NEW ZEALAND WINS FIRST TEST

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 289, 6 September 1928, Page 9

NEW ZEALAND WINS FIRST TEST

NEW SOUTH WALES BEATEN BY NARROW MARGIN HONOURS WITH THE LIGHT BLUES It was a new brand of Rugby which 14,000 spectators saw at Athletic Park yesterday afternoon, when the first Test match between the visiting New South Wales’ team and the New Zealand representative fifteen was played under ideal weather conditions. Though New South Wales fielded a youthful band, whose average age was 22 years, they gave as spectacular an exhibition of the passing code as has ever been seen in an international match here. Throwing the ball about with rare freedom, they delighted the big crowd with their conception of how Rugby should be played. Though they made many mistakes, due more to impetuosity than to lack of knowledge of the rules, the honours of the afternoon were left with the youthful visitors, who scored three tries and a penalty goal to New Zealand’s one try and four penalty goals.

The pace and dash of the New South Wales team had the All Blacks sadly bustled in the first spell, even though the New Zealanders had a helpful southerly breeze behind them. The visitors revealed Rugby of an entirely new brand, and showed what could be done by men who recked not of risk, but who on every possible occasion tossed the ball about, in the hope that a team mate would be on hand to take the pass. Sometimes he was not, but oftentimes he was, and if the other side got the ball, the speedy New South Welshmen would set about robbing them of possession by sharp and sudden tackling. All through the collaring of the New South Welshmen was excellent; each ?laye’ took his man low, and hung on to him. The scrummaging throughout the game was poor. Rarely did the ball come out cleanly to the half-backs, and when it did, Holden, the Otago man, by no means proved himself to be up to All Black standard.

The display given by the side which wore the All Black jerseys was possibly as poor as has ever been displayed. At no time did the New Zealand team rise to All Black standard. Bradanovitch, the Otago inside fiveeighths, was too slow, with the result that Cooke had to take his passes standing, and this allowed the speedy New South Welshmen to nip the passing movements in the bud. New Zealand only succeeded in notching one try during the afternoon, and this was due to the wizardry of Cooke, who, by rare opportunism, beat four men to go clean through the New South Wales backs to score close to the posts. On the other hand, the New South Wales’ team recorded three tries, and had bad luck in not notching at least two more scores, as they crossed twice only to be recalled for previous infringements. The New Zealand forwards kept going well, and it was due to their staying powers that New Zealand managed to record a narrow victory. Willi the exception of Cooke none of the New Zealand backs revealed All Black form. Never at any time during the afternoon did they show any brilliance on attack, and often their work was distinctly crude.

On the other hand, the New South Welshmen were always dangerous. Malcolm, the captain, played an outstanding game behind the serum, being equally good on attack and defence. He was a veritable box of tricks, and exhibited half-back attributes of a high order. His pot shot in the second spell when he hit an upright from the side-line was a great, effort. New South Wales fielded a sterling ' th ree-qu ar ter line. The two wingers,

Smairl and White, exhibited great pace, and ran with rare determination. They were at all times dangerous. Towers, at centre, also played a. tine game, and took a hand in most of the attacking movements. Westfield, the full-back, who is playing his second season in senior football, came out of the ordeal with flying colours. His taking, gathering, fielding, collaring, and kicking were of a high standard, and he saved his side from awkward positions several times. Butler, the New Zealand fullback, also gave a sound display, and, next to Cooke, was the most convincing back on the New Zealand side. Porter, the New Zealand captain, played a good game as rover, and New Zealand’s lucky win was largely due to their leader’s untiring efforts. Of the forwards, Batty, Freitas, Knight, and Steere were the pick, while in the New South Wales vanguard Rosenblum, Bardsley, Lamb, and 1 O’Connor were always prominent. The Teams. The teams, which were presented to the Governor-General (Sir Charles Fergusson) and the Prime Minister (Right Hon. J. G. Coates) took the field as under: — NEW SOUTH WALES. Full-back: Westfield. Three-quarters: Smairl, Towers, Barge, White. Halves: George, Malcolm. Forwards: Cerutti, Comrie-Thomsoii, O’Donnell, O'Connor, Lamb, London, Bardsley, Rosenblum. NEW ZEALAND. Full-back: Butler. Three-quarters: McClymont, L. Hook, Oliver. Five-eighths: Cooke, Bradanovitch. Half-back: Holden. Rover: Porter. Forwards: Knight, Steere, Batty, Freitas, Willoughby, Palmer, Clark. The wing three-quarters originally selected, Minns (Auckland) and Snodgrass (Nelson) were unable to play on account of injuries. AU Blacks Win Toss. New Zealand won the toss and played with a helpful southerly breeze behind them. A kick by Bradanovitch put New Zealand on tiie attack, but Bardsley intercepted passing by the New Zealand backs and got away downfield. The New South Welshmen early gave a taste of their quality. White, their tall wing three-quarter, obtained possession and malic a great sprint along the line ami opened up a beautiful burst of passing in which the Light Blues juggled with the ball. A penalty to the visitors enabled White to open the scorNcw South Wales .... o New Zealand 0 A hammering forward rush in which Batty. Willoughby and Steere were prominent made a lot of ground.

