SPRINGBOKS' TOUR

Evening Post, Volume CII, Issue 38, 13 August 1921, Page 12

SPRINGBOKS' TOUR

SOUTHLAND BETTER THAN

WELLINGTON

. The recent match between the Springboks and Southland, has brought out some most interesting expressions of opinion, and some of these, taken from the Southland Times, are as follow :— " Dp not think because we beat you, you are not as good 'as you think you are," said Mr. G. Bennett, ,the manager of the Springboks, after the match. "It is no disgrace for the pick of a province to be beaten by an international side, and, after all, our team-is the pick of South Africa. If your side had had the same number of matches.together as we have had,- and had that little finish necessary to complete your attacks, the result might have been different;-''"'We were not certain that we were going, to win, and were all out to beat you. The game was fought in a good spirit,: and was ,strenuous throughout. We rather like strenuous games, but, if you will 'permit me to say it, New Zealand can leam'a lot from South Africa. When, I see the splendid ■ material you have,, surely it is worth a little more than'the kick and rush tactics adopted. I am convinced, with the ability and physique at .your command, you'can convince Wellington that you can play better football than.they. I congratulate the team upon the game it put up to-day, and if it had the combination our team possesses, it might-po.ssibly have beaten us."., „ ■ . .

A/BATTLE OF STYLES.

, "This tour is really a battle of styles," said the skipper of the South African team, Mr. Pienaar. "We axe told everywhere we go if this and that from the New' Zealand game would not be better for us than our own formation. Your forwards played a great game today, but your backs appeared to lack cohesion, losing much of the good work performed by the forwards. As I have not played in all the matches on the tour, I cannot give you a! comparison of your forwards with the northern packs? but they are a solid lot." He went on to say that ri^ht throughout New Zealand they had been pleased with the efficient and fair-minded referees they, met. Some of their rulings were different from what they were accustomed to in South Africa, but that was their interpretations and they applied them fairly. " I wish to pay a tribute to the sporting crowd that witnessed the match,"' he concluded, " and the manner in which they applauded our good play was greatly appreciated by the boys.' Everywhere we have gone in New Zealand the crowds have been good to u», a fact that we appreciate greatly."

NEW ZEALAND'S/CCJACH. Mr. J. W. Stead, when seen after ths match, stated that the dominant features of the Springboks' play were : (1) "Their marked ability in commanding possession of the ball in almost all features of forward play. (2) Line kicking of the backfij particularly the half-back, who from a standing position put great pace in his kicks. (3) The pace of' the inside backs in rounding their opponent* on attack and backing up their outsides on defence. No. 1, is the Springboks'^ chief asset, and, whether preponderance of weight or the happy perfection of combination gives them this superiority, it is not for me to dofine, but they shnw marked ability in the sj>eed with which they feed their half just and when over he .want^ it. This possession of the ball in close-packed ' rucks ' borders on an infringement of the taekled-ball rule, and serves to' show that they will risk a lot to prevent opponents getting it. Their first try was a splondid example of their inside backs' pace giving the wing a clear.run and plenty of A room. Their second try, through an opponent trying to lift a ground ball, gave two outside backs a chance which was accepted with a speed which only' opportunists of a very high order.could show. Their third and fourth tries were, like the first, results of superior inside pace bringing the wings up with the requisite speed and elbow room, making it unnecessary at any period of the game to. work for, the 'odd man.' Southland allowedl the Springbok half to put in the scrum right through (an -obvious handicap), »nd the fortune of the toss had them playing against the breeze both spells, but the better team won, and I congratulate them, and also our own boys, ;who put up a heroic fight." " . ■ WEIGHT AND SPEED. - " ' What the South Africans lost through their inability to quickly adapt themselves to new situations was amply compensated for by their extra weight, combined with fleetness of foot,' such was a Welsh representative's reply when I asked him to compare the South African team of 1906 with the All Blacks of 1905," said Mr. J. Outhill, when seen after the match. "To my mind the same criticism 1 might well be applied to the South Africans in Saturday's match. With the' exception of a few isolated efforts to start passing rushes among the forwards, their play was stereotyped throughout, l Speed alone enabled them to secure all their tries, and without in any way wishing to detract from Brown's great game, I am inclined to think that a fast, hard-tackling full-back would have stopped at least three tries. The Southland forwards certainly more than held their own, but the weigh?, speed, and line-kicking of the visitors proved too much for the light Maroon pack, imd undoubtedly assisted the Springboks' to g«u»-a 38il-.merftgd. SKfewjlS^ '