Wiggs Kicks N.Z. Points But Britain Again Superior

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31144, 22 August 1966, Page 3

Wiggs Kicks N.Z. Points But Britain Again Superior

(New Zealand Press Association)

AUCKLAND.

The player the New Zealand selectors did not choose for the first test was the hero of the Kiwi team in the second Rugby League test against Britain at Carlaw Park on Saturday.

He was the forward, E. Wiggs, and it was thanks to his mighty boot that New Zealand ran the tourists closer than they had done in the first test.

Britain won, 22-14, and apart from Wiggs’s kicking. New Zealand’s performance was no better than it had been in the first test. With seven penalty goals, Wiggs scored all of New Zealand’s points. The tourists had won the first test, 25-8, but in that match New Zealand had scored two tries. On Saturday, the one occasion a Kiwi try appeared certain, the former test wing, B. T. Reidy, who was playing his first test as a fullback, stumbled only yards short of the line and with an open field. LACKED STRENGTH New Zealand once again lacked strength in its forwards. S. Edwards and C. O’Neil were both missing when it came to defence, and their pathetic attempts at tackling must have been heart-breaking to their teammates. The other men played magnificently and full credit must go to them for their great display in containing the British side as well as they did. Without full support from their forwards, the Kiwi backline was never really given an opportunity to be prominent. Too often the Great Britain back-line was filled with forwards who were allowed to roam at will, reducing the chances of New Zealand backs to make breaks. The Canterbury half-hack, G. Clarke, who replaced the injured R. W. Bailey during the first five minutes, put penetration into the New Zealand back-line, and given an even chance he would have been capable of setting his outside men away.

Britain just did not seem to have a man with a weakness. Even its hooker, P. Flanagan, a position which is by tradition usually that of the slowest man in the team, was more effective than the New Zealanders when he had the ball. He ran and jinked like a centre when opposed by New Zealand forwards and, like most of his team-mates, did not “die” with the ball. The Great Britain loose forward. D. Robinson, was the danger man when he ran with the ball in the backs, while C. Watson and the replacement, T. Fogerty, were also menacing players. In their backs, outstanding players for the tourists were the centres, I. Brooke and F. Myler, and the inside back combination, W. Aspinall and T. Bishop. The match proved the great superiority of the tourists, and that they are one of the best of the 13 Great Britain teams to have toured New Zealand. For Britain, Brooke (2), W. Burgess and Aspinall scored tries, and K. J. Gowers kicked two penalty goals and three conversions.

Clarke was by far the best New Zealand player. He got up to his opposition with speed, and his tackling was low and deadly. W. G. Deacon, Wiggs, G. Smith, and G. M. Kennedy were also prominent with their tackling.