“ROUGH AND TOUGH”

Evening Star, Issue 22843, 29 December 1937, Page 1

“ROUGH AND TOUGH”

PHIL MEL WAS TEMPTED LAST TEST TACTICS NEARLY USED AGAINST HAWKE'S BAY In .au interview with the Johannesburg ‘ Sunday Times,’ Philip Nel, leader of the Springbok pack', tells how he held his hand until the last test with the All Blacks, even though he was tempted to make use of the superiority of the Springboks in the set scrummages in the match against Hawke’s Bay. , Nel stated in the interview that he always knew that his biggest trump card was the superiority of the Springboks in the set scrummages. He did not make full use of it until the final test against the New Zealanders at Auckland, although its value had been amply demonstrated in the Sydney mud during the first test there, when the Australians were penned back time and again by tlie grim scrummaging of the South African pack. “I held my hand, so far as making full use of our scrummaging ability, until that final test,” Nel recalled. “ As a matter of fact I was greatly tempted to use it in the match against Hawke’s Bay, who were the last of the stiff provincial hurdles in the path of our making a clean sweep outside the test matdies. That game at Napier was both rough and tough, and I felt the temptation to curb the ardour of our opponents by pinning them down in the scrums. “ But I think I acted wisely in not fully disclosing our hand. _ The result was that when the first Hue-out was signalled in the. final test match at Auckland and we decided to take scrummages instead of _ line-outs, a look of bewildered astonishment came over the All Blacks, which I shall never forget as long as I live. Of course, when we surprised the All Blacks by calling for scrummages, their , whole tactical scheme came tumbling down like a pack of cards.”