Malcolm then whipped round a scrum and started passing, but a knock-on stopped the movement. The Light Blues were throwing the ball about, and snappy passing by the backs saw Whito make a strong run, only to be well stopped by Oliver. White had a penalty shot, but made a weak kick. A great kick by Cooke from a penalty gained a lot or ground, but the New South Males forwards at once came back with a strong footrush, and the ball was rushed over the line, but a five yards scrum was ordered. Cooke again drove play to midfield with a powerful line kick, but tne Light Blues, who were throwing the ball about freely, regained the ground with bright passing. New Zealand then had a say, and carried play to the Light blue line, where offside play round a scrum saw Bradanovitch even the scores. , New Zealand 8 New South Wales .... 3 A long kick by Porter drove play to the New South Wales’ end, where a long pass bad: by Malcolm caused trouble tor the defenders. A hot fight on the New South Wales’ tine saw Towers clear cleverly. Hook had a pot at goal, but the ball flew wide. New Zealand kept on the attack, and Holden had a shot at a field goal, but the ball struck a Light Blue. Play continued at high speed, and the crowd enjoyed the fast and open work. A beautiful line-kick by Cooke placed New Zealand in a good position, but once again the Light Blues cleared with clever passing. The Blacks came back, and a pretty piece of passing by Holden, Bradanovitch, Cooke, and McClymont saw the winger nearly over. Ihe Light Blues, who were moving fast, again worked play to midfield, where the visitors again delighted the crowd with a burst of passing, in which they threw the ball anywhere. Westfield, the New South Wales full-back, was twice applauded for clever fielding in the face of fierce forward charges. The New South Wales men continued to throw the ball about, and at last Malcolm started a magnificent burst, which travelled through half a dozen hands. Towers cut in prettily, and as finished a bit of work as one could wish to see ended in Rosenblum going over for a try. White failed at goal. New South Wales .... 6 New Zealand ...... 3 The All Blacks, aided by the wind, worked play into the visitors’, quarters, where Bradnovitch hftd a. fruitless shot from a penalty. Cerutti got offside round a scrum in midfield, and Cooke put the ball out past the quarter flag The Light Blues attempted to clear with passing, which broke down, and the ball was rushed over the line, but a five yards scrum was ordered. New South Wales cleared to halfway, where Malcolm again set his backs going, and beautiful Passing ended in Smairl going over. The referee, however, disallowed the try for obstruction by a New South Wales player. It was now . New . Zealand s turn, and good work, in which Palmer and Willoughby were prominent, saw play rushed to the New South Wales hne, where Cooke went over, but was recalled for a previous infringement. The half-time bell sounded with the scores still reading: New South Wales .... 6 New Zealand 3 The Light Blues had done splendidly to lead with the southerly breeze against them. They had given a delightful display of the passing game, and had moved so fast that many wondered if they could last the pace. The Second Spell. New South Wales opened the second spell with dash, and at once attacked. Porter sent them back with a dribide, mid a nice burst of passing by Holden, Bradanovitch, Cooke, and McClymont ended in the winger being pushed to touch. Offside play at the quarter mark gave Bradanovitch a chance to equalise the scores, and the Otago man made no mistake. New Zealand b New South 'Wales .... 0 A Great Try. New South Wales, however, at once forged ahead again. A magnificent burst of passing, in which almost the entire team joined, ended in Rosenblum scoring. White-failed at goal. New South Wales .... 9 New Zealand 6 Within a couple of minutes the Light Blues were over the New Zealand line again, a hammering footrush, and short hand-to-hand passing completely demoralising the Black defence, and White went over for the easiest of fries. Towers made a weak attempt to convert from the side line. New South Wales .... 12 New Zealand ..* t» Spirited work by Porter. Knight, and Batty saw play taken to the New South Wales line, where a scrum was formed. In defending, a Light; Blue got offside, and Bradanovitch again sent the leather sailing over the bar. New South Wales .... 12 I New Zealand 9

