WALLABY BACKS LET FORWARDS DOWN

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 299, 14 September 1936, Page 11

WALLABY BACKS LET FORWARDS DOWN

All Blacks Profit From* Faults of Opponents PACKMEN IN FINE FORM IN SECOND HALF (By Telegraph.—Special Reporter.) Dunedin, September 12. The large crowd which attended Carisbrook this afternoon had many thrills throughout the match, more especially in the first half, at the end of which it looked anybody's game. The spectators eagerly anticipated play in the second half, but things soon swung New Zealand’s way. Play had not been in progress more than about ten minutes when K. P. Storey, the Australian full-back, ran up from his own twenty-five in an endeavour to field a high kick. Finding himself unable to take the ball on the full he made a wild speculator and missed the ball altogether. G. F. Hart dashed up, caught the ball on the bounce, and ran round behind the posts to score unopposed. H. R. Pollock converted the try and New Zealand had the lead that seemed to inspire the All Blacks, for they took complete charge of the'game. The Australian full-back appeared rattled, and the defence of the other backs wilted before magnificent forward rushes, with the result that tries came in rapid succession. The domination of the New Zealanders, in fact, became rather monotonous, and spoiled the game as a spectacle to a certain extent. Heat Among Forwards. The first half was very keenly contested, there being hard play among the forwards. with a little heat infused occasionally. There was a good deal of obstruction and jersey holding which led to tempers becoming frayed. There wore, however, many clever movements and good tries were scored. Australia had the better of the exchanges, winning the ball from most scrums and dominating the line-outs. It was only sound defence on the part of the New Zealanders that kept the touring team’s score down. A similar second half would have placed on record one of the most interesting contests ever seen in Dunedin, but the manner in which the visitors crumpled up after the interval was disappointing. The All Black forwards were well held by the opposition in the first half, the Australian superiority being similar to that in the first portion of the match in Wellington. In the second half, however, the New Zealand pack could not be recognised as the same that had been on the field earlier. Second Half Rally. For the whole of the second half the forwards played more in keeping with what is expected from the elect of the Dominion. Their dribbling, fast following up, solid tackling, and short passing cut the defence to ribbons. Nearly ail New Zealand’s tries, were scored from mistakes made by the opposing backs, the opportunities being taken with startling rapidity. S. T. Reid was outstanding, being in every loose movement, "and his all-round display must have been in keeping with the reputation he earned p nthe tour of Great Britain. J. Wells was also very prominent while J. G. Rankin's game was a vast improvement upon what he showed in Wellington. He displayed almost uncanny anticipation and his interceptions in the second half were a source of great worry to the Australians. The other forwards all played well after the interval, when Mr. Mark Nicholls, the manager of the team had a thing or two to say to them. New Zealand Backs Improve With Game. The New Zealand backs were a poor combination in the first half. C. C. Gillies endeavoured to cut in too much and invariably ran into trouble, while J. L. Griffiths was too slow to be a good connecting link between the first fiveeighth and the centre. Gillies improved considerably in the second half, when the weakness of the opposition enabled him to find innumerable openings. On some of these occasions Griffiths was cut out of the passing rushes. B. S. Sadler played a plucky game behind the scrum. He was paid a lot of attention by the Australian breakaways, A. J. Hodgson and O. L. Bridle, but he stood up to his task in commendable fashion. The three-quarter lino was seen at its best in the second half when plenty of Opportunities were offering. Hart and N. A. Mitchell went very well and J. M. Watt, who was the idol of the home crowd, showed improvement upon his form in Wellington. H. R. Pollock again gave a very sound exhibition at full-back, although on a few occasions he failed to field the ball accurately. His trickiness won him much applause from the onlookers. “The Iron Man” in Trauble. The Australian forwards cannot be blamed for such a substantial loss. They played splendidly right up to the time when their backs let them down so badly and it was little wonder that they wilted under the pressure in the closing stages of the contest. Hodgson “the 'iron man,” was not so prominent as dn Wellington, paying a little too much attention. to opponents instead of concentrating on the ball. This made him unpopular with the crowd. Bridle played a very fine game in the loose, again showing exceptional speed. His brilliant interceptions worried his opponents a good deal. The other packmen all strived hard. There was not enough snap about the movements of the Australian backs to make passing rushes effective. V. Richards and R. Rankin were both a little too slow to fit in with the speedier men, with the result that the New Zealand backs and forwards were able to smother the player with the ball and start counter rushes from the ensuing rucks. On most occasions when the hall did reach the wingers,the latter were left with insufficient room in which to work and were nearly always compelled to kick. The loss of R. E. McLaughlin brought less pace still .among the rearguard, as it meant the placing of two slow men together at five-eighth and inside centre respectively, E. de C. Gibbons, the half-back, had a gruelling afternoon, but stood up manfully to ‘the buffeting he received, at the hands of the AU Black forwards. The other backs, apart from Rankin and Storey, showed a woeful lack of knowledge of how to stop forward rushes, L. S. Lewis, in defence, being particularly weak. Storey' earned frequent applause for good all-round play in the first half and the early stages of the second, but his play deteriorated after his unhappy error in speculating when there was no necessity for doing so. He was not in the best of condition, as he had been nursing an injured leg since Hie second match of the lour at Wanganui and he has been unable to do any training or exercises. However that did not excuse his lapse, which took a great deal of steam out of his side’s play and also imparted great confidence to the AU Blacks. AUCKLAND MATCHES By Telegraph—Press Association. Auckland, September 13. The fourth series of matches in the Auckland Rugby Union's senior championships for the Jubilee trophy was decided on Saturday under good conditions. Technical 16. beat Training College 14; Ponsonby IG, beat North Shore 3; Marist 23. beat Grammar 3: Grafton 14, beat Otahuhu 6; College Rifles 2-j, beat Manukau 14.