RUGBY

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 56, 15 September 1928, Page 22

RUGBY

- ■ ■ 'C my "Dkofkick" ,

. . ; NEARING THE END ;.,. .SEASON'S LAST EVENTS KETUEN..OP ALL BLACKS . AVith the South.African tour over and. the Test rubber between New South lVrAtkles and New' Zealand decided, the oirsoSeason.'s big- events aro. ended, :ilX' '■''• though intei-provineial matches 9ml the Raines of the New South ,^ij %?alos to^r" will Still claim tho interest >':■• ;'-of'rKugtiy followers, for a week or two.. ''% At^the present time Wellington has a "^'.representative team .fulfilling engage- "" --merits in the.South.lsland. It had a win over South Canterbury on AVednes--'—rliiy, and is meeting Otago at Dunedin .. „to-day, after which the following '■« wilfbe played: v. Southland, £.' at Invereargill on Wednesday; v. Can- :": terbury, at Christchurch next Saturday. To-day's events included the third Test £ between Now? South Wales and New 9, Zealand, at ..qimstchurch; the Nelsoii- ;~ AVellington'" match/ af Wellington; and *X Ihe Banfurly Shield match, AVairarapa S v Manawhenua, at Carterton. A spe- :£ cial'attraction"'' fur "local enthusiasts-will ip bo'staged lit'"Athletic Park next Satur- :?' clay, a New Zealand team made up cn!S; tirely of Maori players meeting the "'r Now South, fettles team. '.The visitors i?" from.'Australia have demonstrated' all :£ along tho line that they are out to throw ;v:: the ball about, and, with Maoris also ;T' having a leaning towards 'spectacular.. i£ play, the game next Saturday should XV be of delightful order. ;>2 The. All Blacks are returning from Lj South Africa by the Ceramic, which will 'iS carry thorn (is1 'far' as- Sydney. The '§;' vessel is calling at"-Albany,; Adelaide, $ and Melbourne "en route, -and arrangc'f nients are being made at tho last-named i£' port for a inatelt. with tlicNcw.Zealand;p crs. This ganje will .only, bo played* £ provided that' it (locs ndt prevent the X touring team from rejoining the vessel ;S- at Melbourne. It has been set down '.« for the 29th September, and this is the r «.,ilay on which..the Ceramic is .now .due '"!« Melbourne/so: that'the playing of' tho match is not. yet certain. The All ™^lacks sfiouTd* fb"e "back" in Now Zealaftdabout the 9th October. Hawkes Bay v. Wellington. i '• Wellington's first win over Hawkcs f Bay for seven years was achieved last p Saturday againat a side which was a far •■ remove from that of the long period \- when Hawkes Bay successfully defendy od the Eanfurly Shield against all cowl^s. There was material in the Bay j. team, however, to make for a good per-s-.iormanee, as.vthere was in the Wellingwere, spoilt by the |?yprst: weati^^oxperienced for football. S-ii1' Welli#gt»h- this.' season.: AH things |O^nsider,eJ»^'the .'players idid. vtelKtnidej-.': |i}sie- cireumSto3i'e;ea'?t«..make ■the •• game imlirestit^^it^flttiiip;- yawing .fortunes, fjfi.d'-up: tpf".<i(tjlte'':S'iil'.'exeitiaig. finiste; I'liViohe of':;:t)je':begt features" of the game :^s; the^riorpiance-o.f the .respective pf^l-back.si'i.v.Mcazlcwood and Yates. '^gainst'•the'^itr'png.windy-both of them : %d;fremajjta^y'^ll; in fact, their, dis-. ;-S')laya ''wer^nito "tho-best seen ..in -.AVel-. : kjSigton -Season; ' -Hqazlewood - was; |#he bet&i\%^tlie.. two, and.he can .bo: -Unlucky, in not being chqssVn- as''f«lS^aoW;'-for -New Zealand's.te'am: :<'iigainsiINcw:-:SrMt>\- Wnles. It will be ytfemembere^ths.: :*V- player was well ;>ju- '...the-. .running fot Cm '?■*'*>•-".. in the j%few.