RUGBY

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 146, 21 June 1924, Page 18

RUGBY

iBV "ORQPKICK") INTERESTING FOSECAST

ENGLAND VERSUS NEW ZEALAND

ALL BLACKS MAY HAVE POINT OR TWO TO SPARE

CHAMPIONSHIP TABLE. Matches.. Points. Champ. P. \Y. L. Dn. For Ag'st Pts. ifetone 6 5 — 1 64 21 11 Oriental 6 5 1 r- 81.14 10 Athletic T 5 2 — 80 40 10 'Marist 6 4 2 - 57 30 8 Berhampore 7 3 2 2 48 27 8 'Poneke 6 3 2 1 53 40 7 'Varsity 6 2 4 — 47 50 4 Old Boys 6 2 4 ~ 35 62 4 Wellington 7 2 5 — 42 80 4 Hutt 6.1 5 — 28 67 2 Sehvyn 7 1 6 —.' 19 83 2

■Wellington's representative fixtnres are- as iollov;:— .

J,ul,y.2—v. Taranaki,. at Hawera. July 10—v. WairaraiM, at Wairarapa. "August 3il—v. Tarunaki, at Wellington. August 27-v. Kelson, at Wellington. September n_v. Auckland, at Wellington. 5-eptern-jer IS—v. Marlnorough. at Wellington. September 13—v. Otago, at Dunedin. September 17-^v. Southland, at Invercargill. septembc- 20—v. King Country,, at Wellington. September M—v.. Canterbury, at Christchurch.

, The-1924 All Blacks are to set out next "week on a mission that will interest the whole work! of Rugby. Taking into account all that-has happened in the long period since the 19G5 New Zealand team made its big sweep of the playing fields . of the British Isles, and those of Aus-. tralia, British Columbia, and its own Do-, minion, as well as giving an exhibition in New York, the coming tour may be held up 'as the greatest of all time—greater even than the tour of the 1905 team, and certainly greater than all the tours which I -have been made since then by New Zealand teams, Australian teams, the I Springboks, representatives of the Old ! Country, and others. It will be a great r tour for the number of matches vrhidi are to be played, including those prior to | final departure for England; it will be great because of the developments which j have taken place during the past nineteen years; but its real greatness will be'in the fact that a. much stronger opposition will have to be faced than was. the case ■ with the original All Blacks. About the work of the selectors and the ] personnel of the team most people have had their say, and interest is now turning, more seriously to the team's prospects. Can this team beat the record of the 1905 team? Without a first-hand knowledge, of play and players in the places which are to be visited, it is difficult to give an ' answer. But on one point there appears i to be unanimity of opinion—this year's team is going to meet harder opposition. It would seem, therefore, that unless this team is superior to the original All Blacks the result of the tour is not going to be so good. As far as the forwards are concerned, they are looked upon as a better lot than those of the original team. If they prove themselves to be there ia no telling what the backs might do; and if the backs develop—and, being behind such a fine pack, they should be better off than the 1905 backs—heavy scoring ' shouldbe the order of the tour. These men will be all out to beat the record of the..famous team. In some cases the hurdle, will be stiff, particularly when from 40 to 60 odd points will be required ; to "top' off the 1905 team's scores. But these 1924 players will .do their very best, and, if they do not achieve the great success ? of their predecessors, their record will probably compare very favourably "when, the fact that stronger opposition was met is taken into account..

■ Information that may be valuable in framing opinions about the team's prospects i s supplied to the "Observer" (an English paper) by a Rugby enthusiast who has seen the All Blacks, the Springboks, Jiew South Wales, England, Scotland, and France, in action during the last ccuple of seasons. "Coming away ir.om that, wonderful international match at Twickenham against Scotland," he writes: "I found myself in a railway compartment with about twenty people, all. of course, vigorously discussing the match. Conversation ultimately turned on _ the subject of the All Blacks' tour. SEn.sland. will give them something to think about this time,' was the General opinion." The enthusiast then went on to give-an estimate of the .comparative form of the countries in which he had seen the game in recent seasons, as follows :—

_„"When the Springboks toured New Zealand m 1021, the Test matches resulted in a win eacii and one draw. The Springboks won all their other matches with the exception of those against Taranaki and Canterbury. The first was drawn and the second lost, 6-4. All things considered, one is justified in regarding New Zealand and South African form as very much the same in 1921. But New Zealand, after being defeated by New South Wales in 1922, has improved rapidly, and it is probable that in the coming season something like 1905 form will be reached.

