World’s Best Rugby XV.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XX, Issue 162, 28 June 1930, Page 1 (Supplement)

World’s Best Rugby XV.

Well-Known Critic’s Selection

Nepia the Greatest Fullback

It is always an intriguing task to set out to endeavour to choose a. world’s team in any branch of sport. The man best fitted to act as Rugby sole selector for the world is Mr. F. M. Howard, the well-known journalist, who followed the All Blacks through Britain in 1924, and through South Africa in 1928, and whose knowledge of present-dav players in the different countries is probably unrivalled. Mr. Howard has witnessed 85 international matches in Britain since the war, and also followed the Waratahs’ tour of Britain and France during the 1927-28 season.

Mr. Howard, after the All Blacks bad left South Afuica, set out in “The Out.span” of August 23rd., 1929, to select the world's best Rugby fifteen. '■When it comes to players of world calibre,” lie writes', “the relative Rugby strength of one country need not necessarily find itself reflected in the number of its representatives finally chosen among that select band. 1 have to pick out only 15 men from at least eight first-class countries, South Africa, New Zealand, New South. Wales. England, Scotland. Ireland, Wales and France. South Africa for example, may in my opinion, contain a larger proportion of first-class scrummaging forwards than nnv of the others, and yet not obtain a larger representation in a world pack. “There are, of course, a number of other considerations to be borne in mind, such as the different stales of play or formation, sometimes markedly dissimilar, adopted by the various countries. I intend, for instance. to treat the All Jllaek first five-eighth as a fly-half, and tbeir second five-eighth as a centre. There

is also the question of scrum formation. My team will, of course, pack three-up in the front row. And so to business. The Pack. “Since any team, to win. must first secure the ball, I will begin with my pack, the selecting of which 1 have found relatively more difficult than that of my back division. However, after first carefully narrowing down my field of final selection to 21 forwards, all of whom possess serious claim’s for inclusion, I have chosen the following as my ‘wordl’s’ eight:— Front row: Phi] Mostert (South Africa), J. G. Blackwood ( 'Waratahs) and J. S. Tucker (England). Second row: J. M. Bannerman (Scotland). A. N Finlay (Waratahs) and G. Beamish (Ireland). Back row: T. G. Osl'l (Smith Africa), and R. McWilliams /New Zealand). “It is not; perhaps, a pack to compare very favourably with the one that could have been selected from ‘the world’ in, let us saj’. 1924, when

such men as P. J. Mosteii and T. L. Kruger, of South Africa. Maurice Brownlie and Jock Richardson, of New Zealand, W. W. Wakefield and G. S. Conway, of England, and R. Lasserre, of France, would have ‘selected themselves,’ leaving only the eighth place, which would very probably have gone to another South African in any kind of doubt.

“Mostert and Tucker, incidentally, are both excellent hookers should any mishap befall Blackwood. I have had, for one reason or another, to reject such capable front-row players as the South African. “Boy’’ Louw,Hadley and Swain, of New Zealand, and Stanliury. of England, among others. But 1 do not see how 1 could better my chosen three. Even though Mostert and Tucker are now in the sere and yellow, they are still, taken all round, better than anyone else in their positions. Blackwood, by the way, is also a very fine swimmer. Great Serummagero.

“My second row is made up of three superlatively fine scrunimagers. Bannerman, the holder of 38 Scottish caps, is also the greatest artist at dribbling in the Rugby world and a most finished all-round forward. Despite his long record of service, he is only 28. and is playing as well now as ever. Finlay, who is 25, and a wellknown oarsman and swimming champion, was ono of the mainstays of the 1927 Waratahs’ pack, taking most effective part in 23 of their 31 matches. George Beamish, a sixfooter like Finlay, is another most accomplished! and brainy all-round forward and a particularly fine dribbler. He is only 24, and should still be ono of the pillars of the Irish fifteen for some seasons to come. “The two back-row places were the most difficult to fill, for here we have to choose from a perfect galaxy of talent, even though there is no ono available to-day quite as good as either Lasserre, the “Admirable Crichton” of Rugby, who gained representative honours at full-back, centre and forward, and also played against the New Zealand Forces at Uy-half and on the wing; Conway.,the most polished of all England’s "rent forward's since the war; and Wakefield, /when ho played in the back row. To mention only a few, there

are the 215-pound giant, Jack Ford, of the Waratahs, as fast as a wingthreequurler; Ivor Jones, the rccoruscoring Welsh captain ; Stewart, of New Zealand, J. W, Breckenridge, another great Waratah; and George Daneel, Van Drutten and Pretorius apparently are nd longer available. The Backs.

