ALL BLACKS’ SUPERB FIRST HALF Only A Knock-Out Punch Missing From Test Win

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31519, 6 November 1967, Page 26

ALL BLACKS’ SUPERB FIRST HALF Only A Knock-Out Punch Missing From Test Win

(From

T. P. McLEAN)

TWICKENHAM. It was too good to last. That was the only complaint about the intensely-exciting Rugby international at Twickenham on Saturday in which the All Blacks beat England by 23 points (four goals and a try) to 11 points (a goal, a penalty goal and a try).

For 50 minutes the New Zealanders played beyond reproach—one is tempted to say beyond compare. The first try came within the first seven minutes and most of the rest of the half was a demonstration in classically simple terms of the right way to play Rugby.

There was one team doing this and it was New Zealand’s.

day, with occasional spits of the rain which had fallen for a good many hours beforehand when the crowd of more than 60.000 began to assemble. It seemed unkind of the band merrily to strike up “Oh, what a beautiful morning." The way to the park from the station was littered with touts offering fistfuls of tickets and inside the ground the bars were bustling with almost as many patrons as the six o’clock swill ever produced. Pre-Match Antics Around the touchline there raced five or six Kiwis displaying various notices, one of them proclaiming New Zealand to be the world champions. There was, too, a gentleman dressed in the uniform of Leo the Lion, the symbol of Wellington. These antics uneasily recalled the celebrated scamper in front of the Emperor of Japan at Tokyo in 1964 and perhaps the further internationals of the tour will be spared such goings on. Soon, however, this effort was overwhelmingly forgotten as with full pageantry the teams came on the field and were introduced to the Queen. And then the great burst of sound which is the Twickenham roar greeted two enterprising runs by the English backs—an encouraging sign in a team written off by so many critics as depressing. incompetent and incap-j able of making a match. Then came the thundering ovation to greet the opening try. by E. W. Kirton. C. E. Meads made a run and the ball went left W. L. Davis, up on his toes, brilliantly dodged and accelerated and when trapped within a yard or two of the goal-line, sent a pass surely into the hands of Kirton. McCormick placed the goal. Forwards On Top England steadied a little after this shock but the initiative was entirely with New Zealand as eight forwards, hungering for the ball, and with the new cap, G, C. Williams, showing dazzling form, dominated the contest. C. R. Laidlaw was constantly at the heels of his forwards, instinctively gifted in all that he tried, and Kirton, as his partner, caught everything that came his way with perfect hands. All the same, it took New Zealand nearly 20 minutes to score again. England’s defence was extraordinarily good and already it was becoming appar-

ent that something more than straight forward running would be needed to put the All Black three-quarters into command of the game. Williams it was who set the second try going with a break upfield. Macßae seemed to be guilty of pushing over a man before the ball was snapped up off the ground by Birtwistle, but this did not disturb McCormick, who placed the goal with a splendid kick. Kirton and Davis pro-

When within the second minute of the second half the All Blacks scored again from a try by M. J. Dick on the right wing, it looked as if the massive second half operation which has characterised the touring team so far was about to begin. Rather sadly, that was the end of New Zealand’s domination of the game. Let there be only praise of the English after this.

Where beforehand they could not win the ball, especially at the line-out, they now began to take a fair share. Where their backs earlier on had been unsteady in attack, they now began to run with spirit and speed. Changed Team The All Black effort became untidy. I. R. Macßae, never entirely happy in midfield, became less anti less certain and once was even guilty of kicking when W. F. McCormick had come charging in to try for the thrust which was the one persistent lack in the New Zealand display. Dick, after a crack on the head when trying to make a swallow-dive sort of tackle, also became less sure, and things tended to stop and start rather than flow along. Backs Below Par From New Zealand’s point of view, there were times when the play was frankly disappointing. It is a ready—it may even be a sufficient explanation—that after building a lead of 18-5 at halftime, the All Blacks judged that they could not be beaten and dropped down into third gear. To quibble about so handsome a victory, the largest points scored by a New Zealand team against England, seems ungenerous, too. But if there are tough matches coming along in the tour—the Welsh next Saturday will field, so the All Blacks have been assured, a finer pack than England—there is evident need of a back performance to compare in consistent effort with that furnished by the forwards in the first half on Saturday. So in this tale of the light that glimmered, if it did not actually fail, there is still something left for the All Blacks to strive for in their search for the perfection which is the aim of every New Zealand team. It was a dark and gloomy

vided Birtwistle with a bit of open ground and he fled over this, continuously swerving, before R. H. Lloyd came from behind to pull him down. They scrummed on the goal-line. The All Blacks heaved and heaved again and Laidlaw, diving beneath the battalions of feet, claimed a try McCormick could not convert.

