New South Wales Will Bring Springboks Back To Earth

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30776, 14 June 1965, Page 3

New South Wales Will Bring Springboks Back To Earth

[From 1. J. D. HALL. Rugby Reporter of “The Press”]

SYDNEY, June 13.

After their rather frivolous pursuits in Perth and Victoria the Springboks will face hard reality when they meet New South Wales at Sydney tomorrow.

Numerically the Springboks’ wins in the three matches they have played so far have been staggering. They have scored 214 points and have nine scored against them.

But it is all rather ephemeral. The New Zealand Colts last year beat Victoria 623. the Springboks were not quite as good —they onlv won 52-6.

Tomorrow the Springboks will meet a New South Wales team which is almost the same side that beat the All Blacks so humiliatingly. 20-5. in the third test at Wellington last year. And the Australian approach to the South Africans is very similar to that of New Zealand in 1956. There has been regular training since Christmas —a series of trials and matches aimed at bringing New South Wales to a peak of physical and mental fitness for this match. Prestige The Australian Rugby authorities are not unmindful of the prestige attached to tomorrow’s game. A defeat for New South Wales almost is a defeat for Australia. The Springboks have responded by choosing their shadow test team. Experience obviously has been of the utmost importance. Oxlee, Gainsford, Hopwood, De Villiers —all have

been chosen and the Springbok officials make no secret that tomorrow’s match is of the utmost importance to them. They have to face the residue of the short tour of Britain four matches lost in succession. Tomorrow could be the fifth loss. All Black Tactics Although the South Africans have chosen th fir best team they may find that New South Wales, which has assimilated the driving and rucking game of the All Blacks so that the masters have become the pupils, a very hard team to beat. It would cause no surprise if the Springboks lost. In their games in Perth and Melbourne they showed great speed both forward and back—but they will need more than that tomorrow.

The manager of the Springboks, Mr J. Louw, has promised a fast and open game. That may well eventuate. But if the Springboks are going to show that they can stand up to New Zealand forward play they will need more than the speed and trickiness they have shown so far. The teams are:— South Africa: L. G. Wilson, J. P. Engelbrecht, J. L. Gainsford, F. Du T. Roux, G. Brynard, K. Oxlee, D. J, de Villiers, D. Hopwood, J. Nel, P. H. Botha, C. Goosen, J. Schoeman, W. H. Parker, D. C. Walton, J. Marais. New South Wales: J. Lenehan, J. Boyce, P. Scott, B. J. Ellwood, S. Boyce, P. Hawthorne, K. Catchpole, D. Shepherd, J. O’Gorman, R. Heming, C. P. Crittle, G. Davis, J. Thornett, P. Johnson, J. White.