RUGBY

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 23 January 1926, Page 10

RUGBY

GREAT RUGBY FLAYERS OF TO-DAY. (Bv O. A. Kershaw, the famous English International half-back.) In giviug in this article some thumbnail .sketches of great contemporary plavers I do not want it to be taken that the list I have chosen is exhaustive. There are many rising stars in the Rugger firmament, -though things appear for the moment rather overcast m Wales, where, I regret to say, I cannot descry a single player worthy, in my opinion, of the adjective great. It is absurd to think that this is any other than a passing phase, for what would Rugby football be without it.Welsh traditions, and the great influence left u.pon it by such masters as Gwvn Nicholls, R. T. Gabe, Llewellyn, Teddy Morgan, T. H. Vile, Percy Bush, Owen and Jones —one of the greatest half-back pairs in the history or uc game —Bancroft and Joe Rees? Yes, Rugby in Wales “is not dead, but sloepetli, ” and if only Welsh clubs can cut out. the canker of close play and revert again to the glorious open game that put Wales on top of all the other Eugbv nations in years gone by, we shall see the golden age return.

A World Fifteen. To come back, however, to the topic under discussion. If you were choo.--ing a world XV. to-day, what players would you select for inclusion from the British Isles? „ My first choice, assuming that both men"were fit and well, would be a pair of English forwards, Wakefield and Gcoffrev Conway; I would rank both these players in the same class as Maurice Brownlie and Jock Richardson, though all four have- their points of contrast and dissimilarity. Two Great Forwards. “Wakers, ” ns lie is known to every Rugby player, is not only a magnificent scruinmager, but one of the speediest forwards in the open the game has produced. He did not reach his best form against tbe Ail Blacks, largely because he was doing a lot of work late at night reading for examinations, a'rnl I believe the All Blacks were rather disappointed with him. But that was only—as Mark Nicholls told me—in a comparative sense, for his all-round play impressed them very much. “Walters” always plays at his best when unfettered by the cares of captaincy, which are apt to weigh rather too heavily on him. He is, however, • great leader of forwards, ns anyone who remembers the way lie handled the Light Blue pack in the ’Varsity game of 1922-23 will recall. As for his speed and his cleverness in baclting-up, no praise can be too high. lam sure no faster forward has ever worn an international cap.

A Cambridge Stalwart. Geoffrey Conway is a worthy product of the great school of Cambridge forwards. Never a “showy” player, he appeals more to the keen student of the Rugby game than to the average Satur day afternoon spectator. He is, of course, a magnificent, dribbler, and wherever the ball is, and tbe fray is thickest, there he is to be found. I do not suppose anyone knows more about the technique of forward play, and there is no department of that difficult art in which he is not effective. Watch him on the line-out, especially in close work when the other side are near lvis goal-line; then you will see what close marking means, and how a forward can save his side when things are going badly. Conway is, I suppose, the best, all-round forward playing Rugby to-day. The next player I would have on my side is A. 0. Wallace, the Oxford and Scottish wing three-quarter. “John” Wallace was. I think it is generally admitted, the star of the brilliant Oxford three-quarter line of the last three years. He has the Lowe mannerism of doing a lot in a narrow compass and is very strong on his feet and a. sure'tackier. The only weak point in his game is his kicking. A Great Centre. Next to Wallace I would plump for that other great Scottish-Oxonian, Cr. P. 8. Macpherson. Hero is a really great, centre, who touched liis best form last year. Nothing finer in the way of centre three-quarter play has been seen for many years than his display in the Oxford and Cambridge match last se.:son. Macpherson had the distinction of getting his international cap as a freshman. He has a curious “flatfooted” way of getting about the field, which is apt. to make you think him rather on the slow side, until you find yourself given the job of trying to prevent. him cutting through. At this he is without an equal among contemporary centres, although A. L. Gracie runs him close.

