Profile: R. C. STUART

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30442, 16 May 1964, Page 11

Profile: R. C. STUART

TO captain the All Blacks on a tour of Britain should be the nunc dimittis of any Rugby player. R. C. Stuart not only achieved that distinction at the age of 33, but three years later coached the All Black teams that beat South Africa for the first time in a test series. It was piling Pelion on Ossa. As a player he was a good loose forward, perhaps not up to the very highest international standard, but as a captain and Rugby tactician he was supreme. It would not be too sweeping to assert that no-one has had a greater influence on New Zealand Rugby in the post-war years. At the beginning of the 1953 season there was little to suggest that Stuart would captain the fourth All Black team to Britain. He had been captain of the very successful 1952 Canterbury team and had made an excellent job of captaining a New Zealand Universities team to Australia in 1951 but his fine career seemed to be coming to an end; a fact with which he was almost in agreement, for he had to be persuaded to play again in 1953. But by the time of the final trials it had become increasingly clear that there was no logical captain among the players certain to make the tour. Stuart was chosen and four days later he celebrated his appointment by leading Canterbury to'victory in the Ranfurly Shield challenge against Wellington. The tour was not an unqualified success two matches were lost in Wales —and there was considerable criticism of the style of play of the team, but Stuart emerged from the tour with a reputation as one of the finest captains sent abroad by New Zealand. He retired from Rugby in 1954, but his abilities had not been forgotten and in 1956 he was called in to assist with the coaching of the All Blacks in the tests. What happened is now glorious Rugby history (for New Zealand). If one was asked to describe in two

words the reasons for New Zealand’s victory, they would be “physical contact.” And physical contact means forward play. Whatever criticisms can be made of Stuart’s outlook on Rugby, there was never any suggestion that he was not the finest forward coach in New Zealand. He moulded the All Black pack into one of the most fearsome weapons ever seen on a Rugby field. Three years later, when coaching Canterbury, he again produced a great pack, which defeated the British Isles on Lancaster Park. It was this game which perhaps gave him the greatest pleasure in his coaching career, for he had not been insensitive to the criticism that followed the performances of his 1953-54 team in Britain. Other coaches have probably had just as much

Rugby knowledge as Stuart but he had one priceless asset without which no coach can ever become really successful—persuasion. As one former All Black said: “In a 10-minute team talk before a match, Bob could convince you that black was white and for the next 80 minutes you would believe that implicitly. After the game you might decide that he was wrong, but by then it didn’t matter.” And as a captain and coach he had a happy knack of summing up the game quickly and deciding when changes in tactics should be made. Not that he was a spell binder : common sense and logic were his verbal weapons. But they were probably more effective weapons than a silver oratory or ranting

abuse. A team talk by Stuart was a “pressure cooker” Rugby education. He has an amazing Rugby knowledge. Earlier than most he realised that the Otago rucking game was on its way out. And while retaining the best features of that game he introduced to Canterbury and New Zealand Rugby the tight-loose forward game and the greater use of the blindside for back, attacks, and the peeling off by forwards from lineouts.

Since 1959, when he. retired from coaching Rugby, he has not taken up any other regular coaching work. But in Wellington he is in constant demand from clubs for advice. And it was significant that after Buller was granted a shield challenge, the Buller delegates should immediately approach him to ask if he could spare a few days helping in the training of the Buller team.

Unlike many former players, he does not think that the game was better in his time. Changes in the laws had made the game different.

A point that he made was that the 1953-54 All Blacks were said to play the game in the forwards too much and used a kicking fiveeighths. But on that tour the average number of lineouts was about 50 a game; now 100 line-outs were common place. When he was coaching there were critics who said that he over-emphasised the role of the forwards, often at the expense of the backs. It is a fair criticism. But can one remember, in international Rugby anyway, when a team of average forwards and brilliant backs beat a team of great forwards and competent backs? As a player, sportsman, captain and coach he contributed much to Rugby and he also gained much from Rugby. But if the relative contributions were to be weighed, the balance would tip heavily on his side.