- &ea|i^jid.'tcam for South., Africa, ]wut;-;ha^^|fef;<baa "liick. to be injured, Ff.B6raiiffMl»^elUfi|ton'; p; a .elc'Leys'gaVe! iJMian;'C'6taaSMi^ao'Ke:.Jn ..otUcrj-epresen:. tative games. Chancy was again conspicious for some flashy efforts, but was inclined, to attempt too much on his own. However, this was excusable on ■ the day. r . .., „ •-; ... The Biijiibaclca',who impressed most., were Anstis (half) and Setford (fiveeighth), both of,. ;whom got ■''■through; a lot of good work. Although small they were very nippy. -„ Among- the. Hawses Bay forwards there was no better toiler than M'Kay. 8. Gemmell was a good leader, and seems to be retaining his form well. As usual iriessnprwaa^a-SolidiTCorkex ia the. Wei-. JUrigton pack, but, .inpst of the forwards . 'Showed up^aVtimes'in"'-:^^ loose, -aa-did- ,: those on the .Hawkes Bay_ side. Both i packs had^}-. harcf^jaftornoon's work, iind they cnifjjod it'%t, itt.commendablu. :j^flihiori. K.;^ '■';'"/■/•' '-';■'•.'■., ';'•■'■. ;i' : Wucli Discussed Teatuws. : ,':\.,-;] -. '.'; %\ Bevicwing theiplay'o'.f tlie-'Ncw, Zea-' '"'|Sand Eugby teaittin South "Africa, Mr .' - 4w. M. Howard, the critic who alsofbi- : 3'fpwed the All Blacks on their English' tur states:— , '. ■!.'•> "There is no doubt that tho:;two : Ijijiost discussed features of the „ All iijfelaeks' play on. this tour hayerbeoiii; Jfflj (1) The consistently fine backing Vup; 3s»y forwards and backs alike, '■;.".',:..-' -^. fe} (2) Stewart's novel seruntpiagt)|fphanoeuvre to secure the loosehead; Ujid-;-"S'fo help in, his front row's hooking■'ofj; ifthe balL ''- :' ■ '•; ■ft "After many lengthy mscusaions oflil|he latter poftit I.still hold-to my Original opinion, that ,Stewart 's pro•T;iseedmg is illegal,' "because ,if constii l^iutes definite bbstrnctibn of the oppos: «|}jng hooker when' he brings his outf ; *?iide leg right across the front of tho ?|«pposing first row. But I think his %'ihanoeuvre could also bo attacked tuite legitimately "on the score that he: „,.imself cannot legally hook tho ball /Jjijijs he frequently, does do, and secondly, !-.i'lthat his alignment in respect to f;he ijitest of the scrummage is at times frankIlly illegal. \ ■:■■:■:' '&. "As for the';. All, Blacks' intensive ijifcacking up, it'; iiß-: admitted everwhere li'jihe team has proved to be quite de-j .'jgEnitely superior to anything of the i'Viame kind to bo found- in South Afri•'j'vpan Bugby. That is the one point on l&vhieh it can safely :bo said that -the lijNew Zoalandei's "liave something' to' 'Seach us in this.country. But it ■ ismot a thing to^e. loaintiii a-day. It jjjas to become abs'olut'cly second nature jsJ!o a player to back up all the time piefore he can be really effective. S! "How often, in the course of this. $our alone, have we not seen :i home '•^entre breaking through and.finding totally; (Unsupported, or an in•Jjjiide niaii"-,slp,wißg .up after passing to ■Ij!hiß wing'instead of running on ready 'jfror the! 'fctul'n'"pass.""" South Africa tmst have won the last..Test had Vim er Weatijuizeu-. been backed up-as the ■jjA.ll Blacks' back up. There is this to be ,'i'^f'aid,~of- co4jrSp.,,that .as.regards the backs ■^he New ..Zealandcrs' much straight.er r t ilignmentJii!ai4es' close support of one j^iinother, in;-, the .'..centre, especially, an ijicasier task than it is, with the orthodox jflsouth African or British, aligmenta •j^vhich is'uSua'lly much' deeper. I^ll Black^'ift'ttfe^kud.i ': ■ ''• ifV For seventeeu hours prior to the ijeturn match between the All Blacks j.#nd the Borden-at.King AVilliam's Town jjiast month rain fell steadily, an'd'dur'ing the game a fine drizzle, turned to a irregular .downpQur, ■ This was a new exj™gj;ience. "'faXfC iNew Zealanders in j^Pfti^h'-Africa^ but they revelled in the !«o|iditioiiß aud'overwhelmed the opposi- ■ j^jdii to tb6 -■ extent of 35, points to 3. ij^fife following notes, are taken from a 'kiSon'th African '"writer's comment on ''jfjihe gaihe:-~~.v.i;:-"■: . " ■ ii: The All.';:;Blacljfe;»- forwards , simply Revelled. .■.ift\"tlig'.'.lnttd;;.-'ftiul. .every., man .([played re'aljy .Well/-- They, of course, ■Wjoyed cqn^iiclerable freectom...of move'■^jjient as fak'aa. their-orjponcuts' "grip'^ ;;jin them was',.con<:ev'ne(l; but the way '^SSy ■■rm£?h&iA~sml':;fa.st, .kept,.their ■f.cet, and handled really splendidly in

