Students’ Backs Give All Blacks Lesson

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32386, 27 August 1970, Page 13

Students’ Backs Give All Blacks Lesson

(From T. P. McLEAN) CAPE TOWN. No small share of the Rugby match at Newlands on Wednesday, which was won by the All Blacks, 20-3, was taken by the young men from Stellenbosch and Cape Town who represented Southern Universities.

Their backs, especially ; J. Walters, who already i looked a Springbok i against the All Blacks 1 for Western Province, i showed up the AU Black defence for the shy and tender thing it has so embarrassingly become. Both of their wings, the veteran Springbok, J. H. Engelbrecht, and the student , who went to the British Isles with the Springboks, A van der Watt, made slashing runs By contrast, the Al Black attack was limited in ideas It was dominated by B. D M Furlong, who a good many times tried to burst the defensive line, who sometimes did but who was never able to bring the outer backs clear of the extremely quick and efficient Universities’ defence. Lucky Tries Thus it was that although two of the Al Blacks three tries were scored by W. L. Davis and S. M. Going, these were fortuitous efforts. The other try scorer was R A Urlich, and G. F. Kember kicked three penalties ’ and a conversion. O. Jaekel landed a penalty for Universities.

From New Zealand’s point of view, the match had two other gruesome features. The forwards were so much hammered by the University lineout, especially by F. Burger, an amazingly fine lumper whose timing was associated with brilliant throwing in from touch, that they indulged in the first half in blatant obstruction.

Secondly, the All Blacks gave away no fewer than 21 penalties, six of which were from kickable positions. Some of the errors which produced these penalties were elementary and it was disturbing to observe B. J. Lohore asking Mr Justus Moolman the whys and wherefores when the awards were so clear-cut A kicker like 1. D. McCallum, the Springbok full-back, would have had a party with some of the penalties, and another nine or 12 points spread over the match would have made the Al Blacks struggle painfully to get ahead.

Things began to improve for the All Blacks when they turned downwind in the second half. The line-out catching improved greatly and Lochore. who did a stupendous amount of covering work, made several fine catches at No. 5.

At no stage, however, was the team dominant in the lordly manner of so many matches of the tour and at every universities run, whether from a tap kick penalty or a passing movement, the chance of a clean slash through the defensive line was so strong that watching New Zealanders were often in an agony. Class Of Own Walters is certainly an uncommonly gifted runner, with a lovely sideways shift before straightening and no All Black back was in his class F. de Villiers, the scrum-half, was clever and quick and Jaekel, a replacement fullback, fielded like a Bob Scott and seemed quite unshakable.

The Universities back-row, J. Coetzee, a champion until he tired, J. le Roux, at the back, and P. le Roux, was tremendously active, and Going was immersed whenever he tried for a break. The best of the New Zealanders were Kember, who made a stirring tackle two yards from the goal-line when Engelbrecht was flat out. N. W. Thimbleby, Urlich, I. A. Kirkpatrick, A. J. Wyllie and Lochore. Going stopped a very hard crack on the mouth which partly laid him out and later needed three stitches. He was in pretty good touch, but could not dominate. In fact, it was the inability of anyone of the New Zealand team to break the line that kept the score so low. N.Z. Conditions Even G. S. Thorne, when he replaced W. D. Cottrell in the second half, could not clear the cover defence. All this was rather disappointing. It may have been the New Zealand-type conditions of a gale which in the morning gusting above 70 miles an hour and a heavy field, including many mud patches, which disturbed the All Blacks rhythm. The likelier explanation was the speed of the Universities players coming and going. With the third test now at hand, the New Zealanders probably need a good mental shake-up. They got it from a splendid team and they could be very thankful indeed that the Springbok selectors, by leaving out Walters, have undoubtedly improved New Zealand’s chances in the series.