Would the English form of last Saturday (in March against Scotland) suffice to conquer the All Blacks? I am inclined-to" doubt it, hi spite of the adoption by England of the winging game, which gained so much criticism for the New Zealand captain in 1905! New Zenland players will rejoice to hear that Blakiston and Voyce's strategy "ont-Gal-lahered Galiaher," as one paper expressed it. After so frank an expression of approval we may hope for no recurrence of the 1905 controversy about the wingiorward. My reason'for thinking that England will not prevail against the AH Blacks is the belief that the New Zealand forwards will hold their own against Wakeiield and his men, while the backs will make better use of their chances than England's opponents this season have done. The English' inside backs will be superior to the New but with a vigorous set of forwards to contend with. Young and Myers will be up against the hardest proposition of their careers. If they emerge triumphant, "great" mli be an iSds^uate word

by which to describe them. Balancing the probabilities, I am inclined to think that the All Blacks will have a point or two to spare, but not much more. Of course, England has a wonderful record m international fixtures in the last few years, but it must be remembered that f"? ha« yet to win against the Springboks, Wallabies, or All Blacks.

_ "On Scotland's recent form the All Blacks would win comfortably against them,-but as, for some reason appreciated only by the Scottish authorities, there is no Test between the AU Blacks and Scotland, it is unnecessary to pursue the subject further. France is likely ;to prove a dangerous opponent to the AllBlacks in Paris owing to the unorthodox nature of the French forward play. The Irish forwards should also be a stiff proposition, but, unless Welsh form improves considerably, the All Blacks have a first-class chance of avenging the defeat of 1905—and, if this is done even a defeat by England would fade .into insignificance. Even the club matches in Wales in 1905 were close things for the All Blacks: 6-3 against Newport, 10.8 against Cardiff, 4-3 against Swansea, and 9.0 Glamorgan. "It should perhaps be mentioned that i the best record in internationals alone is that of the 1912 Springboks: 16-0 igainst Scotland, 38-0 against Ireland ■3-0 against Wales, and 9.6 against England. On their own grounds the Springboles are very formidable, and the British touring team of 1924 will have to be fery strong even to extend them.

"When England and the All Blacks I meet at Twickenham on the 3rd January, each team will be fighting hard to maintain a proud tradition, and Twickenham 'luck' will have, its final test. It is to be hoped some better arrangement will be made in the matter of accommo--1 'dation—for otherwise thirjty tthousand people will be disappointed." Those players whom the enthusiast names—Wakefield, Blakiston, Voyce, Young, and Myers—were members of the English team, Wakefield being the captain. PLAY AND PLAYERS. Taking- a line through past contests between toneke and Petone, the meeting of the old rivals last Saturday was a disappointment. The standard of play was considerably below the mark reached in the seasons in which those teams had their most interesting games, and from both teams' in other games this season better form has been shown. The strong cross-wind at the Petone ; Ground affected the play to some extent, but, with everything else fairly favourable and tne teams at good strength, it was expected that thegame would be one really worth watching. What- actually happened was disappoint ing, in spite of the fact that there were stages during which the trend of play fluctuated at a fast rate to make sudden changes from attack to defence. The game, of course, was keen; in fact, over-keenness accounted for one of the unpleasant features. This was the adoption of tactics which cause annoy- i ance, not only to the spectators but to the players themselves. Throughout the game there were instances of attention to tjie man rather than to the ball, and one or two incidents, had they been seen by the referee, may have meant marching orders to the offenders. This matter was dealt with in a review of the game on Monday, and, without labouring the subject further, a word might be passed to players in general there has been a tendency towards rou"h play in other matches—that by carryinohard play over the border-line they are running into trouble.

