ONE MAN SHORT IN SECOND SPELL ALL BLACKS BEAT GRIQUALAND AFTER HARD MATCH. .

Greymouth Evening Star, 22 August 1949, Page 8

ONE MAN SHORT IN SECOND SPELL ALL BLACKS BEAT GRIQUALAND AFTER HARD MATCH. .

[From

CLAUDE KING,

N.Z.P.A. Correspondent with the All Blacks]

KIMBERLEY, August 20.--Two brilliant tries, in which M. P. Goddard played the dominant part, gave the All Blacks a narrow wm over Griqualand West today by 8 points ( a try and a goal from a try) to 6 (two penalty goals). Goddard, who broke a bone in his wrist early in the tour, has played outstanding football since his return to the team last week. On Wednesday he scored a clever opportunist try and today he outwitted the defence with his speed off the mark and clever dummies.

In the second spell the All Blacks dominated play even when Thornton had to leave the field with a pulled leg'muscle. Griqualand West led 6-5 until the last few minutes, but thfe Goddard brothers were responsible for a clever move which resulted in Henderson scoring.* The teams were:— All Blacks

Full-back: J. W. Goddard. Three-quarters: W. A. Meates, M. P. Goddard, P. Henderson. . Five-eighths: K. E. Gudsell, N. W. Black. Half-back: W. J. N. Conrad. Forwards: R. A. Dalton, N. L. Wilson, K. L. Skinner, L. R. Harvey, M. J. McHugh, P. J. Crowley, P. Johnstone; N. H. Thornton. Griqualand West

Full-back: Van de Schyff. Three-quarters: Roetzee, Duvenage, Human, Frylink. Halves: Botha, Van de Heever. Forwards: Front row, Spengler, Louw, H. Hummel; middle row, Evans, T. and G, Nieuwoudt, Jansed; back row, A. Hummel. The first spell was confined mainly to the forwards. Griqualand West had one great opportunity to score when A. Hummel, a back row forward, made an excellent run from loose play, but missed scoring. The All Blacks also missed two tries, one when Thornton made a nice break and passed forward to Meates, and one when Conrad dashed round a scrum and passed to Johnstone, whose dive for the line missed 'by inches. Griqualand finished three points up in this spell after an excellent penalty goal by the Springbok full-back, Van der Schyff. In the second spell the ball got out to M. P. Goddard more smartly and he put New Zealand ahead with a brilliant run from about half-way. He had Henderson in support and only Van der Schyff to beat. He drew the full-back and then sold him a perfect dummy to race over under the posts. J. W. Goddard converted. Conrad was penalised on his own twenty-five for not putting the ball in properly. Van der Schyff, whose kicking was one of the features of the match, goaled and Griqualand led 6-5. In the last few minutes, J. W. Goddard moved up and drew the opposing centre. This gave M. P. Goddard the gap he needed. He burst through with thrilling pace, raced to Van der Schyff and passed to Henderson. For a moment it looked is if he had passed too soon, but Van der Schyff erred in not diving. He tried to push Henderson out, but the winger managed to crash over inches from the corner flag for an unconverted try.

All Blacks One Short

In the last few moments Van der Schyff tried to snatch victory with long drop kicks at goal, but missed. The victory was hard-earned but welldeserved, particularly as the All Blacks had to play one short for the greater part of the second spell. Thornton pulled a leg muscle after making a desperate effort to haul Van der Schyff down. During this period Dalton was seen at his best a.s the pack-leader. He drove through in the middle of the pack and showed a real leader's resource. He received grand support from Skinner, McHugh, Crowley and Johnstone, while Wilson also played a fine game. The forwards did well to come through so well. They were opposed by a heavy, yet surprisingly mobile pack. Griqualand had a slight edge on the All Blacks in both scrums and lineouts. In fact the All Blacks surprised by holding their opponents in the second spell with only seven men. Conrad showed flashes of his New Zealand form with some quick dashes round the scrum, but his passing was erratic. Black did well under these conditions and Gudsell also acquitted himself soundly. The whole threequarter line looked dangerous when opportunities came its way. The outstanding players for the heme side were Van der Schyff, Duty-

enage and A. Hummel. Van I 'der Schyff did some tremendous kicking for touch, but the All Blacks appear to have found that his tackling, when under pressure is weak, Duvenage is in his last season of first-class Rugby, but is still a fine footballer with deceptive pace. Hummel was included in the list of Springbok possibles announced after the Pretoria trials and is among the best back-row forwards in South Africa. A record crowd of 14,000 saw the match. The weather was brilliantly line, but a strong breeze cooled an otherwise very hot day.

Early Griqualand Success The All Blacks had the use of the wind in the first spell. The first incident of note was a dash up the centre of the field by A. Hummel, who sent the ball to his backs. The position looked ominous for the All Blacks, but Frylink was pushed into touch eight yards from the corner. Black was responsible for relieving the situation and a good kick by Henderson took play to Griqualand’s twenty-five. For the next 15 minutes play seesawed, with both packs striving hard in the loose. Van der Schyff opened the scoring when he kicked a fine penalty goal from wide out. Griqualand was having the better ot the scrums and the line-outs, and when New Zealand won these the ball came back too slowly. As a result both Conrad and Black came under a lot of pressure. Conrad evaded this when he slipped smartly round the short side of the scrum and sent the ball infield to Johnstone, who hurled himself at the line, but just failed to cross. Griqualand was penalised, but J. W. Goddard took so long in taking the kick at goal, because of the difficulty in digging the hole, that the referee disallowed it and Griqualand cleared from the resulting scrum. From a throw-in M. P. Goddard received the ball in chain-passing for the first time and went for a gap, but lost the ball just as he looked clear. Then Thornton made a fine run from a ruck, but his pass to Meates. who had a clear run, was forward. Early in the second spell Wilson made an excellent break up the line from a line-out and passed to Meates, who was pushed out near Griqualand’s twenty-five. •From a throw-in Crowley burst through, supported by N. H. Thornton. The ball was kicked over the line. Thornton made a desperate effort to reach it, but fell and Van der Schyff cleared. Thornton had to be carried off the field with a pulled leg muscle. Excellent Forward Play

Tins necessitated a reshuffle in the All Blacks’ scrum, Johnstone going to the side tow. Conscious of the big task ahead, the All Black forwards made a rousing el fort. Skinner, McHugh and Dalton were in the thick of everything. Griqualand won a scrum and screwed it, but lost the ball. Conrad snapped it up and set the backline going. M. P. Goddard saw a gap, flashed through it and then swerved on the inside of Van der Schyff to score under the posts, J. W. Goddard converting. In the next few minutes Van der Schyff had two long .drop kicks at goal. Both, however, were good attempts but missed. However, he received a much easier chance when the All Blacks were penalised in a scrum on their own twenty-five, and kicked a good goal. Up to this point the Griqualand backs had rarely looked like penetrating and it seemed that the match would be won with penalties. However, just before time the All Blacks’ second try, in which the Goddard brothers played the leading part, resulted in the All'Blacks taking the lead. The game ended shortly afterwards.

Impressive Record Since the World War, Griqualand West has had an impressive record against overseas teams. It beat the 1919 New Zealand Army side, but the 1928 All Blacks avenged this defeat. However, Griqualand West have since beaten the Wallabies in 1933, and Sam Walker’s British team in 1938.

The two Griqualand West locks, T. and G. Nieuwoudt, are two of the biggest footballers in South Africa, being 6ft 7in and 16st 111 b and. 6ft lin and 17st 101 b respectively. The scrum averaged just on 15st.