“The All Blacks’ Secrecy”

Evening Star, Issue 19894, 16 June 1928, Page 5

“The All Blacks’ Secrecy”

Training Behind Closed Doors

Press and Public Barred

»r«» Association— By Telefirapb-Copyrigli!. JOHANNESBURG, June 15. The Johannesburg ‘Star,’ in a paragraph headed ‘ The All Blacks’ Secrecy,’ says-that the Press and the public were refused admission to the ground yesterday while the All Blacks were training. Once the All Blacks were practising no one was allowed to watch the ploy except the more ardent spirits, who craned their necks through the doorway or watched the visitors from the distance of the fence. This is probably the first time that any team, whether football, cricket, or tennis, which has ever visited South Africa has practised behind closed doors. THE FIHLAYSON INCIDENT A correspondent., writing to tho ‘Star’ on the sportsmanship of tho crowd, makes atrappeal to Rugby spectators. Ho says he hopes that at next Saturday’s match the crowd—or rather the booing section of tho crowd which made so painful an exhibition of itself last Saturday—will show a little more true sportsmanship. “Crowds at cricket and tennis matches' in South Africa aro the most sporting ever seen, but the same cannot be,said of certain Rugby enthusiasts. 1 - was an eyewitness at'fairly dose quarters of tho regrettable incident last Saturday, and it seems to me, and to others w ho were in the vicinity, that Finlay son received the grossest provocation. That did not justify him striking, hut in view ot his handsome apology and taking all tho blame on bis shoulders the tact referred to should be known. The referee, who did not see what occurred before Finlayson’s action, subsequently behaved in none too tactful a inannei, quite unnecessarily drawing much attention to the ordering-off incident. Such incidents and tho circumstances which give rise to them are unfortunate enough in matches between teams drawn from the same country, hut doubly unfortunate when the match is between a lioinc team and visitors from another country. It such things aio going to happen in future amid such semi-hysterical and unsporting demonstrations as wo saw last Saturday from a section of the crowd, the sooner wo cease to invito teams to conic to South Africa the better; otherwise those interdominion fixtures will end in engendering not good feeling, but bad.” HAVING A GOOD TIME The members of the All Blacks who did not play at Kroonstad stayed at Johannesburg, going through intensive training and playing tennis and golf. The team is being generally feted and entertained in lavish style. They visited tho Crown gold mine this morning, and were taken down tho shaft. INJURED PLAYERS Several players aro suticriiig from injuries. Harvey has a torn muscle in his leg, Lindsay a damaged knee, Burrows injured ribs, and M’Gregor an injured back. All are making a quick recovery. Most of tho players play with bandages. TEAM FOR THE RETURN MATCH Tho team for the return match against Transvaal is as follows: FULL-BACK: H. LILBURNE 11.2 (Canterbury). THREE-QUARTERS: A. C. C. ROBILLIARD 11.8 (Canterbury). s. R. CARLETON 11.8 (Canterbury). B. GRENSIDE 13.6 (Hawke’s Bay). FIVE-EIGHTHS: W. A. STRANG 11.4 (South Canterbury) . L. M. JOHNSON 12.3 (Wellington). HALF-BACK: W, C. DALLEY 10.10 (Canterbury). FORWARDS. G SCRIMSHAW 12.6 (Canterbury), J. HORE 12.12 (Otago). H. J. SWAIN 13.2 (Hawke’s Bay). M. BROWNLIE 14.3 (Hawke’s Bay). G. G. ALLEY 15.7 (Canterbury). B. FINLAYSON 15.4 (North Auckland). R, F. STEWART 15.1 (South Canterbury). W. HAZLETT 14.7 (Southland), ■ —Australian Press Association.

THE TRANSVAAL FIFTEEN ONLY ONE ALTERATION [Spfcul to Press Association.] JOHANNESBURG, June 15. (Received Juno 16, at 9 a.m.) Tho transvaal team for to-morrow is':— BACKS. Richter, Prinsloo, Dobic, Raath, Libonberg, Devine, Kotze. FORWARDS. Kruger, Mortimer, Oliver. Prctorious, Van Druten, Botha, Nyknmp, Straeban, or Ycalc. The only alteration from hist Saturday’s team is the exclusion of Geere, who was injured. Gecro was tho man concerned in tho Finlayson incident. A CRITICAL TEST UP AGAINST A MASTER PACK The match is a critical test for the All. Blacks. Tho form shown to-mor-row should reveal the tourists’ chances in the international matches. After the All Blacks’ convincing display at Kroonstad the team has more confidence in its capabilities than previously. If they get a reasonable share of tho ball from tho scrums the New Zealanders should win, but their hookers arc up against a master hooker in Kruger. In fact, they are up against a master pack. Supposing the All Blacks get as much of the Ball as they did against tho Orange Free State, and tho backs arc in equally as good form, they should win comfortably. With tho exception of Johnson, who has nasty abrasions on his legs, tho New Zealand foam for to-morrow is sound. Devine, the brilliant Transvaal scrum-half, is still suffering from an injury received last week; otherwise .tho Transvaal team is in first-class condition. “SHINERS” THE TROUBLE BROWNLIE A PURE INDIVIDUALIST CAN ONLY WIN WITH PACK WORK (Special to the ’Stas.’] AUCKLAND, June 16. In the course of a column article in the ‘Herald’ “Old Player and Referee” says; “Defeated in tho scrum, the All Blacks tried the 3-2-3 formation, although it has been proved beyond all doubt that tho 2-3-2 wedge is the better one. I believe it is worth a stone a man, provided the. scrum packs down properly, and every man does his bit. My idea about the initial failure to get the ball was that the ‘shiners’ were not putting in their weight. Tho All Black team is led by a forward who is a groat and often successful individualist, but ho would be a better forward and a better captain if ho followed the old and welltried doctrine of pack play, and insisted that other dashing individuals did so; but I am afraid that a forward, having once developed tho habit of disappearing from tho scrum too soon, and mixing himself up with tho backs, cannot be cured, and therefore I do not think our team has reached the end of its defeats.

“ I once suggested to a forward that he should get into tho scrums more than he had been doing, and his reply was that although he knew tho proper game he also knew that ho would not catch the selector’s eye if he did. So there you have, in a nutshell, the reason why the game to-day is not tho game of the 1905 All Blacks. “If the forwards play as a pack should play there need be no revision of our formation system; but as long as there is a single forward not packing down properly tho hookers aro not being given a fair cbancc, particularly when up against tho kind of weighty men South Africa puts in tho field; and I am afraid that this has boon our weakness.”