STEEL’S FINE DEBUT

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31114, 18 July 1966, Page 3

STEEL’S FINE DEBUT

Williment bad an off-day with his kicking but in all other departments of fullback play he gave a very good performance. His entries into the back-line were made judiciously and his handling and line kicking were safe. Steel had a fine debut He tackled well; his great speed was always in evidence, whether chasing the ball or covering, and although not given many chances on attack he still looked impressive. Smith was a little sluggish and may have lost the quick acceleration which was one of his main assets. Macßae and Rangi were an excellent midfiefid combination. Macßae’s sharpness and powerful running made him the All Blacks’ most potent attacking back but he was well complemented by Rangi, whose straight running was particularly dangerous in broken play. Brilliant Herewini Inside of them, Tittle Herewini had an excellent match. His handling was immaculate and even if he did kick when twice he had an overlap, his line-kicking was a great help to his forwards. Twice Herewini darted past Watkins and he looked very good on attack. Laidlaw was again the perfect half-back. His astute changes of play and his long,

if not always accurate, passes gave the AIT Black line a great advantage. This All Black pack must be one of the finest ever fielded by New Zealand. It performed superbly, with each man playing well individually, but it was the cohesion and purpose of the forwards that were so impressive. Nathan was almost back to his 1963-64 form. In the loose his jotting runs started many of the All Black attacks and he tackled ruthlessly. One of his tasks was to shadow Watkins and this he did with efficient single-mindedness. Better Than Ever

The Meads brothers, if it Is possible, looked better than ever. S. T. Meads was outstanding in the line-outs and outplayed Price, the Lions line-out expert C. E. Meads did some fantastic things in the loose where his great speed allowed him twice to outpace a Lions back. In the line-out he was impregnable when the Lions tried to drive and when he decided to go forward he often wedged through the opposition. Tremain and Lochore combined perfectly in the tightloose and their barging runs at the end of the line-out imposed a severe strain on the defence of Pask and Lamont.

McLeod halved the tight heads with Kennedy, but his hooking was cleaner, and in the loose he was quite outstanding for his speed and quick thinking. Gray and Hazlett were rugged props and their devotion to duties in the tight play and their blocking in the lineouts played a significant part in the All Blacks victory. The Lions defence was un-

der strain for much of the game and two tacklers in particular stood out. Gibson had to take the full brunt of MacRae trying to penetrate and some of his head-on tackles were perfectly executed. Lamont performed wonders on cover defence and also stopped many attempts by Lochore to burst through at the end of the line-out. Wilson was completely reliable at full-back and his tackling, too, was very sound. McFadyean and Bebb had no chances at all to show their great speed in set play. It took 71 minutes for the ball to go through the Lions chain of backs. Gibson and Jones spent nearly all of their time tackling and when they did get the ball the hard tackling of Macßae and Rangi curbed their attacking powers. Unhappy Watkins Watkins did not have a very happy day. He was cordoned off by the All Black loose forwards and some of his kicking was ill-directed. Young stood up to pressure well and sent out some good passes but he certainly did not get the protection from bis forwards that he should have received. Pask did very good work around the scrum but while looking quite impressive when running with the ball, he too often ran across field and crowded his backs. Telfer was an industrious loose forward and Lamont a very good one, but the Lions trio did not compare with Nathan, Lochore and Tremain. The captain, Campbell-Lam-erton toiled for 80 minutes and Price, too, slogged away enthusiastically. Williams and Norris packed a good front row with Kennedy.