Football

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XIV, Issue 276, 1 November 1924, Page 11

Football

s*®*®*®*®*«*®*®*®*«* THE ALL BLACKS. ApHE “unlucky thirteenth” evidently had no terrors for Porter’s team, for they signalised it by putting up their finest performance to date. The team which represented New Zealand could hardly be described as the best available, but it was strong enough to soundly trounce the English champion county* It looked like a rather daring experiment to play Parker, a wing forward, at wing threequarter in such, an important match, but it worked all right, and evidently the experiment was justified. Perhaps the most satisfactory feature of recent games has been the sudden jUinp into form of Hart, the Taranaki wing threequarter. In the earlier matches the play of the wings was an ’ outstanding weakness, and English papers to hand by the last mail comment pretty freely .on the lack Of determination shqwn. . There has undoubtedly been a tendency, and a very pronounced tendency at that, to overdo the reverse or return pass. This is very evident when a fast and tricky runner like ttiucas, who has played his fair share of matches, in some of which the scoring has been heavy, has only three tries to his credit. It is to be hoped the other wings will profit by Hairt’s example, and realise that a wing threequarter’s principal job is to score tries. To-day sees the opening international match, and the good form shown lately makes it possible to look forward to the game with some confidence. David Gallaher’s team scored a pretty decisive win' in 1905 by 15 points (three converted tries) to nil. The Irish team on that occasion had, as usual, a splendid team of forwards, whilst the backs included that great threequarter, Basil Maclear. The Irish forwards made things very warm while their condition lasted in this match, but the All Blacks wore them down, and won comfortably enough at the finish. Last year s Irish team .was a good one and gained a notable victory over Wales. Their forwards wete of the traditional Irish stamp, full of “devil” and go. while the backs were a decided improvement on the sides playing in recent years. .The threequarter line will probably include the Stephenson brothers (H. W., United Services, and G. V., Queen’s University), two fast and powerful wingers, while the centres may be J. B. Gardiner and T. Hewitt. At half we may expect to see J. O. McDowell (inside) and F. S. Hewitt (outside). The latter, a youth of 19. was looked on as one of the “finds” of last season’s. football. Among the forwards it is probable! that J. D. Clinch will be among the first chosen. Clinch is a very fine forward”, who made a great name for himself while on tour with Cove-Smith’s team at the Cape. The Collopy brothers. C. F. Hallaran and Roche (Newport) are also likely to be found on the side. These are all very fine forwards, who play the traditional tear-away Irish game to perfection. On the form shown in recent matches and particularly in the Cumberland match our men should win, for , our forwards should be at least as as the Irishmen, and possibly better., while our backs should by now have attained a degree of combination

which should make them better than anything Ireland is likely to put in the field. The reports of the earlier matches to hand by the last English tnail make interesting reading and throw a good deal of light on the reasons for the apparent poor showings made in these first few games. The opening match against Devon was played on a saturated ground, and rain fell heavily all though the second half. Cornwall were met under fine conditions, but the next two matches were played on truly awful pitches. Under these circumstances it is not surprising that our men. playing under different rulings in many important particulars, were more or less at sea. Some of the English newspaper writers were very quick to decry the team, and were quite convinced of the marvellous improvement in English Rugby since 1905.

A remark made by the referee after the Devon match throws some light on the reason for the failure of our men in the important matter of securing possession in the scrums: “If the referee is playing the rules of the Rugby Union, you will have great difficulty in securing th’e ball from the scrummage with our formation of three against your two.” It may be remembered that when Mr. R? Lowry, the Cambridge Blue, was interviewed on his return to New Zealand, he pointed out that our men were going, to have a rough spin in the matter of scrum work from English referees. After the first three or four matches the English papers were unanimous in their praise of Nenia, one paper describing him as “the best full-back seen on an English ground for many years.”

Paewan played his first game against Cornwall, the second match of the tour, and plaved a very fine game. It was cabled out when the first match was played that Devon were nuite unprepared to nlay, in fact “had hardly had a football boot on” before the game. Asa matter of fact Devon turned out in much better condition than our men and actually lasted the game out better. Thev were as fast at the end as at the beeinning, whereas the All Blacks were showing signs of weariness.

Since the Newport match the All Blacks have, in seven games, added 234 points—over 33 points per game—and in the last four games their line hanot been crossed. The following are the tries scored bv individual nlavers to date:—Hart 15, Cooke 10, Parker 9, Svenson 7. Mill 6. Steel 5. Richardson 3, McGregor 3. Brown 3. Lucas 3, Donald 3. Porter 3. Masters 2. Stewart 2. Irvine 2, M. Brownlie 2. C. Brownlie 1 West 1. White 1, Cupples 1, Nicholls 1. '• Nepia has converted 18 tries and kicked three penalty goals: M. Nicholls has converted 9 trios, kicked 2 penalty..goals and potted a goal; White has converted 5 tries: Brown has converted two tries ; and Hart has converted one try. The chief point scorers to date are:— Hart 47 points. Nepia, 45. Cooke 30, Parker 27 Nicholls 28, Svenson* 21. Mill 18. Steel 15. Brown 13. White 13. and Lucas, Donald. Porter. McGregor and-Richardson 9 each. When the N.Z.R.U. management committee, in its wisdom, appointed Mr, S. Dean its chairman, as manager of the present All Black team, grave dissatisfaction was expressed by many people at the manner of the appointment, and strong doubts were voiced as to whether he had the necessary qualifications for the position. In view of this the following wire from Christchurch, published in a North Island paper,, makes interesting reading:— “Extremely strong criticism of both the management and the control and methods of team work is contained in a private letter written by one of the All Blacks to a friend in Christchurch. The information he gives is disquieting, but at the same time, the improved form of the team, and the manner in which it has built up its tactics on the field, justify the conclusion that the matters complained of have been remedied to a great extent. The criticism was written on September 15. After some adverse comment on the methods pursued by the manager, Mr. S. S. Dean, the All Black adds:—“l want it understood that Sain Wilson (more’s the pity) is taking no part in the management or supervision of the team’s work. The whole thing is a disgrace.’ ” It may well be, of course, that the letter emanates merely, for some disgruntled member of the team, but at the same time it would account in a measure for certain happenings which have nuzzled people in New Zealand.