N.Z. Fifteen’s Clear-Cut Victory

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XX, Issue 192, 4 August 1930, Page 8

N.Z. Fifteen’s Clear-Cut Victory

Comment on the Form Displayed

Fourth Test Will Create Interest

(By

“Magpie”)

By their victory at Auckland last Saturday, the New Zealand fifteen have re-established themselves, as in an exciting game their win was clear cut and fully deserved.

TT MUST NOT BE GATHERED -Lfrom this result that the final test is a foregone conclusion, for, in euch of tho three tests played there has been little between the teams. Eden Park presented a groat sight with its packed terraces, but there was still room for more people when the big game commenced. Speculators Left Lamenting. Speculators who purchased tickets in the hope of retaling them again at fancy prices did not do big business; in fact, some were left lamenting. It was truly remarkable, the number of tickets that were for sale* One man on Friday bad six, for which he asked £3 each, but on Saturday at noon his price was down to 251- and finally in desperation he disposed of two at 22/6, two for £1 each and nobodv wanted the remaining two. Due to a shoulder injury Ron Stewart could not be considered in the final selection, and with Finlayson still in hospital the forward division required no selection. With the lose of their two sixteen-stone men the New Zealand pack was much lighter than their opponents, but what was lost in weight was more than made up for in liveliness. Although at times pushed in the scrum by the Britishers. Hore and Cottrell got quite as much of the ball as their onnonents; in fact, throughout the tour the 3—2 3 formation has not been outstanding when it came to hooking the ball. Weakness in N.Z. Line-out. The loss of Stewart and Finlayson left a weakness in the lino-out, and on Saturdav New Zealand rarely initiated attacks, through superiority in this branch. The Britishers registered first blood in what looked a simple manner but actually it was the genius of Ivor Jones and Spong that made the try look so easy. From a breaking scrum Jones picked the ball up and shot it straight to Spong, who burst past Strang, and then as Nicholls came in to take liiin he raised his arms above his head and shot the ball to the fast travelling Bowcott. who bolted over unopposed. When the Welsh captain touched down. Corner was the playei nearest to him. Nepia was left badly out of place and it is worth noting that in each test he has made a try possible to his opponents through failure to anticipate play as one of his experience should. Due to the stiff brqezo blowing Britain had the better of play territorially in the first half, but New Zealand on many occasions were dangerous. On two occasions Cooke, from passing movements, made openings for Hart, but the Canterbury man veered infield instead of keeping but and was swamped. A Brilliant Movement. Scenting possibilities Mark Nicholls, when a scrum was formed in the British twenty-five, signalled to Lucas, and then changing places with Strang, fielded a pass from Corner and punted across and beyond Morley, the British wing-throe-quarter for Lucas to come up fast, and he taking the ball brilliantly ran across for a clever try. The movement was executed in a manner similar to tho one scored by Reeve in the first test at Dunedin. Later in the first half Steere, from a pass from Porter, broke clear with Lucas in support, but a tackle from behind surprised the Bay man, and his pass was forward in consequence. For a period in the second half the New Zealand forwards staged some great rushes and in these the anticipation of McLean was apparent In each of his tries he went oyer with Steere and Batty alongside him. That Nicholls is clever with his feet was again proved when he received a pass from Strang. Running infield he evaded two tackles and quick as lightning drop-kicked a neat goal. Britain Plays Desperately.

Britain with ten points to loeward now played desperately, their hacks attacking first on one side of the field and then on the other without success although they tried the defence sorely. With two minutes to go from a loose rush. Cooke when going for the ball was held from the back and the übiquitous Ivor Jones swooped on to the ball to give Aarvold » good pass. With the line in sight the British captain can travel some, and he swerved past Nepia to score between the goalposts. Loudly expressed resentment at the referee’s failure to observe the palpable obstruction was given vent to by the crowd. At the time the referee had a clear view, but as Cooke was quite five yards from the ball when tackled this fact would account for his failure to notice the incident. Souvenir Hunters.

In the rush for souvenir* when the final whistle blew, the British team were somewhat left, Nepia collecting one football, and after a great race between players and public, one of the latter won and got the second ball. The third one was grabbed by one of the visiting players. Prior to the commencement of play, one of the British forwards had a confidential talk with the two ball boys. He persuaded them to assist him in his pursuit of souvenirs, but he missed altogether. During the second half, from a penalty kick awarded to Britain, Black’s kick sailed just outside the upright at which tho New Zealand umpire, George Nicholson, was standing. Clearly he was the only one, apart from the referee, in a position to judge the accuracy of tho

kick, but Prentice, standing at the opposite upright, signalled a goal. The referee, however, ignored Prentice’s signal and agreed with Nicholson that the ball bad passed outside the post. Cooke the Valuable Back. Undoubtedly the most valuable back on tho New Zcalnd side was Cooke who on three occasions, came round the back of Nepia and saved what looked like certain tries. Next to Cooke came Nicholls, who worked some clever moves; in addition, hit tackling was deadly as Aarvold no doubt could prove. Hart did good work but he got few scoring opportunities. On the other wing Lucas at times tackled weakly at the commencement of the game, but he settled down later on. Strang found Spong a handful and on two occasions he was badly beaten. The Tcmuka player afterwards admitted that Spong was the hardest man ho had ever played opposite. Nepia did not inspire confidence, and he made a number of mistakes. At times his line-kicking was badly directed, and perhaps it was fortunate that he did not have the amount of work to do as did Bassett. The British BIC). Spong was immense in the British rearguard until be again had the misfortune to break the finger previously damrged in tho Maori match Poole, in the position of scrum half, also did very well, and he is quite the equal of Murray in the position. On occasions he exploited his peculiar reverse pass, but although Spong never failed to collect the ball no tries came from the movement. Bowcott was superior to Aarvold. who does not flourish against sound tackling. Neither Reeve or Morlev v. ere very impressive, but Bassett did well at fullback. N.Z. Pack. The most impressive forward in the New Zealand pack was Batty, who' did the most effective work in tho tight and also in the loose. Hazlett played easily his best game so far and Steere besides locking the .scrum excellently did great work generally all day. McLean, the exHastings junior was in his element in the loose plav and his sure handling makes him a dangerous scoring man. something that the New Zealand pack has been deficient in previously. Porter diJ a lot of good work, but be would be more valuable to his side if he would cultivate the art of tackling low »n<j hard. The New Zealand cantain has a weakness for going high, and Spong made him look foo’ish on occasions on Saturday. * Ivor Jones a Croat Forward. Ivor Jones was again Britain's most prominent forward. He rarely scores a try but the chances he presents to others during a gjme bear the hall-mark of a genius of Rugby Both tries scored for Britain were engineered by him. Neither Hodgson or Beamish were as prominent as usual but Farrell and O’Neil.’ made up for their shortcomings. Far from being overwhelmed, the play'ef tho Britishers Is such that they never acknowledged defeat, and for that reason the fourth test at Wellington is invested with even greater Interest than its predecessors.