The Light Blues were off again like swallows, and the home side was kept busily defending for a while. Malcolm, the New South Wales captain, caused a gasp by taking a pot at goal from the side line, the ball hitting an upright. Play coutinued fast and strenuous, and play was held up for a time while O'Connor received attention from the ambulance men. On resuming Smairl made a side-step-ping run, and sent Towers over, but the pass was ruled forward. Cooke and McClymont broke away, and a score looked likolv, but George intercepted. The New Zealanders had the best of matters for a time, but were kept at bay by the fastmoving Light Blues, whose low collaring was sharp and sudden. A snappy burst of passing by Porter, Cooke, itnd.McClymont ended near the New South Wales line. Brilliant Try to Cooke. The Light Blues cleared to the centre, but here Cooke obtained the leather and, will)'one of bis most brilliant side-step-ping runs, he beat roan after man to go clean through the New South Wales team and score a superb try close to the posts. Bradanoviteh delayed his kick too long and the Light Blues charged it dot’ll,.two points thus being thrown away. New Zealand 12 New South Wales ... 12 The All Blacks were now moving faster and shaping something like a national side. Neat passing by Holden, Bradanoviteh. Cooke. Oliver and McClynront saw the winger well collared by Smairl. New Zealand came at the line again, and passing in front of the posts saw a New South Wales player charge into Cooke before the ball reached him. Bradanoviteh bad no dillieulty in placing New Zealand in the lead with the penalty shot. New Zealand la New South Wales ... 12 New South Wales were not done yet. Their forwards got on a smashing footrush which took play to the New Zealand line. A series of Cree kicks here helped the All Blacks to repel invaders, and it looked good for New Zealand when a free kick was awarded the All Blacks on account of a player obstructing Butler, the New Zealand fullback, as lie was attempting to follow up a kick after a good run. The penalty was awarded directly in front of . the posts, but Bradanoviteh failed to the ball. The dying stages were ehoekful of excitement. Cooke showed up with powerful kicking, but lhe\ Light Blues made a last valiant effort to equalise the scores ami almost succeeded. Beautiful passing by Smairl, Towers and West Held ended in the last-named crossing, but the try was nullified by a previous infringement. . . A hard-fought game, in which the honours were with New South Wales, thus ended with the board reading:— New Zealand !•> New South Wales — 12 The game was not an easy one to control and Mr. F. E. Sutherland, of Auckland, did not have a completely Xirm ci'in o£ tliiuirs.

THE SECOND TEST CHANGES IN NEW ZEALAND TEAM Four of the New Zealand selectors— Messrs E. McKenzie (Wairarapa), N. McKenzie (Hawke's Bay), A. Guy (Taranaki), and A. J. Geddes (Southland) —attended the first Test match between New Zealand and New South Wales, at Athletic Park, yesterday, the only absentee being Mr. T. Milliken (Canterbury). The selectors last night selected the following team to represent New Zealand in the second Test match, at Dunedin on Saturday next: — Full-back: Mehrtens (Canterbury). Three-quarters: Snodgrass (Nelson), L. Hook (Auckland), McClymont (Otago). Five-eighths: Cooke (W airarapa), Bradanovitch (Otago). Half-back: Holden (Otago). Rover: Porter (Wellington). Forwards: Palmer (Auckland), Clark (Canterbury), Freitas (West Coast). Willoughby ( Wairarapa), Steere (Hawke’s Bay), Knight (Auckland), and “Toby” Robinson (Canterbury). Emergencies: Backs.—Mackay (Wellington). Mackenzie (Wellington), and Oliver (Canterbury); forwards, Marslin (Otago), Ilowden (Otago). Batty '■ (Auckland) was not available, and has returned home. The New Zealand and New South Wales teams left for Dunedin by the ferry steamer last night, Mr. A. J. Geddes, of Southland, being in charge of the New Zealand team. While conversing .with friends on the ■wharf last night, Freitas, the West Coast member of the New Zealand team, did not notice that the gangway had been drawn up. and missed the steamer. He will go down to Dunedin with Mackenzie to-night. Mackay left with the team last night. FOURTH GRADE MATCH A bright curtain-raiser to the Test match was supplied by fourth-grade teams. Petone, winners of the championship, met Old Boys, the runners-up, and an interesting game ended in favour of Petone by 13 points to 9. The first spell ended with honours easy, Avery scoring a try for Old Boys and Ryan kicking a penalty goal for Petone. In the second spell, Ryan scored two tries for Petone, and converted both, while Griffiths crossed the line for Old Boys and Baldwin kicked a penalty goal. MANAWHENUA DEFEATED BY HAWKE’S BAY A CLOSE GAME Dominion Special Service. Palmerston North, September 5. Manawhemia played their last home fixture on the Showgrounds this afternoon under excellent playing conditions, when they succumbed to a strong Hawke’s Bay side by 9 points to 17. The Manawhemia forwards were required to dance the visitors’ tune, being beaten in both line-out and serum, and failed to play up to the form they produced in the last two matches; their backs, too, were once again a typical Manawhenua back line, and save on one occasion they did not handle the ball with any degree of success, mulled and erratic passes militating against bright play. Hawke’s Bay, however, found the home team solid on defence, and had to light hard for their points. The game was far below the exhibition of two years ago, when a drawn game (14 all) resulted. The teams were as follow: —

