ANOTHER RECORD FOR 1970 TOURISTS All Black Pack Gives A Great Performance

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32395, 7 September 1970, Page 24

ANOTHER RECORD FOR 1970 TOURISTS All Black Pack Gives A Great Performance

(From T. P. McLEAN)

PRETORIA. So yet another record has tumbled to the All Blacks. Their defeat of Northern Transvaal, the Currie Cup champion, 19-15, before 57,000 spectators at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Saturday represented the first time in the twentieth century that the touring team has gone undefeated through its South African provincial programme.

It was a fine win, very decisive towards the end, and it was notable for the way the All Blacks mastered what had been described as the finest pack in the country, the Springboks included.

There were reproachful blemishes—bad handling in the back-line, sketchy tackling in the same area, "nd too many penalties needlessly given away, although some that were called against the team were quite undeserved.

There were also some touches of luck, the most notable being the award of a try to R. A. Urlich when the ball a moment or two beforehand seemed to be lurched or jerked forward. But the memory of the last. 20 or 30 minutes, when the, Springbok champions, F. C. H. du Preez and J. Spies, were overcome at the line-out, and the fine loose forwards, T. Lourens and C. Grobler, were dominated, will be the one that will stick longest—that, and some efforts in the backline. particularly by S. M. Going and H. P. Milner.

Grew lu Stature In not a few respects. Milner was the hero of the day. Having survived some l trials in midfield, chiefly because of handling, he grew cooler, more reliable and more incisive as the play entered the last vital stage. Perhaps he wanted in the blazing speed of F. Alberts, the Northerns wing, who scored both of his team’s tries. But Milner's footwork was excellent and he cannot now be left out of the test team. Going figured in one of the sensational incidents of the first quarter when he was; coldly and brutally punched to the ground. It was during this time that Northern Transvaal was grossly misbehaving in the forward play and some tasteless pieces of punching Narrow Win

(N.Z. Press Association/ I j ROTORUA. i In a close final to the New j Zealand junior national] women’s indoor basketball 1 tournament at Rotorua on Sat- 1 urdav, Hutt Valley beat Otago i 34-33. ! The score was level, 28-28, i half-way through the second i spell, penalties became fre- i quent. and Otago's inability to make the most of these op- j portunities cost it the game. |i

and scrapping which went on threatened to give the game the character of the second test

Fortunately, Mr M. Baise took a decisive stand by calling B. J. Lochore and P. Uys together and, by the look of him. reading them the bluntest of lessons. From this stage, give or take some flashes of temper or deliberate obstruction, the game was principally Rugby.

Touch Of Genius

' And it was in this long i phase that Going displayed many of. his inimitable . touches of genius. From the ’remarkable service of the torawards at the line-out, he ■ found B. D. M. Furlong with ' many long passes and it was he who set up the tremendous ■ movement which yielded the tty to Urlich and which, in effect, made the All Blacks certain victors. He broke to the blind side, went down the left wing, and by strength, sidestep and speed, ran for 40 yards until he was stopped just short of the line. The ball then went from him to Lochore and ■further infield. Urlich grounded the ball near the posts. The work done in the engine room of the game, by the AH Black forwards, was hard, heavy and wonderfully effective. If A. L. Sutherland, ;C. E. Meads, Lochore, T. N. Lister, I. A. Kirkpatrick and ' B. L. Muller seemed to stick out more than Urlich and K. Murdoch, these two were also 1 doing their whack of the hard grafting that was necessary to • victory. ■ Two specimens of the '“Willie Away,” played by ' Meads and Sutherland, were ■ the best of the tour, apd when ’ Sutherland went in for a try ; from the first, the defence was completely bewildered. Line-out Control

Lister’s best was the first half in which he was outstand, ing for long chases. Kirkpatrick came on to his top form

in the second half. Sutherland, at No. 2, and Meads at No. 3. checked Spies, while Lochore, at No. 5, was very much better than du Preez—a great tribute to a captain whose leadersip was very much cooler and sounder than it had been in the first test. Whether Furlong will qualify for the test is a matter of i some doubt, partly because he

lacks the pace for first-class Rugby. But he fielded Going’s passes well, made one memorable scoop-up in front of the Northern forwards, and had a good game.

W. L. Davis was less sure. His judgment of tactical grubber kicks was not good—one almost leading to a long break up the field—and neither his hands nor his tackle were entirely sound. M. J. Dick was beaten by the bounce from which Alberts scored his second try and that may count against him. But he was scarcely given a run on attack until he came across the field to outside centre to make a thrillingly long and hard run—one of the efforts which so unbalanced Northern. The hands of G. S. Thorne were not too reliable but his footwork was as nifty as Milner’s. It would have been interesting to see him placed at centre for he was thorouhly steamed up for the job

G. F. Kember had one ghastly moment with a rolling ball on his own goal-line, and in perfect conditions missed j two goalable penalties. But once more he was reliable and consistent, and the length he has developed from his punt with the right foot is remarkable.

Northern looked the team—rough play apart—in the first half, the forwards being strong and the backs, especially J. van Blommenstein and A. van Staden, exceptional in fielding and kicking. But the big boys ran out of gas when they needed it most. The same might yet happen to the Springboks on Saturday.