ENGLAND’S FINE EFFORT IN 2ND TEST MATCH

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30147, 3 June 1963, Page 12

ENGLAND’S FINE EFFORT IN 2ND TEST MATCH

New Zealand Wins With 65-

Yard Kick By Clarke

It was New Zealand’s game, but England’s glory' at Lancaster Park on Saturday. New Zealand won the second test, 9 points to 6, with a tremendous 65-yard goal from a mark by D. B. Clarke four minutes from time. It was a kick which will be talked about for years; but the match will also be remembered for the courageous second-half recovery of England.

After the debacle of Hawke’s Bay, England’s stocks were at a very low ebb, and the forward dominance exerted by New Zealand in the first spell suggested that New Zealand’s three-point lead at the interval would mature into a decisive victory.

But against the wind and all expectations, England picked itself up from the floor and fought so valiantly that there was hardly anyone in the crowd of 40.000 who would not have felt a draw would have done justice to the teams.

After an untidy, often haphazard, first spell, the game produced many thrilling moments, with England scoring one of the greatest test-match tries. New Zealand scored two tries, but cannot be very satisfied with its performance against a team it had beaten so decisively at Auckland.

Lancaster Park was in excellent order, although there were several instances of players slipping, early in the game. There were one or two light showers, but it was a mild day for mid-winter. *

New Zealand ‘ was assisted by a southerly wind stronger in the second spell than it was when the English players had it behind them in the first half.

There was little of the fierce tension about the occasion which can be felt when New Zealand is playing South Africa, but the magnificent effort made by England won a ready response from the crowd which, at games such as this, shows a welcome leaning towards impartiality With the Springboks, it would be seen as weakness That New Zealand was in danger of defeat, or a draw could be traced to overconfidence. The All Black

forwards were on top much sooner than they had been in the Auckland test, and this apparently persuaded them that it was no longer necessary to subdue their opposition with sustained solid driving Often a New

Zealand forward was able to

burst through from a line-out , or from broken plav. but he did not have the others with him

One Against Four

A typical ir.sfar.ee of this strange reversion to individual effort occurred in the second spell when England's defence was badly broken, and the ball a yard or two from the goal-line One Englishman was able to thwart the efforts of four All Black forwards each of whom was trying to pick up the ball and score: at Auckland the New Zealanders would have been over the ball, en masse and swiftly for a quick heel from the ruck

New Zealand had countless opportunities to score agains' a team which tried bravely to counter the AU Blacks’ superiority in the line-outs It •was an effort handicapped by the injury suffered by Davis who dislocated his left shoulder in the first speU Davis returned to the ga«ne after a few minutes but before the interval he was off the field when the shoulder was dislocated again Davis came back again about five minutes after the second sped began although he was obviously in pain and could use only his right arm effectively He is one of the best of England's lineout forwards but his usefulness was. not unusually. Shanplv reduced Individual Bursts But the massive AU Black forwards, instead of maintaining close contact with the English pac* and weahnc t out. a« had happened at Auckland, kept trying to move the ball quickly with individual bursts or bv peeling off round the back of the line-outs. Such ente-prise was admirable. but the execution was not. It left the English pack full of running tn the closing stages and twice in the second half there was the almost Incredible sight of England pushing the All Black scrum bark almost, it seemed wth ease Mechanical errors -ost New Zealand dparly In the first 30 minutes of the game £ns land’s half-hvk Clarke puthe ball into every scrum largely because of New Zealand lnfri"«»ments And -he backs were even more a. fault Time and again in the second half, Connor set