tho prevailing conditions, was worth going, a long way to see. Stewart, as rover, played a -great game. He never attempted to use his now famous loose-head manoeuvre but remained strictly speaking an extrii back—and a very excellent one at that. Four times, early on, ho was penalised for off-side, but his game to-day was in the main emphatically not un obstructionist one. M'William's also-gave a particularly fine ■ exhibition of all-round forward play; iind was in a class by himself I in "dribbling. ' But it would be invidious to particularise further whore all were really good. ■ -Sprang! at scrum-half,- was much -quicker on the ball (and off the mark) on the muddy grojind, than he had been on ii dry one. In consequence, perhaps much less was seen of Lilburne, to whom, from being tho fast breaking, incisive player of four days previously, was' now relegated the role of transmitting agent or connecting link—that is,. speaking generally, for there were occasions when Lilburne broke, and broke well: But on the whole he was very much more subdued; and he, .like. Carleton, was seldom if ever really conspicious in attack. ■ 'Mark.-Nicholls-was again the dominant personality behind the New Zealand scrummage. In M. Brownlio's absence he captained the side, and he was easily tho brainest as well as the most skilful.and incisive,"back on the field. ■ IDveJ-ytliiirg ho 'did..,bore- the hallmark or real class. . . Grenside and Bushbrook were, f:o a .considerable,, extent, flattered" by the weakness .'.of Me..- opposition. Bushbrook was marked by tho forward Nel, all through the second, half, but they both did all. that.'was required of them and tltey. appeared to enjoy themselves hugely. Lindsay again had left his goal kicking ..boots behind, but his touch-finding : was.'as fine as ever. He had not, of course, a great deal of defensive work, to get through, and what he did was in.-' variably excellently done. The-Free State Matcli. :- '.Stbst of the New/. Zealand players ap-' peared to be off colour for the second, match with Orange Free State at Bloc.mfonteinj though-a-win was scored by •15 points to 11. . Jb"*rom comment on tho match it appears that the New Zealand forwards fell below form, though AVard played his best game of tho tour, with Swain the next best. Dalloy was in line ■foi'ttj; Johnson:.haid an oft', day; ..Sheen was knocked out twice before half-time .and. retired justi-after,. the . interval;.. Strang" improved as the game progressed; and Lucas, "who can always be relied upon to do one or two clover things during any match, as he is such an elusive and brainy player," was on tiie whole moderate. It is stated that Bushbrook elected to play his worst game of the tour, being not nearly as dashing or determined as he had shown himself to be previously. He was perhaps still not quite fit. .'.-.iLilburrie fully lived up to his. reputatipn.-'as a sound and good little player, j;lioiigh not as good as Lindsay and only moderate as regards kicking. ,;■■.;. '.•Straije as.-]3a£babjk; v ' :''Sb'me tinie;-after. Kilby was injured durijig ",I;he All-Blacks' tour of South ■Ai-iic^ a;;eail.wja'S:finade upon. Strang to ■gjye'!; relief to;'.'. Dalloy... It was, in tho '. nlatjjir ' with ' /N'orth-Easte.rn Districts -.that S.trang; made his; first. appearance oli/tiie tour as.\ha.lfrbaek,. and comment upoinhis perfoifinbneo: was inude by one ic-ldtle': as follows:"?" Perhaps -.the main. :>lnteres:t of this'?, jflatch from the general ;'-po)n!f-;pf. viowVoi, ihev-tour .centred in the play^of Archie.Strang, tried, for the first; tiiVi'e;-at'scruinialf.' Strang, of course, wasf.well.f.'iyoured.ljy the frequent swift and clean heeling of his forwards, particularly so durin-g the opening half, when this fact must, have proved especially :%5&1_14n giving/him conlidon.ee. .'