De Villiers’s Brilliance Inspires Springboks

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30854, 13 September 1965, Page 3

De Villiers’s Brilliance Inspires Springboks

(Special Correspondent N.Z.P.A.)

NAPIER, September 12.

Scoring five tries in the second half, four of them in the last 20 minutes, the Springboks produced a storming finish to beat Hawke’s Bay, 30-12, at McLean Park on Saturday.

Held to 6-6 at half-time, the tourists gave a brilliant display of running after the interval. In the perfect conditions, they overwhelmed the Bay defence.

For South Africa, tries were scored by Engelbrecht (3), Ixaude, du Preez and Gainsford. Oxlee kicked three conversions and a penalty goal and Naude landed a 60-yard penalty. The Hawke’s Bay’s points came from tries by Davis and 1 remain, and two penalty goals by Bishop.

This is a match that J 1 the Springboks’ half- [' back and captain, de Villiers, will long re- I member. His was a superlative performance. Within a minute of the second half de Villiers made his first break for Engelbrecht to score a try. In the thirty-second minute

de Villiers again made an opening for Englebrecht and four minutes later he went round the side of the scrum and sent du Preez in for three more points. Then, with only two minutes remaining, de Villiers broke through again, and this time Gainsford was in support. Coupled with his magnificent running, the South African captain also threw out

some glorious passes, and as a result Oxlee was given ample time to get his centres away.

Gainsford and Roux revelled in the conditions. With every game the combination of this pair has improved and on Saturday they were near to perfection, Roux shining in the first half and Gainsford determined and dangerous in the second. For Englebrecht the match was something of a challenge. There had been talk of his being replaced in the fourth test but with each try he scored, he hammered home his claims. It would now be a brave man who would question his right to another cap

The performance of the forwards was only slightly less impressive than that of the backs. There was more of the drive and purpose that was on display in the third test at Christchurch with a few refinements that the less sophisticated opposition allowed.

In general, du Preez has been the mainstay of the tourists’ line-out efforts and again he won a fair amount of ball. But the star in this department was undoubtedly Naude. Not So Gentle Until a couple of weeks ago Naude was known as “the gentle giant.” On Saturday he was no longer “gentle.” He mastered the Hawke’s Bay opposition at an early stage and was the outstanding forward on the field.

There was also a resolution about the South African scrummaging that confounded the opposition. Parker, playing in only his second Saturday game of the tour, was in tremendous form, and with MacDonald, gave Malan the support he needed to to counteract the loss of Hopwood for most of the second half.

Hopwood went into the backs when Mans, on the left-wing, pulled a hamstring muscle and was virtually a passenger.

Hopwood, until he departed for the backs, showed enough skill and intelligence to confirm his ability as a loose forward. Schoeman also had a good game. Stifled Back Play Hawke’s Bay on the whole was disappointing. The forwards had trouble in the battle for possession and the backs, when they did get the ball, were loath to use their speed. The villains in stifling back play were Neale and Furlong. They both seemed enchanted with the kicking