RUBGY IN BRITAIN

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 186, 4 May 1933, Page 14

RUBGY IN BRITAIN

England Defeats Ireland POOR WORK IN SCRUMS London, Feb. 24. Although it is ten years since England beat Ireland by so big a margin as they recorded at Twickenham recently, the work of the team is not considered to be above reproach. The forwards, in particular, have come in for a great deal of criticism. In point of physique the teams seemed very evenly matched; if anything the advantage of weight rested with England. Yet the Irishmen were getting the ball out of the set scrummages with monotonous regularity. It was lucky for England that the Irish backs were incapable of taking advantage of the chances given to them by their forwards. If the threequarters had been changed round, and Noris and Co. had been playing for Ireland, one shudders to think of the score that would have been run up against England. Forwards Display Promise. Yet apart from the set scrummages the English forwards acquitted themselves in promising style. Although the pack has never been a strong department, the English eight quite held their own in the loose. It was the heeling of the English forwards which was at fault; Ireland was getting the ball from two-thirds of the set scrums. Various reasons hav'c been advanced for this curious failing of the pack; but there is no doubt that it is the habit of stabbing the ball instead of heeling in the orthodox manner. This fault mav be overcome with practice, and the English eight should develop into one of the strongest combinations of recent Ireland's Bad Luck. Seldom can any Irish Rugby fifteen have been beset with so much misfortune as has this season’s team. • Early in the season “Jamie” Clinch, who holds 30 international caps, strained a thigh muscle and has been out of action. Soon after J. Farrell, who has played in nearly 30 consecutive games for Ireland, broke a collarbone. Now there are three other injuries—one of them serious. Paul Murray suffered an injured collar bone in a match last Saturday; S. L. Wade is suffering severe concussion as the result of his turning out for Oxford against the Harlequins; and more serious still is the news concerning E. IV. de V. Hunt, who has just been injured in a minor mid-week match. It transpires that Hunt has torn an Achilles tendon, and has already undergone an operation. As all Rugby men will kno?v this is a serious injury, and. besides his retirement from the game for the season, it is doubtful whether ho will ever play again. Hunt first played for the Army, and was first officially recognised in 1930 as a full-back. He has since been transferred to the three-quarter line, and played in the centre against England recently.