“My tyick division is: Full-back, G. Nepia (New Zealand); three-quar-ters, lan Smith and G. P. S. MacPhersou (Scotland), G. V. Stephenson (Ireland), and A. Jaurreguy .(France); hall-backs, A. T. Lawton (Waratahs) and P. de Villiers (South Africa). 1 made my final selection from 25 players selected in a preliminary combing-out process. “Beginning with the scrum-half, as forming the vital link between my forwards and .'my backs, there are today quite a number of almost equally qualified contenders for the place in a world fifteen. Npne of them is as great a player as any of the three really superlative scrum-halves whom I have seen personally since the war, namely, G. A. Kershaw, of England; Jimmy Mill, of New Zealand; and that magnificent, great-hearted little Scotsman, W. E. Bryce. ’

“Kershaw was the most complete and the greatest scrum-half 1 have ever seen, even more outstanding than was his famous partner, Commander W. J. A. Davies, as a fly-half. Mill was “streets” better than Dailey. In 1924 Mill played in 18 matches, including three of the four tests, and practically all the hardest matches. Dailey appeared in the other 12 games. Yet Mill personally scored 33 points to Dailey’s none at all. “The fly-half position obviously lies between Lawton, Nicholls and Osler. All three are excellent place-kicks, with Lawton as the best and most reliable of them. All three can drop goals, but here Osler is the superior of tbe other two, as he is at long and accurate touch-finding. In defence Nicholls is a relatively poor third to the others, with Lawton quite definitely the best, as he also is much the most powerful. In individual attack again, Lawton, thanks to his magnificent physique, is slightly better than Osler. And, most important of all, as a maker of openings and as a constructive player I prefer Lawton to Nicholls, and still more to “Bennie.” Nicholls on his 1924 form, may have been Lawton’s superior in the latter respect. But even taking his 1924 form, purely for argument’s sake, as the basis of comparison. I would still prefer Lawton. taking him all round. Great player (though “Tommy” was in bis Oxford days, it was as the sheet-anchor of the 1927 Waratah side that bo revealed himself. as unquestionably tbe world’s best flv-linlf. and he would appear to be playing as well as ever to-day. *‘A. E. Cooke would, of course, 'walk into 1 my team were he fit and in form, for he is the greatest centre I have seen since the war. But he is not, from all accounts, the magnificent player this season that ho has been, partly owing to a succession of injuries. So, George Stephenson, of Ireland, gets his place, Stephenson, to me, has ever been a source of wonder. Very tall and very frail-looking, he looks as though one really hard tackle would break him in two. Yet he is himself the deadliest tackling centre 1 have ever seen. He invariably gets hell for leather in attack—and is much faster than even many an internations] wing—and yet he played 37 consecutive matches for Ireland before, missing one, last February. following his first serious injury in ton seasons. “Several important considerations make me prefer Mael’herson as my other centre to either Stanley Osler or A. Behoteguy. of France. I am out, behind such a tine pack arid such a forceful pair of halves, to choose an attack that will r.rove tmlv devastating to ant opposition, both by its speed and bv its newer of penetration. Therefore my chosen winos are lan Smith find jaiu-regily. I will deal more fully with ,those in n moment. But if Smith goes in. then s<> must

MacPherson. No other player can get half as much as he can out of the world’s finest scoring-machine. That fact has lieen proved sufficiently clearly. Hut in any case, MacPherson is himself abnormally fast for a centre, and he can ‘find the gap,’ or make one, more often than any centra 1 know. “Lastly I come to Nepia, easily the greatest all-round full-back I have ever seen, and quite possibly of all Ume. Since he is playing as well as ever to-day, | need go no farther in my quest as regards this very important position. After Nepia, to-day, i would rank A. W. Rqss, of the Waratahs, and Jackie Tindall. “To take the place-kicks I have t remaikably useful trio in Lawton, Stephenson and Nepia. And as a ’‘general utility’ reserve man, I would chocse Gerry Biand. "Aly completed present-day world fifteen, therefore, is made up of three South Africans, three Waratahs. three Scotsmen, two New Zealanders, two Irishmen, one Englishman, and one Frenchman—eight Dominion players ami seven from the five European countries. Strangely enough, sinew I have made my selections strictly on merits and absolutely regardless of the country of origin of any one of my fifteen, the quota supplied by each of the various countries fairly accurately reflects the comparative strength of their respective national teams at the present moment. Feotland were European champions for toe season ended last Anril."