the line running, but there were many handling errors among the three-quarters, and an ailmast complete lack of penetration. Delayed Passing In sharp contrast. England’s backs ran strongly and effectively. They did not have the advantage of Connor’s- quick, clean service, because Clarke was nearly always under pressure. and his habit of evading a tackle by retreating two or three steps meant that the English backs were often handicapped by delay Yet Horrocks-Taylor, tn particular, and the men outside him made a succession of sharp -h rusts which very nearly brought tries. and which exposed sad deficiencies in the New Zealand defence England was, tn some respects. a very unlucky team It was awarded 15 penalties and conceded seven, but New Zealand’s infringements at vital moments sometimes went unnoticed No referee can see everything, and Mr J. P Murphy is one of New Zealand’s best; but it so happened that on a good many occasions New Zealand breaches went unpunished In the first 20 minutes there were two flagrant instances of English players being held illegally, and those spectators about the halfway mark would probably agree that there was a distinctly forward pass in the movement which gave New Zealand its first try A little later Meads was blatantly off-side when he broke up an English movement. In the second spell. Rogers was held firmly by D B Clarke after he had charged down the full-back’s kick but this. too. was not penalised. Then Meads rid himself of an unwelcome defender when the All Black was about to take a pass But there was one clear case of Meads being held when he was not in possession Magnificent Try There was a period after England scored its try when the visiting team was superb The try was a magnificent effort, and it bred a confidence and purpose in the England team which stretched the New Zealand defence taut The try was scored from a New Zealand kick ahead Sykes took the ball, just inside Englands twenty-five, and sent Ranson away. Ranson a fast and determined runner, defeated Walsh about mid-field but seemed to have gone too far when McKay came in to tackle him However. he broke through the tackle. Rogers was up to take a pass, put in a perfectlycontrolled kick to the corner which allowed Phillips to race in for a try This was one of the game’s great moments Straight away. England attacked again, with a fine fury When a scrum went down on the New Zealand lirte. the All Blacks were pushed back but a twentyfive was awarded This was the first instance of the new ruling being applied in these circumstances Until recently. New Zealand's force-down would have meant a fiveyard scrum, with England having the loose bead Now it requires a drop-out. twenty-five The second time England tried for a push-over try Horrocks-Taylor was among those in the scrum and the extra man helped England thrust forward with extraordinary ease But it was a case of over-eagerness. The attempt to score, which almost cerainly should have succeeded, was made when the ball was still Inches short of the line and England was properly penalised. Clarke’# Greatest The other great moment of the match was D B. Clarke’s goal from a mark—a mark made significantly, from an attacking English kick The goal was a magnificent effort perhaps the finest of the many match-winning kicks Clarke has made for New Zealand But ’here was some dissatisfaction with the inordina’e time Clarke took with his, preparations—repara-tions-which. it seemed, were designed to invite too early

a charge by the Englishmen on the mark. They certainlyresulted in the charge being made, too soon, and a nocharge kick awarded. England's error was in watching the kicker instead of the ball; the Springboks, in the first test in 1960. were similarly penalised. There was much individual efficiency in this match, which developed from little more than a scramble into a tremendously exciting encounter But one of the salient features was the ruthless efficiency of the whole England team in its tackling, which was quite admirable. In the Auckland test, England’s backs, in particular, tackled fearlessly, always making sure that the man was put on the ground, and this violent follow-through rattled the New Zealand backs badly D. B Clarke, not a prime favourite with Christchurch crowds, had his wonderful goal to compensate for the four place-kicks and one field goal which had failed, and for the times he was forced into error There were two or three occasions when Clarke mis-handled on defence, and his line-kicking lacked its usual length; but Clarke still, somehow, lent the New Zealand defence a solidity which it lacked in front of him The New Zealand threequarters were distinctly unimpressive. McKay’s tackling lacked decision, although his speed in attack was often useful Uttley did not tackle or handle well and Caulton apart from a couple of centring kicks, contributed little. Watt’s Good Game It was not the fault of Connor and Watt that the New Zealand backs did not sepre more tries. Watt was the only New Zealand back to show penetration. He was clearly beaten by Horrocks-Taylor twice, but his quick, straight running was admirable. At Auckland. New Zealand scored three tries on the blind side Again this was New Zealand’s most promising avenue of attack, but this time the English players refused to be sucked in by W’att; Ranson shadowed Caulton. allowing Watt apparent freedom of movement. Twice Watt ran 30 yards on the blind side, but each time his thrust came to nought through the lack of the forward support—which had been afforded him at Auckland—and uncompromising tackles Walsh, who has never olayed impressively at Lancaster Park, tried hard to set his three-quarters moving, but lack of pace often forced him sideways, fatally. He became an easy target for the fierce English tacklers. There was one occasion when Hor-rocks-Taylor's tackle drove him back several yards Walsh did perform well in covering, but his principal task of providing opportunities for those outside him was simply not accomplished. Young Industrious Young squared the tighthead contest with Godwin, by taking four and conceding one. His hooking was significantly cleaner and quicker, ’and he played his usual industrious game I J Clarke was out of sight throughout the game but Whineray was sufficiently ron the move to compete with Nathan and Graham as forwards There were some powerful ‘bursts from him in the loose, but in the second half, when New Zealand needed more discipline in front he might have been better employed with I J Clarke in the tight Meads was a dominant figure in the line-outs but his ’ask was simplified to some extent by the regularity with which he marked the injured Davis His strength and purpose was clearly evident but it was not often enough reinforced by the other forwards

