WORLD’S BEST IN RUGBY

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 218, 11 June 1930, Page 15

WORLD’S BEST IN RUGBY

— ” I Fifteen Chosen To Play Team From Mars

COOKE THE GREATEST CENTRE

Nepia Regarded as Unrivalled Full-Back

On the eve of another trial of strength between Great Britain and New Zealand, a review of the worlds leading players should prove of more than passing interest. In this article, an attempt is made to select a team to represent this plunct against Mars.

It is always an intriguing task to set out to endeavour to choose a world’s team in any branch of sport. The man best fitted Jo act ns sole selector for the world is Mr. F. M. Howard, the wellknown journalist, who followed the All Blacks through Britain in 1924, and through South Africa in 1028, and whose knowledge of present-day players in the different countries is probably unrivalled. Mr, Howard has witnessed 85 international matches in Britain since the war, and also followed the Waratahs’ tour of Britain and France during the 1927-28 season. A Man’s Job. Mr. Howard, after the All Blacks had left South Africa, set out in “The Outspan” of August 23, 1929, to select the world’s best Rugby fifteen. “When it comes to players of world calibre,” he writes, “the relative Rugby strength of any one country need not necessarily find itself reflected in the number of its representatives finally chosen among that select band. I have to pick out only fifteen men from at least eight first-class countries, South Africa, New Zealand, New South Wales, England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and France. South Africa, for example, may, in my opinion, contain a larger proportion of first-class scrummaging forwards than any of tile others, and yet not obtain a larger representation in a world pack. “There are, of course, a number of other considerations to be borne in mind, such as the different styles of play or formation, sometimes markedly dissimilar, adopted by the various countries. I intend, for instance, to treat, the All Black first five-eighth as a fly-half, and then second five-eighth as a centre. There is also the question of scrum formation. My team will, of course, pack three-up in the front row. And so to business. The Pack. - “Since any team, to win, must first secure the ball, I will begin with my.pack, the selecting of which I have found relatively more difficult than that of my back division. However, after first carefully narrowing down my field of final selection to twenty-one forwards, nil of whom possess serious claims for inclusion. I have chosen the following as my ‘world’s eight: Front row: PWI Mostert (South Afripa), J. G. Blackwood (Waratahs), and J. S. Tucker (England). Second

row: J. M. Bannerman (Scotland)T A. N. Finlay (Waratahs), and G. Beamish (Ireland). Back row: T. G. Osler (South Africa), and R. McWilliams (New Zealand).

“It is not, perhaps, a fiaek to compare very favourably with the one that could have been selected from ‘the world’ in, ’et us say, 1924. when such men as I’. J. Mostert and T. L. Kruger, of South Africa, Maurice Brownlie and Jock Richardson, of New Zealand, W. W. Wakefield and G. S. Conway, of England, and It. Lasserre, of France, would have ‘selected themselves,’ leaving only the eighth place,‘which would very probably have gone to another South African in any kind of doubt. All Outstanding Hooker. /“My pack certainly will not fail for lack of football brains, nor will they for want of a very high degree of skill, as opposed to mere brawn. And the brawn is there also. Even the back-row men, Osler and McWilliams, tire skilful and hard scrummagers, if and when necessary. A more expert front row man than Mostert, who will lead my pack, Blackwood and Tucker could scarcely be wished for. The last-named is of the same general build and weight as Mostert, which will ensure that my hooker, Blackwood, shall obtain the most advantageous support. The latter I consider the most accomplished specialist in that art whom I have seen in action since the war, and he is apparently playing as well as ever just now in Australia. It should be remembered that the 1927 Waratahs, unlike the All Blacks of 1924, were never really mastered in scrummaging during their European tour, and a great deal of the credit for "their success must go to Blackwood's outstanding skill as a hooker.

"Mostert njid Tucker, incidentally, are both excellent hookers should any mishap befall Blackwood. I have had, for one reason or another, to reject such capable front-row players as the South African, “Boy” Louw, Hadley and Swain, of New Zealand, and Stanbury. of Englaiid, among others. But I do not see how I could better my chosen three. Even though Mostert and Tucker are now in the sere and yellow, they are still, taken all round, better than anyone else in their positions. Blackwood, by the way. is also a very fine swimmer. Great Scrummagers.

“My second row is made up of three superlatively fine scrummagers. Bannerman, the holder of thirty-eight Scottish cups, is also the greatest artist at dribbling in the Rugby world and a most finished all-round forward. Despite his long record of service, be is only twentyeight and is playing as well now us ever. Finlay, who i« twenty-five, and a wellknown oarsman and swimming champion, was one of the mainstays of the 1927 Waratahs’ pack, taking most effective part in twenty-three of > their thirty-one matches. George Beamish, a six-footer like Finlay, is another most accomplished and brainy all-round forward and a particularly fine dribbler. He is only twenty-four, and should still be one of the pillars of the Irish fifteen for some seasons to come.