..l3vfcn f-'jijlo'ssng- for.>, : tt(es ; fei,;|mpb.rtani aids■• to vsuri|«s's. ■ Str.aft^*»oanj(T;s out- of: his trial ;3«itKgvery "rMfi!ste;edit/; He- can now-;1 iKcliiooked' iipflii".as-:'a. 'distinctly useful emergency scrum-half, though his nippincss and dash, together with his general- build, had certainly prepared one -for his succes. in tho position." Form at Burghersdorp. The All Blacks 'defeated "North-East--e'rn Bistricts-.; at' Burghersdorp by 37 -paints" to nil."-'; The following items are taken from comment on the match: '.'Johnson's task was made comparatively easy, and ■' the fly-half (or first five-eighth) showed, on the whole, slightly improved form, but he was still far. from being^.at. his best in. attack,. "Tins did not" prevent Mark ' Nicholls, After.'.a somewhat iiidifferent.start, froiii striking really good—even if not yet his ..-.besiJT-form. After the first ten minutes 'vb.r,'i?o there was. real class, and often. <r,eal-;: genius, in most of-.what he did.' Niphoils, has hardly, becil. played ofteir . enough on this tour to be really in suf-; ■ ficicntly gopcl match, practice to'; do, L.hiniself full justice..;,. To-day" '.he- had ; KpijTiely recovered/ from a shoulder -in-: rju.ry,: B<!stainedat;Pretoria. ' There:could: 'be jap mistaking as to -who was: the "apniiriating .personality "behind-.tho All ■El'ack'&V.,scrui(amage.:, Nicholls's light-: ,--fliiig;ithinking^.h.is clever..change- of dir■.^fclio'tt in attacK,/,andhi.s fine gejieral- : ship-;generally:.;>vere more and more in ie'vMetfce,as the.ganie'progressed." 'v'^W^uCa's—in'vthc' :centro .this- time- I;'a^rS'il6)iial ■' displayed cloyornoss and '.oi^Sifeiless invSttadk, oven if still not 'tqti.i.spuiid in/defence. Bushbrook, on lt|ie';)eft wipgr^ppeared as.at Blo'cmfontjein.ip. i>Q W2lj below form. Ho seeni3 td" have lost much of his earlier dash &ndidetermiriationy and was frequently ■jSlowing. up in', attack-instead o' going ieallyj: hard.. ,vEpbilliard was in very nearliphis .bes^ffmta, particularly in attack;. Lilburne'played on the wliole an excellent game." ' • "The New Zealand forwards, for wiionx ' Stcwatf ■ played' entirely as a rover-and never'.camo in to secure the looee'.head —it was. not necessary on tho day's play—scrummaged well and played a^.fine game also, in tho loosr. Jim Burrows, who ha"d: not been played since the first Transvaal match over seven weeks ago, made an effective front-row partner for Hore. Burrows also played a really good game in the -loose.. ■ Maurice- Brownlie and Finlayson wero much.in .eyidence in the open, as-well Jas doing good- work in the tlght^and Ward was another player to be often seen leading, a, rush.with fine, vigour. Snow/if less• conspicuous, did many .useful and.judicious things, partieulaily at. the linerout." . New South Wales JVisit. In the first two Test games with 'New .-.Zealand tho New South'" AVales team gave a really good account of itself. While not'impressing as a firstclass international .side., it lacks nothing.onl'the score of keenness, and in. making a point-of going for the open game it has won great popularity. In j the stern battle ioV; Test honours this typo of game placed by the visitors would'probably" not have anything like tlid'"'amount of Success as that achieved on the present tour, but, so far as the performances in the first two Tests were* concerned tho record of the visitors should certainly have been better. The teams fielded by New Zealand were, a^ long way short of those which have, usually represented tho Dominion, and against them New South AVales had a little