Stewart made some spectacular line-out leaps, but found Perry a determined and skilful opponent There were occasions when Stewart took the baU and lost it usually to Perry Graham's primary task was caretaking Nathan was a ruthless hunter of the rolling ball and anything else which looked likely to halt New Zealand's progress- but it was significant that he devoted his energies to open play so much, whereas at Auckland in the first half he had played with the devoted discipline of a lock Trema in played an exceptionally good game, doing his full share tn the tight, and initiating many attacking i.iovements with his speed to seize an opportunity.

Courageous Pack The English pack won the deepest admiration for its courageous performance, and none of the forwards earned

more respect than Davis Throughout the second spell, his effectiveness as a winner of line-outs was severely reduced by his injury, but he managed to become a sort of one-arm bandit, robbing New Zealand of clean takes. The game held no more moving moment than when Davis.injury and all, turned back a New 'Zealand attack with a crashing 10-yard run through a wall of black jerseys. Perry, a magnificent No. 8 converted overnight into a lock was at the controls of England’s stout-hearted effort. He bore the brunt of the New Zealand attempts to drive through the middle of the line-outs, changing positions as circumstances dictated. At the end of the line, Wightman was similarly elective, and he met splendidly the threat of the All Blacks’ attempts to peel off from the end of line-outs Wightman, chasing everything and hunting avidly all day. showed a speed which must have brought a blush to the cheeks of • those who had dubbed him “Yeti” because of his size 12 boots. 1 Marriott guarded the blindside dutifully and effectively and Rogers, a spleqdid allround forward, did not need his white head-gear to win prominence His shattering tackling helped upset the Nev Zealand backs, and his pace put him into position at a vital moment to share in England's greet try. Lessons Learned * England made the mistake twice in the first half-hour of trying to deceive the New Zealand defence with switches of direction, attempted too close to the scrum, and there were no more of them But when the ball was moved along the line, England's backs beat the defence on several occasions

S. J S Clarke’s performance was plucky rather than polished, but Horrocks-Tay-lor was the most impressive back on the ground H.s judgment was never faulted his tactical kicking was firstclass. and his ability to create half a gap offered those outside some fine opportunities Test matches do not often allow fly-halves to behave as the critics always say they should, but Horrocks-Taylor on Saturday showed that it is still possible to make breaks on the open side from set play Some of the books may have to be re-written

The English three-quarters outplayed the New Zealanders Western and Phillips made strong runs and their defence was as aggressive as their attack. Ranson, after a disappointing game tn the first test will be remembered if only for the startling run which led to England's try Hosen Prominent

Hosen had another great match His line-kicking was better than D. B Clarke’s and although he took a bard knock early in the game, his courage and competence were never in question A magnificent tackle stopped Watt when ft seemed the New Zealand five-eighths was sure to score, and later he upended l Meads when the 16-stone forward was bent on his destruction

It would have been a satisfactory end to the game had Hosen been able to kick a goal from the penalty England was awarded two minutes from time; for if ever a player deserved well of the Rugby fates, it was Hosen But so. after such a comeback, did England.