MUCH TOO GOOD

Evening Post, Volume CXIV, Issue 42, 18 August 1932, Page 6

MUCH TOO GOOD

BRITISH LEAGUE TEAM

OPPOSITION OVERWHELMED

SULLIVAN'S HUNDEED

GOALS

'As a SMip to the League football code in Wellington, provision, was made irj the British touring team's itinerary., for a special match here with a combined'team in 'which two Wellington players were given places. The event ;was regarded in the light-of <an exhibition, and the:.; formidable tourists certainly made an exhibition of the comparatively weak side pitted against them, romping to victory by a margin ' of. over fifty points, apparently without being extended. To. these accomplished performers, for whose^services big sums (amounting ;tq'four figures:;in some cases) have beet}.paid in England, it appeared iraerej child'fP .play in running up points against aOside; well below, New.: Zealand Test standard, and because -of; the weakness of the opposition the big event did not afford spectators the opportunity they would have liked of being able to determine for themselves the tourists' real merit. It was wholly a onesided affair, the New Zealand team being completely outclassed. The match was played yesterday afternoon on the Winter Show ground, which is leased for the playing of League football in Wellington. The weather was ideal, and the ground" in surprisingly good condition considering the amount of rain which had fallen previously. Several thousand people were present in the stadium, and there were probably as many who witnessed the game' from outside the enclosure, the hillside above the ground providing vantage points aplenty. The appearance of. the .; teams afforded a striking contrast. "Of splendid ; physique, and wearing an attractive white uniform, with a V-shaped red-white-and-blue colouring on the jersey, the tourists looked the part as a great team. The contrast was equally marked with the play in progress. Adept at the passing game, the Englishmen threw the ball about with abandon, and expert in the matter of tactics they outmanoeuvred the Dominion players time and again, always with an eye to the objective even when seemingly hard-pressed —there were such occasions—;on their own line. Not a few scoring movements by the tourists were initiated in their own twenty:five. Intensive backing up was one feature of their display, and it happened almost invariably that no matter how or where'the ball was thrown there was a back or forward to gather it in, the forwards handling as well as the backs. Much of the-passing was of the lob variety and some of it erratic. Possibly the best feature of thevdisplay by the Englishmen was the reverse passing, and with it a touch of genius in the way. in which the direction of the attack was changed... Strong;, determined running was also' a contributing .factor to the.runaway success, Hudson, Atkinson, and Woods appearing as three powerful threequarters, and Brogden, of" lighter build, as a dashing stand-off hah 5. Fender, too, was a conspicuous back; he was taken from the scrum to form an extra link in the v backs. In the full-back position was a famous League figure in Sullivan, captain of: the -touring side, and he added to his fame by completing his century of gaols for the tour. He converted ten tries yesterday. ■■, ■ . . Formidable as was the combined team's task, it was made more so by an injury to the captain, L. Hutt, not-long after the match. : commenced. Hutt Bad a thumb fractured and, of course, was unable to take any further part in the game. There being no replacements,- New Zealand were a man. short, but at occasional intervals one "or otherrpf the 'Englishmen was off the field. ... - Another disappointing feature was an 'overdose of whistle, which meant a frequency of scrummaging. The scrummages averaged about one per minute. Penalties were fairly frequent, and a remarkable thing about the free-kicks, of which there were nearly twenty, was that with one exception they were ggainst the Englishmen* The teams-Vere:— - England: Sullivan (captain); Hudson, Atkinson, Pollard, Woods; Broken, Evans; Williams, Lowe, Wright, Fender, Fildes, Feetham; Combined....... (New Zealand): Simons; Davidson, Hart, Seagar; Smith, Abbott; Hassan; Stephenson, Campbell, Calder, !Moisley t Lawless, L. Hutt (captain). The referee was Mr. A. Harlock (South Auckland) ',' and the linesmen Messrs. P. Ctiilds and 8.. Salisbury. THE RUN OF THE PLAY. The bright sun shone practically straight across the ground, so that it presented $, handicap -to neither 'side, although the Englishmen had it slightly in -their faces. Early incidents were -a breakaway by the Combined forwards from the first scrum of the match and an exchange of kicks between Calder and Sullivan -vvhieh ended decidedly in the: visiting captain's favour. The English backs quickly attempted :to operate as an attacking force, but their first movement was spoilt by a poor pass by Pollard when it seemed that the home team's defence had been thrown out of gear. -/ . ... During the first, five minutes L. Hutt retired with an injured thumb, leaving the Combined team with only twelve men for the remainder of the match. For a period in the first spell "there were only twelve men on each side, -.Pollard leaving the field to receive attention to an injured ankle. OnresumingAhe played mostly at full-back and took little active part in the game. , When'the visitors we're in an attacking position it was usual for one of the wing three-quarters to move into the fiveeighths ,_ line, providing an extra link in the chain. These tactics were responsible for the first try, which Woods scored at the end of a passing bout in .which the snappy exchanges from man to man gave the defence no chance, and were in marked contrast to the efforts of the Combined players, who... were too frequently caught in possession. The first try was scored near the sideline, and Sullivan s kick at goal.was watched with interest. The kick at goal after a try in the League code is carried out under the same conditions as.a free-kick in Rugby, the: kicker placing the ball himself. A short run, and.a, hefty <'boot" sent the ball high and'ctrue between the uprights, and similar efforts .resulted from subse- j quent attempts, VSilllivan being just as likely to miss;.the' easy ones, if any, as those from .'widerbut. WEAK TACKLING. The Combined-teams tackling was by no means all that it should, have been, very half-hearted attempts being made to bring down the man in possession. The side-stepping ability of the Englishmen made' the local players' task by no means an easy one, but there were many occasions when a certain- amount of resolution would have prevented the Englishmen doing as they liked to the extent that was possible. .'The tackling by both sides was generally aimed,at the shoulders or aeck instead of at the legs, the Englishmen apparently-feeling,that there was no need to exert- themselves unnecessarily in this direction. The number.of times that a really good low tackle was brought off .was very Small.; When the tourists have played elsewhere reference has been made to their ability to secure a- monopoly of; the- ball from the scrums, but the Combined team gained a good share of the hooking. honours,1 their failing being in not knowr ing what to do with the ~ opportunities with which-they were presented. Even if they did manage to break'clear on occasions they were generally overhauled by the faster Englishmen. Much of the play took place in midfield, and not a little on the visitors' side of half-way; - ; but the C6mbined team's position was : never really secure, as their speedy opponents were able to initiate scoring movements from any part of the I field. One of these, which was-among the best of the day, came towards the end of the first spell when an Englishman was tackled ia:poiseSsiOT..£eiind.his own goalJme. From the resultant' scrum the' visitors gained possession, and a brilliant,

passing bout carried all before it, Woods receiving the ball at half-way, and showing his pursuers a clean pair o£ heels before touching down between :the posts. The score at half-time was 2G-0 in the visitors' favour, and they more than doubled it in the second spell. Tries were scored by the following: Woods (4), Feetbarn -(2), Brogden (2), Hudson (2), Fender, Williams, and Atkinson, Sullivan converting ten. For the Combined team ! Moisley and Calder scored tries, Seagar converting one. ..The final score was: England 59, Combined team S. Mr. A. Harlock was the referee, :