Perhaps the best, performance for Petone last Saturday was given by H. E. Nicholls. His play drew the following remarks from an opponent: "He is the best half-back- in New Zealand. The way he started passing bouts by picking the ball up from the feet of our for? wards was ah eye-opener to me. You have to play against him to know how good he is. .He has gone up 100 per cent, in my estimation." There is little need to say any more than that—"Ginger was right on his game. Mark Nicholls did not start off too well, but improved as the gamp progressed. His boot for goal-kicking purposes was in excellent order—two of the goals lie registered being splendid efforts. Kin", Thomas, and Reid were the pick of the Petone forwards, but Thomas (and Love also) was inclined to infringe the offside rule.

Though Poneke were beaten by Petone by a margin of 16 points, the Red and Blacks were not inferior to their opponents to the extent which the score might indicate. They were aggressors practically as much as Petono, but their failure was in getting- the attacks rirht home. The forwards did well: over the whole game they were better' than the opposing p-.ick; but there were weaknesses in the back division and in the methods which were adopted in endeavouring to penetrate a solid defence. H. Tilyard was one of the weak links.' Had the inside backs made openiii"s', Mickey might have been more "troublesome to Petono than ho was. Poneke will still he. hard, althoucl, tliyv ',„.,,, he without. Bennett and Cifcon for .some time. both those players beiuir on the injured list, Poneko'a supply ofemcrsreß,. oies was evidently poor last Saturday,

as when Bennett went off, J. Shearer was transferred to the back division, with which he made a, good showing. Foneke and Petoiic, if they have hope 3 of winning tho championship (and Petone at- present hold a vevy strong hand), will need (o improve "upon the form shown by them last Saturday. It sometimes happens, however, when two strong teams meet, and each is out to spoil the other's play, that the football is unattractive. That may have been the reason for tho disappointing display last Saturday.

It was generally expected, when Wellington won the toss last Saturday, that they would run up a fair score by halftime. This was net to be, however, Orientals' defence proving too good; indeed, the " Magpies " even had an equal share of the attack. Wellington's main trouble seemed to be that the backs ir waiting for the ball did not allow sufficiently for the wind. The result was that too often the ball fell yards in front of them. Oriental played a great game, attacking in both spells, and defended soundly against the wind. King, Juno,. Evans, and Chambers were especially prominent on defence.

In ■ Chambers, Oriental have a good half. Their 'backs generally seem to be on the improve. Chambers is a Maori lad, and played at Te Ante College with Peina and Potaka, the Wanganui and Now Zealand representatives..

Pringle, Moffitt, Watts, and Hepburn were the best of the Oriental forwards last Saturday.

Wellington now regularly adopt the three-two-three formation, and appear 1.0 be well satisfied with it. Joyce again played well last Saturday, but he could do.with a little more, ability in evading an opponent. Brunsell, Johnsen, and Morgan are a good trio, and start any promising advances,- the latter two being also sound on defence and quick to seize openings. Glennie put in one particularly strong run against the wind, and^.had his pass across field teen accepted a score must have 'resulted. This player 'is also sonnd on defence.

One thing to be noted regarding Wellington's performance last Saturday was tnat they were'unable to cross the line, their 12 points being made up of four penalty kicks by Ambler; this isays something for the Oriental defence.

