N.Z. halfway to unbeaten tour; latest win best

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33538, 20 May 1974, Page 22

N.Z. halfway to unbeaten tour; latest win best

The All Blacks passed the half«way stage of their tour of Australia on Saturday with a 20-0 win over New South Wales and heightened their chances of going through the tour unbeaten.

In their six games so far, the All Blacks have scored 269 points and conceded only 26.

The victory over New South Wales was the best on tour so far. The forwards were strong in rucking and in set play, and the backs handled 'ideally, seldom missing opportunities. New South Wales, instead, had trouble in its backs, especially in the threequarters, normally the state’s strongest point.

Line-out problem

The New Zealand coach, Mr J. J. Stewart, said he was pleased with the way the All Blacks had played, but felt that the line-out play needed some improvement. P. J. Whiting and J. A. Callesen took a lot of clean ball but had difficulty combatting G. Fay and R. Davis, who were at four and six mostly, instead of the more usual three and five. New South Wales mounted some strong attacks in the first five minutes of the game, largelv thanks to the efforts in the' line-outs of Fay and Davis. It was unlucky not to score at that stage. The All Black loose forwards, K. W. Stewart, A. R. Leslie and I. A. Kirkpatrick, 1 again dominated that phase of play, and Stewart had a

large hand in the poor performance of the New South Wales five-eighths, J. Berne. Berne was the first weak link in the state back-line. He was always under pressure from Stewart and was dropping passes and making tactical errors frequently. G. B. Batty, nursing an ankle injury, was again the star of the All Black backs, but not far ahead of the inside pairing, B. M. Gemmell and D. J. Robertson. They both distributed the ball well, and it was a fine cross-kick off the left foot from Robertson which led to Batty’s second try.

J. F. Karam, who has now scored 98 points on tour, was again off target. He succeeded with only two kicks from six attempts.

Noisy siren

One he missed might be attributed to the siren which Australian Rugby officials insist should sound at the end of the half. Karam was just beginning his run in to a penalty kick when the siren sounded.

“It certainly put me off,” Karam said later, “but I was not hitting the ball right yesterday anyway.” B. G. Williams, struggling to keep his test place, did not have many opportunities but he did score a try—his first for the tour—and generally looked after O. G. Stephens. However, Williams does seem to have slowed. Another test hopeful, J. E. Morgan, at second fiveeighths, did little wrong and it will be interesting to see if he gets the place ahead of I. A. Hurst.

Captain errs

The first score of the game, after 17 minutes, followed a mistake by the state captain, J. N. B. Hipwell. Karam kicked an up-and-

under within the state 25 and Hipwell waited for the ball to bounce. The All Black forwards pounced on it, Duncan Robertson passed to Bruce Robertson and his kick was picked up by Batty, who went over for the try. Karam missed the conversion.

Whiting was the instigator of the All Blacks next try, after 28 minutes. He took a 25 drop-out on the full and kicked an up-and-under, which the state wing, J. V. Cole, attempted-to catch, but dropped. A. J. Gardiner was following through and passed the ball to Leslie, who scored. Karam converted.

Batty again

Ten minutes into the second half, R. W. Norton took the first tighthead of the game in a scrum on the state 25. Gemmell passed to Duncan Robertson and he left-footed for Batty’s wing. Batty took the ball on the full and scored under the posts. Karam converted. Five minutes later, the All Black forwards won good ruck ball and Gemmell sent the backs away, with MorIgan putting a long pass to Williams, omitting Bruce Robertson. Williams was caught by Stephens on the touch-line, but broke free and scored in the corner.

New South Wales had two attempts at penalty goals, one from L. Monaghan and the other from J. Lambie. Both missed.