Hawke's Bay (Black and White).— Varton, Huxtable, McDonald, S. Smith, Setford, Botherway, Anstis, McKay, J. Gemmell, Strachan, Wilson, Heffernan, McNeill, S. Gemmell (captain), Pearson. Manawhenua (Bed, White, and Blue). —Wasley. Strange, Taylor, Roberts, Stevenson, Akuira, AV. Parata, Dalzell, Moodie, Crawford, Conrad, Tatana (captain), Parsons, Galpin, Satherley. The referee was Mr. T. Parata. Manawhenua won the toss, choosing to play against the sun. Hawke’s Bay were first to become dangerous, McKay hustling AV. Parata, after Manawhenua had hooked the ball, carrying play to Wasley. before he was robbed of the ball, .lhe Manawhenua forwards worked their way into the visitors’ quarter, where W. Parata sent Akuira away from a' line-out, but the latter failed to hold his pass, the ball going into the ruck. Hawkes Bay cleared to half-way. and Akuira. fielding a kick from Anstis, Sm ' oat to Stevenson and Taylor, neither <’, whom lost any time in whipping the leather to Strange, who capped a bright piece of play by racing past Huxtable, McDonald, and Varton, and scoring in the corner. Taylor's kick failed. Manawhenua ”■ Hawke’s Bay 1* Assisted by good line-kicking.. Hawkes Bay found themselves in foreign . territory, Strachan and Pearson being in the thick of things, only to be repulsed by Stevenson. A clean hook enabled Anstis to feed Botherway, who cut in nicely to make a good opening, which looked promising until AVasley hustled him. his pass to Setford suffering in consequence. Taylor, kicking well downfield. M . Parata battled through a scrum, and handed to Conrad, who gained territorially only to sco his pass to Crawford taken, by Huxtable. Taylor came close to improving Manawhenua’s.score with a goal from a penalty, awarded against Hawkes Bay for infringing in the serum, the ball, however, falling to the right of the posts. Huxtable came away from a ruck in possession, and from, his own line he carried play well down to the other end of the field, where Stevenson was penalised lor holding on too long. McDonald goaling. Hawke’s Bay Manawhenua o Manawhenua came away from the kickout, determined to regain the ascendanev. Crawford heading a strong footrush, which Hawke's Bay were lucky to stem. Galpin next threw the ball to his backs from a line-out. but the Hawkes Bay backs were quick to get on to their men. Stevenson intercepted a pass, sending on to Taylor, who drew Smith, but Roberts mulled. McDonald shortly afterwards broke through with Huxtable in attendance, the latter going over with Wasley hanging on. McDonald 'ailed to improve. Hawke's Bay 6 . v Manawhenua 3 The Hawke's Bay backs were set moving from a scrum elose on Manawhenua s line, only to have their endeavours nullified by being penalised for obstruction, Taylor sending them back to half-way. Stevenson cut in effectively, but in so doing lost his supports and possession of tin ball, which was kicked to Wasley, who came up to send Roberts off on a side-line dash, which ended in the wing-three-quarter being pushed out of touch near quarter-way. Hawke’s Bay retaliated. their backs taking part in a passing rush which was broken up by Akuira, who with Strange brought play to neutral territory, their forwards carrying on from there. Taylor was given another opportunity of goaling from a penalty, which however he failed to turn to account. Play swung to the other wing. Roberts receiving after a passing chain only to lose the ball, Smith shifting the venue of play with a hefty kick. Mnnnwhcnun opened the second half aggressively. Akuira and Stevenson handling in turn, but Taylor halted play with a knoek-on. AV. Parata next sold a dummy and dashed for the corner, where be was pushed out. Hawke’s Bay were not slow in asserting themselves. but at halfway they hud to give ground, Conrad. Dlzcll, and Crawford sending them back again. AVilson made an opening for his forwards, but a forward pass gave Manawhenua time to rally. S. Gemmell and Pearson bended the Hawke's Bay forwards to. Manawhenua territory, but an infringement