Rugby Football

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 70, 19 September 1936, Page 23

Rugby Football

(By "Drop-kick.")

DEFEAT OF THE AUSTRALIANS

NEW ZEALAND'S BIGGER TASK AHEAD

. The All Blacks' have been successful in the two Test matches against the touring Wallabies and have Won back the Bledisloe Cup. The result is satisfying, if only because it acts as a tonic after the defeat of the 1934 New Zealand team in Australia. Whether it can be regarded as a happy augury for the tough battles of next year is another question. In the first Test the New Zealand forwards played with; 'uncommon, hstlessness, and there were fears that the day when a New Zealand pack could be relied on completely had passed. Fortunately; more spirit was, shown by the pack at Dunedin last week, andtheir handsome effort in the second spell was sufficient to re-es-tablish their positions. Sofar as the backs were concerned, they stood to it .well in both Tests, the first against wonderfully resolute tackling, andsthe second, when the Wallabies' defence failed a little, in penetrating rushes.' ■ . '■■.<' '.■•■ :

It is possible that the case would not be over-stated in the claim that the •New Zealand three-quarter line last Saturday was the finest, in several years. So far as the inside backs were concerned, they revealed soundness, and in patches brilliance, and Dunedin cheered mightily when C. C. Gillies, its hero, broke through. three! or "four times. .

There is this; point in favour of the -AH Blacks when considering their chances : against the South Africans next year'—that men like Hart, Mitchell, Griffiths, Sadler, McKenzie, Reid, King, Hadley, and Daltpn"are at the end of their third consecutive season, and their difficulties in retaining a ; clear-cut interest in football must have been great.' Each, in either of the two Tests, overcame the disadvantage to give distinguished performances, and each unquestionably will be benefited by the'summer break. SELECTION QUESTION. ! . The New Zealand selection comm'it- ' tee had a difficult task earlier in the season, and the milage each of them travelled mounted into thousands. They will have the same task next season, and they probably hope that they will be as successful as they have during the present season. Nevertheless, it is questionabje whether the* full benefit is obtained, from a selection committee, particularly when trial , matches are held.. The dropping of Killeeh last Saturday, on-the face of things, was not warranted; v or at least no more warranted than the second selection of Rankin, whose performance was considerably poorer than Killeen's in the first Test. :Killeen'this < season has given a series of polished displays, in club arid, representative football, and though club play may not count, -it take* something for a man to turn out every Saturday and continue to show brilliance. Rightly, Killeen earned selection in the first Test, was placed against a he%vy forward who stood on top: of him all day, and was given no

chance'to show his worth. He was 'dropped, ignominiously, from the second Test team. It seems, on the face of things, that 'the selectors have no great faith in Killeen; but in justice to the player himself, they could have-given him ja second chance. SECOND TEST FORM. So far as form lalt Saturday was concerned, the strength lay in the half and three-quarter positions in the backs, and in the forwards. -Wells definitely established himself as an All Black after his first Test display and he ■gave, another fine showing last Saturday. He has the merit of' keen enthusiasm in his play, and he should be useful against the Springboks next year. King and Beid came back from their uninspiring exhibitions of the first Test to show something of the form which won them their reputa- - tions in Britain. . Sadler, too, showed his form, and the manner in which he. dumped Hodgson was one of the highlights of the match; For such a chunky player his fend is amazingly good, and he is, perhaps, one of the most difficult men in New, Ze'aland to stop. Gillies showed flashes, of brilliance arid from an uncertain start finished on splendidly. Griffiths, was > Griffiths—sound, tradesmanlike, wholly reliable. The three-quarter line on the day was an inspiration, with "Brushy" Mitchell performing valiantly. His dive for a try was a classic. He is extremely solid in build and going for the line he is like an express train. Watt and Hart were both fine, with Watt showing up better than in the first Test, his . opportunities being./ greater. Hart showed 1 the quality of experience in all his work, and his try after Storey had missed a specula-, tor in the first few minutes of the second spell really broke the. back of the Australian endeavour..' Pollock went well under the "handicap of an injury. There were weaknesses in the Australian defence which.were an aid to New Zealand, a fact which should not be overlooked. ANOTHER HEW TEST PERFORMANCES Although play in the final "Rugby Test match between Australia and New Zealand,could hardly be described as ■high class, tne second spell when the All Blacks scored 27 points provided many thrills, states the "New Zealand Herald's" correspondent. In this half the New Zealand forwards showed much better combination than that in the first spell arid'gained stretches of ground in short passing. Held, Wells, and Dalton were three outstanding forwards. ■ In the scrums and line-outs the Australian forwards showed to advantage, and in hooking and smart heeling were definitely superior to the opposition. They proved adept in knocking the ball back J from the line-outs to the halfback, but the Australian inside backs lacked thrust and the fast wings were handicapped.

The' half-back, Gibbons, handled cleanly, but lost valuable time in-tam-

ing round before passing. Richards, who replaced McLaughlin in the second spell in the centre-three-quarter position, was easily the visitors' most penetrating back and McLean and Kelaher, wings, ran strongly when opportunities were offered. full- ' back- played well until he foolishly "speculated" in the second spell, allowing Hart to score a gift try. After that he appeared unnerved and .could do ■ nothing right. The All Black backs showed great possibilities. Sadler at half was rarely at fault and Gillies at first fivefeighths was the most thrustful back on the ■ground. He handled cleanly, showed great pace off the mark, arid made several openings that led to tries. The three-quarter line, Hart, Mitchell, and Watt, showed great pace and functioned well, but Griffiths was the weak link and fell far below international standard. He was quite unable to keep up with Gillies, and therefore failed to provide a link between the Otago man and Mitchell,

Watt's try was the most spectacular of the day.' He raced along the touchline from half-way but was brpught down by Storey near the line. He was on his feet in a flash and dribbled over to score at the corner. Pollock gave a fine exhibition at full-back, but made a few blemishes when pressed in the second spell. This, no> doubt, was attributable to the fact that he suffered a shoulder injury earlier in the game.

COACHING AT FAULT ?

Looking back on the international Same between New Zealand and Australia at Carisbrook on Saturday one is left with«an uneasy feeling that the coaching of. the New Zealand team may not be as sound as it should be, writes "Full-back"',in the "Otago Daily

Times." The question which may be asked is why the New Zealand forwards should have invested less dash and energy in their play in the first spell as compared with their .dash and energy in the second. One would expect, with justification, that an international side should be able to play at top'speed right through a game, and that if there is to be any slackening up it should only be excusably in evidence at, the end of a hard afternoon's contest, when maybe a side.- is tiring. Another weakness which was noticeable in both spells was the.ragged work at the scrums, and the uneven hooking by the New Zealand forwards. When, say, the University-or Southern forwards go down to ,a set scrum, one notices a compactness about them which was seldom seen in the scrums last Saturday. This lack of one of the first essentials of good forward play may account for the absence of that smoothness in passing from the scrums to the wing-three-quarters which is x one of the features in the 'play of 'Dunedin teams. My point may be the more clearly demonstrated by the fact that only one try was scored by a New Zealand wing-three-quarter from a bit of concerted , passing through the backs. That was Hart's try in the first spell. Altogether New Zealand scored nine tries, and it must be considered a weakness when only one could be secured by a concerted passing movement in the backs.