N.Z. RUGBY TEAM

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 51, 29 August 1934, Page 11

N.Z. RUGBY TEAM

AUSTRALIAN STANDARD HIGH

t " -SOME HANDICAPS

"ur "We are home without .bringing tho iijißledisloe Cup back with, us, but we are ..>}/.not disgraced by any means," was the sj.7; cheery comment of Mr. A. J. Geddes, manager of tho New Zealand Rugby -j : team, on the team's return from Australia today. Neither he nor the xuem- ;*•;. bors of the team showed any signs of <i <Jt dismay at not having succeeded in rei -, tajning possession of the Cup, it being ~;•■; recognised'by one and all that the visit, ■";■:■ with, its results, would be of iucalcu- .. -lable benefit to tho Rugby Union game ~r (i u Australia. Surprisingly, strong, opposition had been encountered, there l!': being no doubt in the mind's of those " who had had previous opportunities of •. .. studying Rugby football in Australia . .-■■■ that th,e standard had improved greatly, "an advance. attributed in part to' tho 3: Australian tour of South Africa. : DIFFICULTIES ENOOWTEKED. '.'V... The tour, from which the team re- '■'"■ turned today, had been v rush from ' >J start to finish, and that possibly had "'■■-Hs. effect-upon ■■■performance. On the Vi day after arriving in Sydney tho team ~ • had to proceed-to Orange for a match, ' '"' return, to' Sydney and play two matches '■' in three days, and, then, after the :-; Test, go to. Brisbane for two matches "'there before returning to New South Wales for a minor match and then the -'second Test. On the morning of the second Test the members of the party ""; had to hustle around making all their '">■ preparations to leave directly after the -"• match on the return trip to New ZeaJiibd. In the midst of it all the players, as one remarked, would wake up ■'"' to the fact that they had to play foot"ball—a Test at that—in the afternoon. ,"'"' Another unfortunate circumstance was '-" that tho team was fairly hard hit by "';' influenza, and there was also a bad •'■- stroke of misfortune in tho fact that ';!' H F McLean was laid up for tully "'■ half the period of the tour. -'■■ "It was evident from remarks by ? J members of the party that tho reiereel'° ing in general presented a further dif- ' - liculty. Many of the isterpretatons of the rules were hard to follow. -The ": first Test was absolutely apode*by the •,:i referee in allowing the Austiahan ::; hooker to hook 'the ball illegally, said •■ Mr Geddes. "We simply could not, ' ' gctthi ball in the first Test through v the illegal tactics of the hooker in ad- ■'■=- vancing Ms foot beyond the imap*"* |t; line before the ball was in and then . swinging his foot back to hook as the ■• ball canie in. Tho referee in last Sat- "■' urday's Test, however, gave us an even '"'break in the scrums. The referee of "•• both matches at Brisbane gave quite -"'■ a good interpretation; ho was the, best •■' .of the referees who had been appointed ■f ?£.the matches on the tour. ' It was -R pointed out, however, that the want >-: of Australia's performance was fully ■' veepgnised, and the hospitahty accorded .'■' the tourists was wonderful.

■"'' \ TEAM'S RECORD. r-.V The team's record-for-the hurried :''; lour -u'as 03 follows: —■

v. Western Districts, at Orange, won "^Ne'w South Wales, at' Sydney, won ISv\ CNew South Wales, at Sydney, won

