RUGBY FOOTBALL

Grey River Argus, 15 December 1943, Page 6

RUGBY FOOTBALL

LONDON, Dec. 13. The Royal Air Force Rugby team including 12 international players, defeated a Dominions’ team including 10 New Zealanders, by 8 points to nil, in an immensely hard-fought game. It was only during the last supercharged five minutes that the Royal Air Force, thanks to the flyhalf, Willie Davies, who played brilliantly in 1935 against the All /Blacks managed to turn on th e winning sequence. Previously the Royal Air Force were unable to get their fast elusive backs into action due to brilliant spoiling work by the Dominion playerk, in which J. Phelps, of Wellington, was outstanding. The “Sunday Times” Rugby correspondent described the match: “It was thrilling to watch these Dominion men. They had boundless energy. They were extremely quick to mark, and tackled like demons. It was keenness and speed that prevented them scoring, for at critical moments there would be a knock-on as somebody got in front of the ball.”

The New Zealanders comprised B. Faire, G. Brown, E. Grant (captain), R. Veitch, I. H. Dustin, E. J. Phelps, L. A. Kilgour, W. F. Crist, H. Sturrock, R. A. Dalton. The selection committee after the match picked a combined New Zea-land-Australian Royal Air Force team to play Scotland at Edinburgh on New Year’s Day, the New Zealanders being Grant, Faire, Dustin, Sturrock and Phelps, and reserves, Veitch .and Crist.