“The two back-row places were the most difficult to till, for here we have to ehoose from a perfect galaxy of talent, even though there is no one available today quite as good as either Lasserre, the “Admirable Crichton” of Rugby, who gained representative honours at fullback, centre and forward, and also played against the New Zealand Forces at

fly-half and on the wing; Conway, the most polished of all England’s great forwards since the war; and Wakefield, when he played in the back row. To mention only *'a few, there are the 215pound giant, Jack Ford, of the Waratahs, as fast as a wing three-quarter; Ivor Jones, the record-scoring Welsh captain; Stewart, of New Zealand; J, W. Breckenridge, another great Waratah; and George Daneel. Van Druten and Pretorius apparently are no longer available. 1 The Backs. “My back division is: Full-back, G. Nepia (New Zealand) ; three-quarters, lan Smith and G. P. S. MacPherson (Scotland), G. V. Stephenson (Ireland), and A. Jaurreguy (France) ; half-backs, A. T. LawtOn (Waratahs) and P. de Villiers (South Africa). I made my final selection from twenty-five players selected in a preliminary combing-out process. “Beginning with the scrum-half,' as forming the vital link between my forwards and my backs, there are to-day quite a number of almost equally qualified contenders for the place iu a world fifteen. None of them is as great a player as any one of the three really superlative serum-halves whom I have seen personally since the war, namely, G. A. Kershaw, of England; Jimmy Mill, of New Zealand; and that magnificent, great-hearted little Scotsman, W. E. Bryce. “Kershaw was the most complete and' the greatest scrum-half I have ever seen, even more outstanding than was his famous partner, Commander W. J. A. Davies, as a flv-half. Mill was “streets” better than Dailey. In 1924 Mill played in eighteen matches, including three of the four Tests, and practically all the hardest matches. Dailey appeared in the other twelve games. Yet Mill personally scored 33 points to Dalley.’s none at all. The Inside Backs. “The fly-half position obviously lies between Lawton, Nichojls, and Osler. All three are excellent place-kicks, with Lawton as the best and most reliable of them. All three tan drop goals, but here Osler is the isuperior of the other two, as he is at long and accurate touchfinding. In defence Nicholls is a relatively poor third to the others, with Lawton quite definitely the best, as he

also is much the most powerful. In individual attack again, Lawton, thanks to his magnificent physique, is slightly better than Osler. And, most important of all, as a maker of openings and as a constructive player I prefer Lawton to Nicholls, and still more to “Bennie.” Nicholls, on his 1024 form, may have been Lawton’s superior in the latter respect. But even taking his 1924 form, purely for argument's sake, as the basis of comparison, I would still prefer Lawton, taking him all round. Great player though “Tommy” was in his Oxford days, it was as the sheet-anchor of the 1927 Waratah side that he revealed himself as unquestionably the world’s best flyhalf, and he would appear to be playing as well as ever to-day. Praise for Cooke. “A. E. Cooke would, of course, ‘walk into* my team were he fit and in form, for he is the greatest cehtre I have seen since the war- But he is not, from all accounts, the magnificent player _ this season that he has been, nartly owing to a succession of injuries. So George Stephenson, of Ireland, gets his tflace.Stenhenson, to me, has ever been a source of wonder. Very tall and very fraillooking. he looks as though one really luird tackle wo.uld break him in two. Yet he is himself the deadliest tackling centre I have ever seen. He invariably goes hell for leather in attack —and is much faster than even many an international wing—and yet he played thirty-seven consecutive matches for Ireland before missing one, last February, following his first serious injury in ten seasons. Flying Wingers. “Several important considerations make me prefer MacPherson as my other centre to either Stanley Osler or A. Behoteguy, of France. I am out, behind such a fine pack and such a forceful pair of halves, to choose an attack that will prove truly devastating to any opposition, both by its speed and by its power of penetration. Therefore my chosen wings are lan Smith and Jaurreguy. I will deal more fully with these in a moment. But if Smith goes in, tlipn so must MacPherson. No other player can get half as much as he can out: of the world's finest scoring-machine, lhat fact has been proved sufficiently clearly But, in any case, MacPherson is himself abnormally fast for a centre, and he can ‘find the gap,' or make one, more often than any centre I know. World’s Greatest Full-back. “Lastly I come to Nepia, easily the greatest, all-round full-back I have ever seen and quite possibly of all time. Since he is playing as well as ever to-day I need go no farther in my quest as regards this very important position. After Nepia, to-day, I would rank A- W. Ross, of the Waratahs, and Jackie Tindall. The Place-kicks. “To take the place-kicks I have a remarkably useful trio in Lawton, Stephen son and Nepia. And as a ‘general util ity’ reserve man I would chodse Gerry Brand.

“My completed present-day world fifteen, therefore, is made up of three South Africans, three Waratahs, three Scotsmen, two New Zea’ nders, two Irishmen, one Englishman, and one Frenchman—eight Dominion players and seven from the five European countries. Strangely enough, since I have made my

selections strictly on merits and absolutely regardless of the country of origin ot nny one of my fifteen, the quota supplied by each of the various countries fairly accurately reflects the comparative strength of their respective national teams at the present moment. Scotland were European champions for the season ended-last April.” Though it cannot be expected that everyone will agree with Mr. Howard s selection, the views of such a sound judge of the game are extremely interesting. Of course, it has to be remembered that his selection-was made last year. Mr. Howard could have allowed Cooke to “walk into” his team, as this wonderful player is just as brilliant as ever he was, nnd had he been able to accompany the New Zealand team to South Africa in 1928 the Springboks would not have been able to come out all square in the test mitches.