Little briliancy was displayed in the match between Berhampora and Athletic on Saturday, though the game Athletic won decisively by 12 points to t>, and it must be said that Berhampore at no stage of the struggle looked like winning. The victors showed by far the better combination among the backs, and their forwards were almost always iJie masters of the situation. Berhampore s showing can bo summed up in one word—disappointing. It is the easiest thing in the world to play a winning game, and at the conclusion come out victorious by a large margin of points, but to fight uphill all the way against almost impossible odds as an entirely different matter, in an intermediate game on Saturday Berhampore hopelessly outclassed Wellington by 69 points to nil, but the losers came hack persistently all the time, and, although they were not successful m scoring, they proved to be great triers and earned the admiration ol _ the spectators by the unconquerable spirit they displayed. At the concluslonvthe referee (Mr. R> T. Bailoy) congratulated the losers on what ho termed Uieir fine sporting spirit, which, ho added, evidently was common to all members of the Wellington Club Goal-kicking often wins a' game, and Ai.anst have had experience of that fact mostly when the numbers have gone up .against them. It won them the game with Varsity last Saturday, J. Murphy always a very useful servant, landing a tine goal when Marist's supporters were just about satisfied'that their team was beaten. On the day's play 'Varsity were more deserving of victory than Manst, the latter side being evidently unprepared for a hard battle with' the collegians, who, though they' are well down the championship ladder, cannot be taken lightly. 'Varsity nearly sprang a surprise last Saturday; their present form indicates that they may very shortly upset championship calculations, though, of course, they cannot hope to overtake the leading teams. Marist are still endeavouring to get their team in the order that will give more satisfaction to supporters. . For one position about which there was some doubt, that of wing-forward, they appeared to get the right man in Hok, but he has since met with an injury which may keep him out of the game for the rest of the season. So Marist still need a wing-forward. Connop went back to his old place last Saturday, but he is regarded as being of more service to the team as a wing-three-quarter. Murphy has been suggested as the best offering for the wing-forward, and it was likely that he would be tried out to-day. But is there a man to do his defensive work? A new player of promise—and, it is said, good experience —is Hartwell, from Hawkes Bay. He relieved M'Cleary (suffering from an injury) behind the scrum last Saturday, but wajs likely to. be seen to-day as a five-eighth, in which capacity he did well for his club in Hawkes Bay. Sheehan, a promising five-eighth from the junior grade, who was injured early in the season, took the field again last week, but soon discovered that his injury had not improved sufficiently to enable him to show his best form. It will be necessary for him to remain on the bank for several more weeks.

The success which the Hutt Club met 011 the playing fields last Saturday was a fitting preliminary to the function which took place at the new gymnasium this week. Now that the club is so •well set up, much more will be heard ol' it; the enthusiasm is so marked at present that the club is bound to make good progress. The senior team score:.! ils first win last Saturday—the first wiu in two seasons. It was a win that was well deserved. The juniors, who did not win a match last year, brought off a surprise by defeating' the unbeaten Athletic team. There are four other teams, in the club, and of these the thirds and fifths, are meeting little in the way of success. The fourths and sixths, however, are doing particularly well, the former being so far unbeaten, and the sixths having had only one loss. A couple of the Wellington selectors were at the Hull, for the .early part of the Selwyn-Kutt game, but if they were" looking out for'likely players for representative teams tliey did not wait long enough. It was not until the second spell of the game that anything like good form was shown, the'Hutt'backs then induklging in spectacular play. JMslicr, who whs Formerly fiiji-ltnck. "is Jilu-Iy U> turn out n very'fine lialf-uacU. The Uickling brothers arc; now playing as five-eighths, and, while aUemptiug tw do v, littl.o toy much on. He own,

A SELECTOR SPEAKS.

J. Hickling is shaping as though he will be better as v five-eighths than as a wing-three-quarter. M'Ka-y now plays as centre-threequarter. Christie (who played as half for a time) and Burt .-.(who was a five-eighth) are the wing-tbiee-quarters, and Power is the fullback. The last-named was somewhat off colour last Saturday. Most of the Hutfc forwards were playing _in the Hutt team which won the junior championship in 1918-19, and the senior B competition in 1919. They are on the light side, and at times show good form. Bengf, M'lntosh, Fossett, and Hun-ell were conspicuous last Saturday. The last-named would have a strong claim for a place in the representative team if he were a little heavier lie is worth noting. Selwyn are having a very hard spin, and it is all they can do to muster a fifteen—a most unfortunate position for a club which has been paying such good attention to the younger players. The reason is that they have suffered very heavily through casualties to players. After experiencing trouble in arranging a team to meet Hutt last Saturday, they had the misfortune to lose the service's of players during the game, and finally tney iimsned up with eleven men. Senior players on the injured list (two of :»iem as the results of mishaps off the field) are: Snell, M'Donald, Dennehy, Harrington, Nickless, M'Quade, M'Gill, Collier, Hendry, Reeve, Wo^an, and H. Malm. It. is no wonder, therefore, that Selwyn applied for a bye this week. They are to be congratulated upon carrying on so far against heavy odds, but the pity' is that the juniors have been made to suffer in consequence of accidents to members of the senior team.