the. better of tho play. The visitors were, certainly unlucky to lose the first Test, and they were very narrowly beaten in the second. Even so, they are not complaining. They are thoroughly enjoying the tour, and the majority of them,' players in tho making as internationals, will bs all tho better-'for: it. The experience on this tour should bo reflected, in the performances of New South AVales and Australian' "sides in "the seasons to come. ' The .following.is taken from a Dunediu account of the second Test, played at Dunedin last Saturday:—The ■tißJJßict'^est .against .;Ncw. South ."Wales was won by New Zealand in a game in

whTi-Ti the Austnn'i.-iris lield tlie lead until, a quarter of aii hour to time. It was a great game to watch, fast and thrilling from beginning to end, and every few. minutes the crowd . ..was on the tip-toe of excitement to watch sonic exciting, movement by one side or the other. And it was a gencruus . sporting, crowd,-ever ready to cheer good flay by. the visitors as much as :.i>y skilful movo or .individual brilliancy by the New Zealandcrs, . The . New Zealand team.owed its win by 1(5 to 11 to its great efforts in tho last quarterhour, when the :pace began to tell on the visitors, who then lost the initiative they had formerly shown of turning defence into .attack. Shattering combined rushes by the New Zealand vanguard took heavy toll in that last quarter-hour. Up till that time the Australians, had undoubtedly had tho better of .- the play, and displayed superior team work,.but they failed towards the finish. In the first, spell the New South Wales 3-2-3 scrum proved superior, and., the Aussie backs had plenty, of. the ball, which they . tossed about fre.ely, though fumbling a good deal at times. The defence of the New Zealand backs was good, however, and they smothered ■■'many rushes. Honours ..in hooking., .were more evenly, shared..-in the second half, New Zealand getting slightly more of tho ball'than their opponents, but the passing of the backs was. not: nearly up.to All Black .standard.-..1t. was-the. New Zealand forwards who. in the end won the victory by their..clashing play towards the finish.. -.'.•. .■.": :.'. - First Border Match. • In the. first match with the Border, tho -Ali Blacks played upon a turf ground which was about the best they had experienced in :South Africa. Tho ground, however, had a decided slope, and the All Blacks played down hill in the first half, when they scored only one try to nil. Playing uphill, the tourists put on 19 more points, und won by 22 points .-to-3; South African comment on the players includes the following items:—"Throughout the match Lilburne at first five-eighth played a dashing game and worked tremendously hard. But during the opening forty he would frequently hold on too long after launching an attack or breaking, and would thus spoil effectively the New Zealandcrs' offensives. In the second half Lilburne, while every bit as thrustful and dashing as before ; played a more helpful game towards his other backs. "One :man, .however, stood out head and shoulders above all tho other backs on the field, and that was Mark Nicholls. No All : Black iive : eighths or centre so far-on,;-this .tour has shown the eombinpd.generalship,' quick thinking, and th'rust,which made1 Mai'k.the; dominating :perspn.ality 'on • the field. Ho inighVJiave' run;into;his best form far sooner had ho been given tho necessary match, practice : In any case, on this form (fot which the Pretoria and Burghersdo.^p^iiuitahes .had. prepared us). ! Niciiolis/^jftcely.;'tpV provo a big thorn in the."si'dc. of S,outh,Africa in tho next Teat.' :;PuffyV;aflY^ted'a great deal of Bpqcia.l:,a'tteii;t;i6u.'