Natal Brought Low

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVIII, Issue 201, 8 August 1928, Page 2

Natal Brought Low

Smashing Victory for All Blacks

Tourists’ Splendid Combined Work

How Home Team Cracked Under Strain

“It has always been said that jolid scrummaging, with no wasted energy, will hold the All Blacks in check, and that they can thus be worn down,” continues the writer. “In the Natal game it was the other way round, for the home forwards did not give of their best as a pack, aud they Were the ones to be worn down and ultimately to crack under the pressure, when the defence faltered and the line lay open to the brilliant combined attacks which the tourists launched. Most of the blame for the heaviness of the defeat, it seems to the writer, must bo laid on the Natal forwards. Packing 3—2—3 at first, they found the All Blacks getting the ball in the early scrums and later went back to 3—3—2, but in neither case was the full weight of the pack being utilised, for nt the 3—2—3 scrums Payn and Naude, who with Adlam formed the back rank, were not pushing as much as a couple of pounds. TliiS two did not put in their weight even when the scrum was altered and so it amounted to Natal playing six men in the scrum against the solid seven of the All Blacks.

“The result was obvious, and it was not surprising to see Natal actually pushed off the bull after it had been hooked. The front-rankers, Siedle, Barlow and Crowe, were doing well and they were getting good support from Nel (who played in the tests) and McKenzie, but the back rank let them down badly. Payn is acknowledged to be a loose forward, and is taken for granted that he does not do much shoving but makes up for that in the open. Naude, on the other hand, was a serious loss to the pack, and that was where the ursr Strain oame. Supporting Work. “When they had tired the Natal forwards, the All Blacks began with a quicker break and came up in their intensive supporting work to render yeoman service to the backs, for when they scored their three tries in four minutes, to add, with Lindsay's fine kicking, 15 points, the forwards were there every time. Had Natal been doing as well in the van as should have been the case, these men could not have had the reserve to carry them on when their scrummaging was finished. The All Blacks’ purpose was assisted by the fact that Natal took scrums instead of lineouts, but without the full showing power being applied suffered rather than gained from this manoeuvre. “The New Zealanders took the fullest advantage of this slackness and gained a superiority in hooking, while in the second half they also asserted themselves and opened up many splendid attacks from the lineouts, Kilby whipping the ball away in first-rate fashion from all angles, frequently as he was sent to earth by the Natal men. Under the constant strain, the Natal backs, who had been coming up quickly and nipping attacks in the bud, developed gaps, and Carleton, at last striking attacking form, went through three times with support, and that was when the damage was done. Clarkson it was who let the line open, though he had in the first half kept a very close check on Carleton and generally managed to get him in possession. Later on, after a magnificent break which should have brought a try had Elliott been with him, Clarkson fell away, am! with tiling not too certain, the damage was done. Worth-while Tries, “Tribute must be paid, however, to the work which brought these tries late in the game for they were no lucky flukes, but really well worth scores eacK of them. The forwards were up with the backs all the time, and in contrast to the Natal backs, the outsides followed up after giving their passes for the return. It was noticeable that when they were being sent out towards the touch-line, the backs passed to the man nearest the line, before they were forced to, and then came along inside for the return which, when it came, found the forwards infield again time and again. This was where Natal failed, for the men were hemmed in and smothered, whereas with the New Zealanders the attacks seemed to gain new life, “Another contrast was found in the breaks which were made. Nine times out of ten, the AU Black who went through had men with him—not once did the Natalian who broke have a man in a position for a reasonable pass to l>e -nyo,. They ramie their c'm.. <:i’d Hie li'ime men were able

“The All Blacks have at last struck a winning vein. At Maritzburg they defeated Natal by 31 points to three. A substantial victory which was brought about by sound scrummaging and splendid combined play in which forwards and blacks joined in first class fashion. When their forwards had worn down the Natal pack, they opened out and threw the ball about with joyous abandon, and the grimness which is assocated with the name ‘All Black' was anything but evident in their work. In one period of four minutes they rattled on three tries, each of which was converted, and that was Natal’s deathblow, for the previous score had seen the Natal side already beaten. The defence crumbled before the onslaughts, and so the All Blacks swept through to their triumph-” Such was the account of the Natal-All Black match by “Scrummage” in the “Natal Mercury.”

to do that to a very limited extentin fact Elliott hardly saw the ball and Tod had very little of it given to him, though he ran gallantly when he had the chance, but he could not get away from the d ■ ly tackling. Theio was another contrast—high ‘tackling’ by Natal and the real thing by the New Zealanders. “Leaving aside individuals, tribute must be paid to the cast-iron defence of the New Zealanders, wlAse rallying work was first-rate, for it seems that a cross-kick from the wing is more or less useless against them, so do they get back. Now and again a cross-kick was put over by Natal, and always there was a hunch of defenders waiting for it when it arrived—before the Natalians were up for the chance which offered.’’ The Real Thing. Another account of the game states: “For the first time on the tour, South African spectators were able to see for themselves, and had not merely to accept on hearsay the fine combination in interpassing movements carried out at great speed between the All Black forwards and backs, which is such a feature of the New Zealand game. Before the Natal match, at Kimberley, Kroonstad and I’olchefstrum, for instance, the 1928 All Blacks have had thin chances in this direction, but the Maritzburg match was the first occasion on which they had given the fans a real ‘1924 display’ of the kind of which one saw so many in Europe when the New Zealanders were opposed to fifteens unatne u> continue to hold them in the second half. Allowance must, of course, be made for the calibre of the All Blacks' opponents. The Natal fifteen obviously did not represent an opposition as powerful, or as well knit, as were the Transvaal, or the Combined Town sides, but the Natal team looked every bit as any of the other four combinations, the Country fifteen, Griquas, Free State and Western Transvaal, which the New Zealanders have so far encountered; indeed, for the first 55 minutes of tbe 80, Natal put up quite as useful and sound a showing as any of them, but on this occasion, the All Blacks at last wanned up to their work and really struck their form.

“At the same time, fifteen minutes after the change of ends, they were still only leading by eight points to three. They then scored another try and a real good one; gradually, the power of the All Blacks’ thrust wore down and finally dislocated the homo defence, and the New Zealanders actually scored fifteen points between the 68th and 72nd minutes. The visiting forwards then appeared to ease up a little with the game well won, but, even so. All Black outsides scored a last try a minute or so before the finish. After all due allow-ances have been made for the strength or weakness of the opposition, this was clearly the New Zealanders’ best and most stylish display of the tour so far,”