••■: v. Australia,.at Sydney,,lost U-f-V 3 v Queensland, at Brisbane, won 31-14. • h;' ...y: Ar,; Australian 'XV, .at: Brisbane. •■'••' woii.ll-G. ' ■ ;. , ■ '• o . „ ■• ■' v. Newcastle, at Newcastle, won 00-3. • • v. Australia, at Sydney, drawn o-i. ;:"' Summary: Matches played 8, won 6, -:. lost 1, drawn 1: points for 176, points ■'■■'■'' azainst' 90. '■'i 1: Most1 of the members of tlio party •'•^ returned fit and well. D. Max and M. '■'•'; Gorner. however, wero still suffering •>•'" from: the effects of an attack of influJ '= enzayand A. Knight was troubled by '■'a broken blood-vessel in one ot his "y legs. The captain, F. D. Kilby, mdi-j-''l' catedthat the knee injury which kept 'F-;i'' him out of the first Test was in no way ''■''■ serious. Apportion of the kneo bad ■ '■' been sprained and rest had been neces- '; sary. 'H. F. McLean had never been lir! himself on the tour, and had been 1 ; confined to bod, for thirteen of the '■•:■• twenty-six days in Australia. Others, -;! too; had been-affected by influenza and '"-' minor injuries, but had recovered. ;" . -'' 'ON CREST OF A WAVE. " or "We have had a wonderful time, '• V tlioflgh the tour has been hurried," said the captain, F. D. Kilby, in an in- ...■ 'terview with a "Post" representative. V-..; "Except at Orange and Newcastle, wo ••,?. met very strong opposition all the . •'- way. It was a. revelation to us. : The is very high at the, present ■i: time, there is no doubt about it. Oyer ..-.'• there thoy have good players coming ■<n ■ dri, and it is apparent that the tour,to ',: South Africa has been of benefit. They • ; have had a good club season, getting ,'■:•■ twice as'many followers at club games :■•,-■. than we do here. The game definitely -,i is on the crest of a wave. The greatp,i ost thing we noticed was the improvey. ••■ niont in' tlieir forwards. Since their ?.■■» tour to South Africa they have learnt to become excellent scruinmagcrs." Of the play in the main matches, the New Zealand captain said that in the w first Test New Zealand seemed to have ?r° the game well ia hand, .but there was y'- an' unaccountable falling-off in the ef>:ii I'ectiveness of the scrummage work in f's the "second spell, and immediately New. Zealand began to lose possession the ■'■i* .Australians took scrummages instead <-*' of liWouts, ,in : which the tourists '.*£ were showing t'd advantage^ It was •i;'»- realised subsequently that, the scrums '•- not tidying worked smoothly, the'tour- •-•■ ists would have to get right down to ''*'■ business, and a good team talk at Bris- '" bane was profitable. In the second ;"» Test the team went very well. In the '"'''■< second spell they did everything but "!'-' score, and it-was heartbreaking to'ie- ' ceive check after check when on the ' -"point of scoring. ! "We definitely beat 7" them in the forwards in tho second- - spell," said the New Zealand captain, 'but you have to hand it out to them •'■ (the Australians) for the wonderful "' way'in which their defence'stood up '' to it. For twenty-fivo minutes when " we were constantly on attack their dc- ' "fence never looked'like crumpling." 1' Kilby paid special tribute to the -per- -: formanees of • Lewis (a Queensland back), and Bridle, Hodgson, and Jessep ■ (forwards). Bridle was 'outstanding in the forwards,/and was ablo to '■ take his place as a back when Boss was1 in- ■' jured for, a time; it was no trouble to ' him to play as a back. Jessep, formerly •; of Wellington, played well, and. led the Australian forwards splendidly. He was a tower of strength to thorn, and kept them-together when things were going badly for them. Tho hospi-' tality extended to the team, ho added,: had-been unbounded. The conduct of '""'• the team had been exemplary. *! > . MANAOEB'S COMMENTS. ", ■ v Mr. A. J. Geddcs said that, the team ,•'. had been quite a happy family from ■". start to finish of the tour. There- Ijad been no dissension, and all-had taken the decisions of the selection committee in the best of spirit. There was no . .toubt that Australian football had' gone ahead by leaps and bounds, the : advance in the play of tlie forwards being specially noticeable. However, they still played tho winging game. : -"Two men were definitely out ngniust : us in.ttio Tests anrl in tho nuifcli with an Anstralian. teaiu at Brisbrnie ; " he I

remarked, "but wo . never attempted to play tho wing game. AVo kept religiously to our promise to play bright, open football, a. promiso which was made on the understanding that. our opponents would do the samo." He mentioned that the referees' interpretations were hard to follow, and then, referring to the Tests, stated that New Zealand was definitely on top last Saturday, the Australians ■entering New Zealand territory only three tunes in the second spell. What impressed him more than anything elso on tho tour was the fine type of people behind the game in Australia.