories of the 1959 British Isles Rugby Team. At Lancaster Park yesterday the Lions ran with such speed and purpose, passed with such precision in beating New Zealand Universities by 25 points to 13 that even the ranks of Tuscany—in this instance a crowd of 45,000 brought up very largely on a diet of win-at-all-price Rugby—could scarce forbear to cheer loudly and long. The British Isles scored six tries, and delighted everyone with their own obvious pleasure in playing. There were some who came away from the game muttering that a New Zealand pack would conquer the visitors, but whatever the outcome of the tests, the British Isles team has already done much for the game in New Zealand by offering so splendid a reminder of the attractions of the passing game. There was much satisfaction, too, in the recovery of the Universities against a tiring Lions team—a recovery which converted a score of 25-0 to a 12point margin at the end. The Otago wing, E. S. Diack, distinguished himself by scoring all of his team’s points—two tries, two conversions and a penalty goal.

Although it contained only one All Black, the New Zealand Universities team was of a standard comparable with some of the stronger provincial sides. For 25 minutes, the speed of the British Isles, backs and forwards, and their remarkable penchant for backing up, kept the Universities very busy indeed, but in that period the visitors. scored only three points, from a penalty goal. Defence Wilted Then the defence wilted and wasted away. Before the interval, the Lions scored four tries in 10 minutes, a remarkable feat in almost any Rugby match. Fleetness of foot, swift, clean passing, bewildering changes of direction, combined to confound the Universities. There had been sound, sometimes spectacular tackling, but in this especially brilliant patch by the Lions, it was repeatedly a case of the shadow for the substance.

The second spell began on much the same lines, but Universities, with the wind at their backs, staged a dramatic recovery. It

would be a poor compliment to ■the students to suggest that the British Isles team relaxed iU efforts after it had established a lead of 25 points. But there was ■to-denying that the visitors began to M lose something of their phnomenal speed—and little wonder, after the exuberance which had gone before. Playing like men possessed, the Univer* sitles forwards took control, the backs ran with great purpose and determination, none more so than Prain and Diack. It was a superb effort, sustained for fully 20 minutes. But in the lasi 10 minutes the British Isles were again on .terms. In these closing stages there was some mild criticism from the embankment every time the British Isles kicked the ball out. But by that stage Risman, a key man to the team, was limping quite badly—he had been off the field briefly—and if they wert not satisfied, the critics must have had gargantuan appetites for the passing game. Handling and Speed The British Isles scored tries because their backs were extremely quick and because they handled so well, except for a period early in the game. The centres had sufficient speed to run, or threaten to run, round their men, and they were not averse at all to going wide, if by doing so they were able to provide an opportunity for a scissors movement. The prospect of such changes of direction was sometimes enough to put the defence on the wrong foot, and often the scissors pass was not, at the last moment, delivered; the damage had been done already. Individually, the British Isles backs were all entertaining, none more so than O’Reilly, the tall red-haired wing, whose tremendous pace really caught the eye. Most of the back:* were swift, elusive runners, quick in support of others. But if there was only one feature of the Lions’ play which stood Out above the others, it was the use they made of the new tackled ball rule. When an attack ■“-by either side—broke down, there was nearly always a British Isles player there to start a new movement, one or two more, at least, to support him. The ball was flicked up and away so swiftly and nimbly, often at a markedly different direction from the attack just ended, that for long periods the whole British team seemed to be running at top, for the loose forwards were usually in these movements too. Loose Forwards In the tighter rucks, the British Isles pack was as industrious as its opponents, and the Lions won their full share of the rucks, until that period when the Universities forwards got on top. But they w£re more injterested in using their fast loose

forwards in passing movements, and with this in view it was usual to see only half the pack going into a ruck in the initial stages. The forwards had a two-to-one advantage over Universities in the line-outs, although the Universities usually sent the ball down the line fast and low to counter the expert jumping of Marques, Faull and Williams McLeod, not a specialist hooker, did remarkably well to win three tight heads from Creighton and lose only four. The Universities forwards suffered by comparison, because of indifferent backing up, and adherence to the now orthodox practice of getting over the ball and rucking it back; in similar circumstances the Lions would usually have a passing movement started. But they showed no lack of courage or stamina, and during the second spell they showed tremendous drive for a long period. Splendid Service The best Universities back was clearly the half, Henderson, whose service was splendid, and who made some brilliant breaks from set and broken play. The five-eighths lacked pace, ■ and Brown, in particular, indulged too much in tactical kicking of dubious quality. Prain, however, was excellent. He ran very hard and exposed some flaws in the Lions’ tackling. Like most of the backs on both sides, his handling was at fault for the first " 10 minutes or so, but in the second spell he ran with tremendous purpose. Diack is too slow to be a class wing, but there was no mistaking his determination. When in sight of the line he was very hard to stop, and his two tries were splendid efforts. Leary missed a tackle or two, but brought off some grand saves, and he was never caught out of position. His taking under pressure was safe, his kicking sound. Tremain was clearly the leader of the Universities forwards, and he was as full of enthusiasm at the end as at the start. Hutchinson made a tremendous effort too. and so did Dunne, Irwin, Caughey and Graham. Smither was not able to counter the speed of the British Isles inside backs, but bi the broken play he did some useful covering work on defence and backed up on attack. Jumping Effective The Liops* jumping was most effective, and although the emphasis in the team’s play was always on the passing movement, the forwards in the first spell quite frequently broke through the Universities’ line-out and showed strength and resource in foot and hand rushes. Smith’s speed was a distinct asset and if the Lions, in the tests, find eight : forwards to play with the skill and intensity of McLeod, the best New Zealand pack would be under persistent pressure. Wood was another who drove hard, but in general the policy was to get the ball back as quickly as possible. Mulligan wks quick and efficient at half-back, and when he ran on bis own, as he did occasionally, be was hard to stop. Once he broke through two tackles to start a movement which brought Price a try. Risman was quiet, almost thoughful, a firm hinge on which many movements swung beautifully. Once in the second spell he showed how dangerous he could be with a magnificent swerving, side-stepping run which left behind a trail of clutching arms. Outside Wing Price and Thomas both ran beautifully, both made openings for the men outside, and it was good to see the efforts of Price, in particular, to double round outside the wing as an extra man. This used to be part of any school Rugby curriculum, but is seldom used these days. Murphy, a flank forward playing on the right l wing, was sound. O’Reilly scored two good tries and was the fastest player on the field. He was never in a position to produce a run down the side-line, but did some excellent things further afield. He has a tremendously long stride which makes his pace deceiving, but he sometimes tended to wander about out of position; not, perhaps, a major crime in this team. He was twice caught offside chasing kicks, and he was perhaps fortunate that he was not penalised for obstruction several times. Scotland's Kicking Scotland had a bad time at first, with misfielding, but he ran his backs onto attack well, and defended very capably. Scotland contributed special to the occasion. This was his goalkicking—not especially successful, but most spectacular. For most oft his kicks, he placed the ball without preamble and even, it seemed, without much interest. Then from an extraordinary curving run-in, he used his instep to

send the ball vast heights; one of his goals—from 10 yards inside half-way—sailed over not much beneath the tops of the 46ft 3in posts. It was rather like a full mashie-niblick from the rough. The game was a hard but extremely clean one, ably controlled by Mr N. Murphy (Northland).i Occasionally his penalties against; the Lions for off-side play after' high kicks clearly puzzled the visitors, who apparently overlooked the necessity to retire 10 yards from the player waiting to receive the ball. .