Win badly needed, but All Blacks face tough match

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33083, 25 November 1972, Page 48

Win badly needed, but All Blacks face tough match

(From ]. K. BROOKS, N.Z.P.A. special correspondent)

PEEBLES.

If the All Blacks were looking for a comparatively easy match to help them recover their poise after the loss to North-Western Counties, they could not have come to a worse place than the Scottish border district, home of hard forward play.

The home team, known as the Rest of Scottish Districts, which the New Zealanders will play at Howick tomorrow, contains 13 international players with a combined total of 169 test appearances. It is, with very few exceptions, the Scottish national XV. The All Blacks have chosen what seems to be a virtual test pack, while several backs will be trying to impress the selectors with

the game against Wales just around the comer. However, these considerations will be submerged by the necessity for a good win to help bolster flagging confidence. At Workington on Wednesday, the All Black scrummaging was again poor, the props being rocked back on their heels through poor positioning of their feet. The New Zealand forwards were often made to look like beginners in this phase of the game. Any repetition of this fault will play into the hands of the tough Scottish pack. Talented back Apart from the efforts of D. A. Hales and G. R. Skudder, the All Blacks tackling at Workington also left much to be desired, too many men going high or hanging off the ball-carrier. A similar approach will be fatal to New Zealand’s chances against the starstudded three-quarters in the Scottish side, led by experienced centre, J. N. M. Frame.

The All Blacks are hopeful that the star wing, B. G. Williams, will be able to play, as well as the No. 1 lock, P. J. Whiting. Williams, who suffered strained ligaments in the Belfast match, is still not back to full pace but he is confident he will be right. Whiting, recovering from influenza, will have to be taken on trust. Hales kept busy I. N. Stevens, his injured thumb bound up, faces a big challenge at first five-eighths, but his ability to dispatch the ball quickly is in his favour as long as he can strike an understanding with S. M. Going—not the easiest player in the world with whom to combine. Hales will have his fourth

successive match at centre, and with the in-form player, J. F. Karam, at full-back, New Zealand might be able to give Williams and Skudder the vital breaks on the field. However, Skudder will have to eliminate his tendency to creep ahead of the ball-carrier. The constructive play of A. J. Wyllie, and the speed of A. I. Scown, give promise of a wider scope for All Black attacks. But it will be a case of basics first; all the forwards will have to strive mightily to get on top of a vigorous pack. The match is an important

one for New Zealand; it cannot afford to lose again at this stage for resultant despondency might wreck any chance of victory against Wales. The need is for a morale-boosting victory. The teams are: New Zealand: Karam. Williams, Hales, Skudder; R. M. Parkinson, Stevens; Going; Wyllie, I. A. Kirkpatrick, P. J. Whiting, H. H. Macdonald. A. I. Scown; K. Murdoch, R. W. Norton, J. D. Matheson. Scottish Districts: A. R. Brown; Steele, Renwick, Frame, L. G, Dick; McGeechan. I. G. McCrae; P. Brown; Mac Ewan, A. F. McHarg, Stagg, W. Lauder, H. Bryce, Laidlaw. N. Suddon.