Rugby League N.Z. OVERWHELMS FRANCE

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29265, 25 July 1960, Page 19

Rugby League N.Z. OVERWHELMS FRANCE

Determined Home Side’s 9-2 Victory </Vew Zealand t'resa Association/ AUCKLAND, July 24. There was only one team in the first Rugby League test at Carlaw Park on Saturday—New Zealand. With domination in the forwards, and more determination in the backs the Kiwis scored three tries against a single penalty goal by France.

A crowd of near to 29,000 paid a record gate of more than £BOOO.

An early blow came to the Frenchmen when the referee, Mr V. C. Belsham, ordered M. Bescos, a front row prop, from the field after only 10 minutes of play.

Mr Belsham evened the balance when he gave T. Kilkelly, a New Zealand second row man, his marching orders; but, by then, only one minute to go was showing on the clock and the game for the French was lost.

It is extremely doubtful, however, if Bescos’ presence would have made any difference to the final score.

It is, in a way, a pity that New Zealand, while it was playing, with such excellence, should not have had the satisfaction of downing the full might of France.

A second factor which somewhat marred the game was the shocking conditions of a large area of the field. Many times New Zealanders and Frenchmen gave a fair imitation of ice-skating novices as they skidded and slathered in the mud. Under these difficult conditions the Kiwis played magnificent football. The forwards, with C. R. Jobson, R. C. Acldand and M. Cooke to the fore, battered the Frenchmen relentlessly while B. T. Hadfield with two tries that were a model of the fighting spirit which possessed the side, and N. L. Denton with some devastating sideline dashes, gave the backline a real sting. The most important and. probably. the deciding difference between the teams was the ability of the New Zealanders not to die with the ball. Time and again they would be lowered in tackles, but at the last moment would flip the ball to a team-mate who carried on the movement. The French on the other hand, especially in the second half, were reluctant to open out play, which brings to fight the second matter—tackling—in which New Zeatand scored top marks, while France only earned a "very fair” credit.

All three New Zealand tries could have been stopoed bad A. Perducat or A. J. Dubon, the French wings, not missed their men at critical stages. Fierce Defence

New Zealand, on the other hand, was almost ferocious on defence and rarely allowed the Frenchmen any latitude. Undoubtedly the find of the New Zealand teem on the day and the best forward on the ground was the Canterbury back-row man, M. L. Cooke. He covered the field in grand style and not ooly stopped one or two dangerous French attacks but he also backed up from the first whistle to the last.

Cooke had some spirited opposition for leading honours from other members of the New Zealand pack. Acktand, especially in the second half, straightened up the attack with some crashing runs down the centre of the field.

Johnson, the New Zealand captain, controlled the teem well and gave a masterful display of eool and calculated play even in the me st heated moments of attackIf a prize bad been given for the best ir the New Zeeland backs, the chances are Hadfield and Denton would share it. The memory of Hadfield scoring his try. when he struggled over the line with two Frenchmen on his back, will live for a long while So. too, will Denton's run to catch A. Jiminez, the French captain, after he dummied past C. A. Eastlake and was clear.

Apart from his goal-kicking—he missed three conversions and six penalty goals—Eastlake shaded his opposite. Poletti. in the full-back dual. In spite of the muddy conditions it is strange that France, especially after Bescos was ordered off when it became apparent they were to be beaten in the forwards did not open the game up more. The only place the Frenchmen appeared to have the edge on New Zealand was in the inside backs. Jiminez, at first fiveeighths, and C. Mantoulan and B. Fabre, the centres, all made dangerous breaks. Fabre, especially, gave G. P. Turner, the IJiwi centre, a bad time and several times broke clean away in movements which could have yielded tries had it not been for the solid cover defence. Poletti, although his defence was suspect, looked as though he could prove a handful on a dry ground on attack. Two Rugby Union internationals, R. Barthe and A. Ouaglio. were the solid core of the French forwards. Barthe. forced to play second row in the re-shuffle after the departure of Bescos. necessarily had to curtail his efforts in the loose, but he made up for this with a grim determination in the close play.

Quaglion, when he was not acting as mediator in the various disputes between his teammates and Mr Belsham, still found time to tackle hard, and pounce on the loose ball.

New Zealand’s first try came after six minutes, when Turner found a gap and then passed to Hadfield. With Perducat in position for the tackle and Poletti coming across in cover, it did not appear as though the New Zealand wing Could score. Brilliantly, however, Hadfield evaded both the Frenchmen and touched down in the corner. It was Denton’s turn next. Johnson managed to get his pass away in a tackle and the Kiwi winger brushed aside a tackle by Dubon, and sprinted over in the corner.

New Zealand’s third try in the second half, and Hadfield’s second for the match, came in a similar manner. Cooke flicked a loose ball to Hadfield, who barged over in the corner.

France’s points came shortly after this, when Guiraud goaled from a penalty right in front of the posts. The half-time score was 6-0.

Hie teams were:— New Zealand; C. A. ..Eastlake: B. T. Hadfield, N. L. Denton, B. A. Turner; R. Griffiths, G. Menzies; N. K. Roberts: M. L. Cooke; R. C. Ackland, T. T. Kilkelly; C. R. Johnston. J. R. Butterfield, H. Maxwell.

France.—L. Poletti; J. Dubon, A. Perducat: B. Fabre; C. Mantoulan; A. Jiminez; J. Guiraud; J. Barthe; A. Quaglio, R. Eramouspe; M. Bescos, A. Vadon, A. Boldini.