The next effort was the best by New Zealand. B. J. Lochore made a break up the middle of the field. The ball was heeled, there were four men to the left and when Kirton, the first of them, took Laidlaw’s pass he seemed of a mind to feed out lie ball and hope for the best. Instead, he saw that this intention bad been prejudged. Back went his ears and for 20 yards, right to the corner flag, he dashed in a copy-book example of quick thinking and running. McCormick placed the goal with a fine kick from a long way out The scoreboard in great confusion said the All Blacks led 15-0. but it was 18-0. and it seemed too good to be true. Rugby like this had knocked the spirit out of the French at Christchurch in 1961 but on the call of halftime England served notice that the honeymoon was almost over. Dangerous Savage K. F. Savage, incomparably more dangerous and effective than when he was in New Zealand with the Lions last year, stormed from the blind side into an attack that began from a scrum on the New Zealand 25. The opening was there and when McCormick loomed, Lloyd fielded C. W. McFadyean’s high pass and hurled himself over the line for a superb try. Rutherford only minutes before had failed to place a penalty from no more t.ian 15 or 20 yards but he unfalteringly kicked this goal. There were further signs of England’s resurgence in the try scored by Dick after half-time. It was made by Davis, who stumbled his way past a tackle and then drew Rutherford before making the pass. As Dick went down for the try, G. A. Sheriff tackled him, and Sheriff had to run very hard to get there from the line-out It took a long time for

England to score and after McCormick and P. J. Larter had each missed chances of penalty goals, it was half-an-hour before Larter from 30 yards placed a goal from a

penalty which seemed to baffle the New Zealanders. At the very end Lloyd went in again. W. J. Gittings cross-kicked from the rightwing and Dick, in support of McCormick, fumbled the ball on the ground. Lloyd, picking it up brilliantly, jazzed away from McCormick’s tackle, packed on the pace and to the most thunderous of all cheers scored a try which Larter could not convert. Questions Asked It was the end of the contest, but not the end of discussion. England came back and the question was should the All Blacks have permitted this? Inevitably, there was another question. Was the English resurgence a sign of unexpected frailty in the All Black team and as such a considerable encouragement to succeeding sides? The team-work of the New Zealanders, especially in the first half, was magnificent. Williams set an example. Playing easily his finest game of the tour, he plundered the ground with his exceptional pace and profit came to the All Blacks when they used K. R. Tremain and Lochore at the back of the line-out to deny the ball to Englishmen. B F. McLeod won three heels against the head in the first half, B. L. Muller chased with sustained spirit, and Meads, though largely ignored as a potential catcher of the ball—the All Blacks evidently were not going to court penalties—thundered into the rucks with vigour undiminished by 38 previous test matches. S. C. Strahan, not always successful at safe catching, denied the tall Larter a share of the ball, and Tremain, another old hand, tidied things up with sure skill. Tactical Kicking Behind the scrummage, almost no fault could be found with Laidlaw or Kirton and the latter’s tactical kicking was excellent. One towering punt descended upon Rutherford in the goalmouth, with Macßae, Davis and Dick reaching out their hands to the catch or the tackle, and it was perfect in every phase. Macßae had his moments, including a diving ankle tap when D. P. Rogers was haring away, but it was here that there seemed to be an impediment affecting the hopes of the three-quarters. Davis, on the other hand, was splendidly quick and aggressive and both Birtwistle and McCormick gave fine displays, the latter, in spite of an occasional fumble, especially so. His goal-kick-ing was extremely sound. But Dick, like Macßae, was not quite in top trim. He did not seem to have the pace to bear away from R. E. Webb. Rutherford crossed up the New Zealanders with some of his tricky running and Lloyd and Gittings made fine impressions in the England back-line. Developed Strength Sheriff and R. B. Taylor were most conscientious forwards, Larter and J. E. Owen developed strength in the line-out and most effectively demonstrated the improvement in the English scrummaging when McLeod could not win another heel. Mr D. C. J. McMahon, of Scotland, gave an excellent demonstration of quiet and contained refereeing. He penalised the All Blacks 11 times in all, seven in the second half, and of five penalties to New Zealand, he ordered only one in the second half. This, too, could be a ground for discussion. But by and large everything in the garden was . lovely—that is except the delivery by New Zealand of the j final knock-out punch.