.t.o-..him, but it proved of little'ji-jb'a.l''avail!:'■'■. ''Strang; :tlio'ugk'..;.always a trier, is rather ti'a'fcuraJJyi.. still, a, little at tea at the base of-Vflvi!',..scrum mage. More hustled than at -Blirghersdorp, ho was often on tho; slow.*'.sldp%in getting his passes, away-,:'-jt'nd?fin';.;a"efonce it was usually Lilbuf.iie'it'th'e. ' fly-half) who" ! went" down'to stop the rushes. Strang also seemed too often to fall to the temptation of starting off on. his own, and then he would suddenly remember that ho was a scrum-half and pass, the ball out too late. But rinc is.frahk-ly criticisihg him by' the standard of scrum-hal.yea of/'Dalley's class. Strang (lid not,; on the whole,. play anything like a really bad game. Far from it, and more especially, so when one takes the circumstances into account. "Lucas, Carleton, and Grenside just i fitted nicely into tho scheme of things. Their work, excellent though much of it wasjr wa^defiriiftly subservient and I merely complementary to that of Nich-- : oils" and Lilburne; Lindsay was his usual self, in dc.fe.ncc and touch-finding, ' but. hc:'eiJrf;ainly did'"not have his placei kicking -boots on to-day, or the All jßladcs/Vwou'ld havo ..collected another half-.dpzen penalty pointa. But there I again''Lindsay ;lias- set himself a high "standard, and may be forgiven for falling short of it occasionally. "Tho All Blacks' forwards Wero aparticularly fine pack. Horp and Burrows, to my mind, have never played better, and Alley also has raroly, „if ever on this tour, put in a finer aftcr'noon's work. Maurice Browiilie was really good, and very much in evidence, !wMlo Stewart, showed that he is really a. considerably better player in tho back rp\v of the scrum than as a rover or a lobso-Jiead specialist. Hazlett was back in his best form; and M'Williams, even if not outstanding thjs time,'was very' much his usual self. Hazlett/ incidentally had the merit of scoring tjr.o of th'e'flvo tries. Scrimshaw i played frov'er'in the first half—not too successfully. After the interval ho went into the scrummage, after Stewart's example V.to secure tho looso head; But in this also, whatever, the cause, tho result obtained was not too satisfactory.'.'' '','. ■'.-( Alley's Strength. Tho following; item appeared in South African'1 piipers after the AH Blacks had fulfilled their engagement ■at East London last month: —"Dalley, Cyril .Brownlie, Sheen, and Alley, who is down with influenza, have remained behind for an extra day's rest by the sea. It; is to be hoped that Alley will be ;fit"hf timo-for the third Test. He has proved an .absolute tower of strengthito'the-New Zealand pack, and there is .probably not another man in. the side powerful enough to have equalled his feat of playing as lock forward in eleven of tho last twelve matches, and x^laying moreover so consistently well. Sheen and Cyril Brownlie aro still limping; rather,'badly, and neither ■is ;likely.7to: play, again on this tour. Bailey's injury, if such it can be called, is fortunately only of a slight nature," Note's.,".,,-"..- '•" • .Pue of the'modt Unlucky players in South .Africa...during.the tour of the All Blacks' was J. Slater, of Eastern Province. Injuries and indisposition kept him outi;of the 'big matches after the first Test-. >...■■< A note.at the. time ,of the All Blacks' visit to East London early last" month was as.follows: "lan Harvey is down here,' and was..even out at practico this morning, but he-is said to have lost well over. 201b in weight, and his appearance- (iv football kit) certainly suggests that, this is no exaggeration, while he also looks very seedy generally." It is stated that many shrewd judges in South Africi, looked upon Hadley as tho best all-round member of the New Zealand, pack—"'better even than M'Williams, which, is saying a lot," said bno writer.in. referring to Iladlcy as Mpluck personified, even among this fino'body of men."