Wogan is still the mainstay of the Selwyn seniors, and it will be hard luck for the team if he is compelled to stand n 7« o"ascollnt 9f a» injury. Scadden (halt), M Lucas,, Anquetil, and M'Gill are shaping very well with the- team M Gill is from the Pakahi "united Club (Kaetih: Sub-union), whose senior team, composed mainly of men from the sawmills, is captained by Byrne, the wellknown five-eighth. Some writers have stated that Svenson is not fast enough for men like -Hart, Lucas, and Cooke. and th.-t ho was repeatedly "cut out''1 in the North v. South Island match. They appear to be labouring this alleged fact, but it was not Svenson's lack of pace which led to him being cut out in the game in question; it was just this, that the trend of play was such in several instances that Cooke was forced over towards the line. Brown may prove a more brilliant centre on attack than hyenson, but the latter deserves his place, and will be a very useful'man, especially on defence, at which he is a past-master. The writer would not be surprised to see Brown make a great name for himself, as he is young, has a lot of pace, has a wonderful swerve, and can handle a ball and kick splendidly. He should itnprovo greatly on the trip and with Cooke show that wo are much better off for inside back ß than we were a couple of years ago.— "Wanganui Chronicle."

When ho returned to Hawkes Bay recently, Mr. N. M'Kenzie, one of tho selectors of the New Zealand team, jnado some remarks about the work which had been carried out in connection with tho choice of players to represent the Dominion, and about other matters which came under notice while the selectors were on tour through the country. "I can say this* much—we were very pleased with the standard of football displayed in the trial matches," lie said, but added that it would not be possible to reveal the factors; which weighed in the selection or elimination of players heing considered. Every phase of'a man's play, however, was carefully examined, and his strength and weaknesses thoroughly investigated. No man was chosen unless in his own position he was definitely proved, on the evidence available, to be the superior of the others offering.

"In the first place," said Mr. M'Kenzie, ."this is notably a young team, and I think the forwards, at least, are better than those of the original All Blacks that went abroad in 1905. In that team only about two men were over 14 stone, but in this there are seven or eight, and all of them are active forwards. In the 1905 team one man was 33. and the youngest member was 21. In the present team the oldest man is 30, there are two aged 19, and several who are 21 or 20 years old. The backs are somewhat light, but there is youth on the side of the majority, and they may each be expected to put on a stone on the tour. They will then be a fairly heavy set, with the initial advantage of speed, but they yet have to prove themselves as did the backs of the 1905 team, which was helped by a number of seasoned and experienced players whose intelligent advice on tactical questions was invaluable."

[In this year's team there are three men over 14st, and two turn the scales at 14st There are three players whoso age is 19 yeare.—"Drop-Kick."] Regarding the trial matches, ' Mr. M'Kenzie said that an extraordinary amouut of interest was shown at ail places where trials were played. The Wellington crowd proved itself most impartial, with ready appreciation of good play and the finer points of the game. Invercargill, ho considered, was the greatest football town in New Zealand, and the gate at the match played there, though on an off day, totalled £788. The ground at Invercargill was lit by electricity for night practice, with a stand to seat 1800 people, a largo gymnasium, four clubrooms, ambulance-room, and a dozen hot and cold .showers underneath it. Nattyally, the problem of selection necessitated some heavy travelling. Trials were played at Auckland, Wanganui, Wellington, Christchurch, Invercargill, and a lot of ground was covered in between.

"Besides travelling about, and discussing the individual players," lie added, "we had a lot of arranging to do in picking up players here and there. Thus, while on the train we would pick up players for the next match, or send a^ wire to another man and arrange for him to be ready. In the actual selection we were constantly in committee regarding Uib merits of different players, and after each tii.il game we would deliberate for five hours or more over the men for the next team. We have now chosen our team, and I think ib is a good one. Twenty-three- of them leave for Australia on 26th June, play four matches, and return about 20th July. Then on 26th July they leave for England, and will return, probably via Canada, in March or April. And the selectors? Well, it has been'a difficult but, very interesting tusk selecting these All Uly.-ks. and 4a a memento of our resrionailiiliUes we are each i.o receive an autographed photograph of the team, which should bu a, souvenir worth having. '