The Art of Grade. Grade is another centre I would choose for a Work! Fifteen. The worn brilliant is particularly applicable to this brainy Harlequin, so reminiscent in many ways of Ronnie Poulton, especially in his curious trick of throwing • his head well back when on the move. ' Grade is not a great tackier, Put what he lacks in this he makes up in his defensive kicking; and I know no modern centre who can give more perfect passes to his wing. As a matter of fact, Grade has “made” more than one wing three-quarter—notably B. L. Jacot, the old Oxford and Harlequin wing, R. H. Hamiiton-Wickcs and E. H. Liddell. Down in Wales they look upon Grade as the “greatest ever” —certainly lie always plays sparkling attractive Rugby whenever ho appears in the Principality. Brvce and Hamilton-Wickes. Another Scot who appeals greatly to me is W. E. Brvce. He is the best scrum-half Scotland has turned oui since the war, rather on the small side, oven for a half, but very strong and full of pluck. I always found him a most perplexing opponent, and very elusive when on the move. Bryce, it will be remembered, captained the Irish-Scottish team in the Centenary match at Rugby in 192. j. R. H. Hamilton-Wickes, known to his friends as “Dicky” Wickes, is unquestionably the most improved threequarter of recent years. The All Blacks thought the world of him. -actually Wickes prefers to play in the centre, although he rarely shines there. He is not fast—indeed, for a wing three-quarter he is distinctly on the slow side—but he is a master of swervt, and always plays with excellent judgment. No one lias reduced the crosskick to such a line art or nas improved so much in Wickes is essentially a “heady” player, reminding mo in many ways of Mark Nichoiis —always cool, calm and collected. If Eddie Myers had not retired from big Rugby, and were in the form he was two* years ago, he would certairßy find a place in my ideal NY. Never was there a grittier player than the stocky Yorkshireman, and no centre I

know exploited the fast straight dash for the line so well as-he. A Fine Irish Pair. The two best Rugby players Ireland has turned out for many years are Crawford, their full-back, aud Lieut. W. F. Browne, the forward. Crawford on his day is a really great fullback, and a sure touch finder. He is a man of the most charming personality. “Horsey" Browne, though small iii stature, is easily the best forward in Ireland. I have never seen so diminutive a forward shine as Brownie docs in the loose, and why the Irish selectors took two years to discover him wi'i always be a mystery. An All Black Quintette. I would have five of the All Black.-: in my World's XV. They are Nepn, Mark Nicliolls, A. E. Cooke, Maurice Brownlie and “Jock" Richardson Nepal. is without a peer to-day as a, full-back. He is the Lenglen of Rugby—a player without a single weak point. Nicliolls was called “the brains of the All Blacks ’’ and not -without reason. His only fault is that he is a little on the slow side, but he makes up for that by his sure Handling, line sense of position, and ability to make openings. As a place-kick he has few', if any, equals. A. E. Cooke is in line with the great All Black centres of 1905—W. J. Wallace, Deans and McGregor. One of the greatest attributes of a first-class centre is straight running, and Cooke possessed this to an inordinate degree. And how graceful he was when in full stride! His Rugby was always of the finest vintage. Finally, Maurice Brownlie. I rank him with Charles Seeling as the best forward that ever came out of New Zealand. He had all the attributes of greatness in a forward —speed, powr, scrummaging ability, sureness out of touch. Brownlie was certainly the most dangerous forward when in passession of the ball near his opponents' goal lino I have ever known. A typical try of his was the ono he scored against England tow r ards the end of the game, wdien he got the ball five yards from the line and went over with half the English team vainly trying to stop him. Jock Richardson is another forward of the all-round typo, though hardly so devastating as Brownlie. He is, however, worth his place in any World's XV. ’

The Leicester (England) .Rugby team is adopting All Black .tactics,> but has a lot tto lea m. An English writer’s impressions: The scrum-lialf puts in the ball, as well as gets it out, -and the extra man (our wingforward) is behind him. The result is an overcrowded echelon. Leicester’s back play was downright poor. Takeaible balls were dropped like hot plates and there was none of that straight running down the centre of the field, which was the essence of the All Blacks’ attack. Instead one got the impression that the backs had no room to move in, and that the extra man, except in defence, was a nuisance. On the other hand, the seven Leicester forwards were splendid. They more than held their own with the Newport eight and were very well together. both in tight and loose, all through the game. Dribbling well, they always looked dangerous when the ebb and flow of the play took them within) striking distance.