ALL BLACK TRIAL.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 19 July 1937, Page 3

ALL BLACK TRIAL.

LARGELY FORWARD GAME. MCKENZIE IN FINE FORM. (By Telegraph —Press Association.) WELLINGTON, Last Night. A howling southerly gale and rain at Wellington on Saturday made the final Rugby trial, New Zealand versus the Rest, largely a forward scrimmage. New Zealand won 19 —14. Mitchell, who scored a brilliant hist try, went off injured early in the game. Parkhill, Rankin and Jackson were prominent in the winning pack. Me Auliffe (half-back) played a sound game. Trevathan, Taylor and Dick were the best of the backs. Of the Rest, Simon showed himself a really great wet weather half, while Crossman at first five-eighth played the outstanding back game of the day. Ward, McKenzie and Pearce were constantly prominent in the loose and scrums, and throughout the match Lambourne hooked successfully. Killeen distinguished himself at centre on each side in turn. The teams were:

New Zealand: Taylor, Morrison, Mitchell, Dick, H«oper, Trevathan, McAuliffe, Dalton, Hadley, Jackson, Green, King, Milliken, Parkhill, Rankin. The Rest: Gilbert, Fulton, Killeen, Cobden, .tjriffitha, Crossman, Simon, Hattersley, Lambourne, Pearce, Ward, Williams, Fraser-Smith, Skandrett, McKenzie.

New Zealand had the advantage of the wind in the first half and at once took a strong offensive. After a short burst of scrappy forward play, McAuliffe set the backs in motion with a slick pass to Hooper. Trevathan ran round for ;i switch pass and let the ball out to Mitchell, who fended Gilbert and touched down. Mitchell then limped off the field. Taylor replaced him at centre, while Easton came on at fullback. Trevathan failed to convert.

Simon gave the ball to Griffiths, who beat a man and kicked to gain ground. The New Zealand forwards, however, surged to the line, but Gilbert cleared. In the line-out the Rest had a strong advantage, McKenzie repeatedly snatching the ball. On this occasion Simon got his backs away well, but Dick collared Cobden smartly. The .backs were standing too close. Green went solo through the Rest from a scrum with the. ball at his feet and found the sideline. Again the Rest obtained the ball, Grossman kicking when he saw he was closely marked. Trevathan fielded, but kicked too far. Trevathan missed a penalty from near the twenty-five when Lambourne lifted the ball in 'the serum. >' The ground by now was shockingly greasy. Cobden spoiled a promising movement by slipping. A very pretty passing movement culminated in a try when Trevathan obtained the ball from the forwards and passed on the blind side to Taylor, who cut out his man by a quick pass to Dick. Pearce tackled Dick, but the latter fell over the line and scored. Trevathan converted with a magnificent kick from the side-line in spite of the wind. New Zealand 11 Rest : .. 0 Half-time was now called. Morrison was prominent in leading the forwards in a dribbling rush. Several re-arrangements were now made. Taylor returned to full-back, while Killeen changed sides as centre three-quarter in Taylor’s place, Fullton being centre for the Rest with Phillips or the wing. This new combination of the Rest backs showed immediate merit in a lovely defensive movement. Fullton, taking a pass from Grossman, made a fine run and when he let it out to Phillips, he left him a promising opening, but Rankin, with a turn of speed, overtook and collared Phillips. Taylor picked up the ball, fart “through the loose unchallenged and passed short to Killeen, these two- between them taking play right from one end of the field to the other. Killeen tricked the full-back, Gilbert, by a pass to Rankin, who scored, Cobden’s tackle coming just too late. A gust carried Trevathan ’s kick wide.

Lambourne was still easily out-hook-ing Hadley, and Gilbert was kept busy on the defence. He cleared several threatening forward rushes. McKenzie was prominent in the line-outs. Taylor ran hard to pick up the rolling ball deftly and get in a smart line-kick. Grossman’s up-and-under sent the Best’s forwards to the New Zealand line. Lambourne heeled and Simon sent his line into action, but again Dick successfully marked Phillips. Morrison made a long throw to Hooper, but Dick was in the heavy going and could not show his speed. Play remained in New Zealand terri tory until a forward rush crossed thei? line and Trusttum scored. converted. Best 5 New Zealand II

Simon now picked up in the loose and the ball passed to Griffiths, wdiQ passed two opponents, made a long run and handed on to Phillips. Phillips fended off Dalton and Milliken and scored. Gilbert’s kick from the sideline passed just under the cross-bar. - Best S New Zealand 14 Ward and Pearce now broke through a loose scrimmage and once again the Rest had New Zealand defending. The Rest appeared at this stage superior, both forwards and backs, and having a monopoly of the ball. Fowler, however, came on, taking Hadley ’s place, and proved better able to cope with Lambourne, who, though still hooking well, could no longer obtain the ball all the time. The first

time Fowler heeled to MeAuliffe, he passed to Trevathan. Jackson cut in,

took a short pass and handed on to Dalton and he to Killeen. Killeen sidestepped Gilbert and Phillips and won to the line. Taylor converted. e New Zealand 19 Rest 8 The Rest ’s back-line, however, had shaken into a fair combination and, despite the heavy mud, made several strong attacks. From a penalty close in front of the posts, Gilbert goaled. The Rest kept New Zealand on the. defence. Hard forward play on the line followed and, in a hard melee, pushed the Now Zealand serum across for McKenzie to touch down. Gilbert’s kick failed. New Zealand 19 Rest 14 Drenching rain marred the last few minutes of play. McKenzie, Ward and Pearce combined in a forward rush after a period of scrappy and uninteresting play. Gilbert attempted to kick a penalty, but failed, and the whistle blew.

The game as a whole had been sur-’ prisingly open considering that the day was the worst of the season so far, the ground being soaked and the wind deceptive for kicking.

TARANAKI BEAT AUCKLAND 29—19 IN FAST GAME

NEW PLYMOUTH, Last Night.

Taranaki defeated Auckland in the annual representative Rubgy match b.y 29 to 19. A high wind blew directly downfield and gave each team the advantage in turn. Despite the gale play was of a high standard, always open and full of incident and surprises. Both teams were weakened through leading players being engaged in the All Black trials. Taranaki were without their regular hooker and consequently gained loss of the ball from the scrums. Auckland also had the advantage in the lineouts but in open pray Taranaki always had the advantage. The Auckland backs’ handling was neat and sure, but the players lacked the penetration of Taranaki. Collins, only recently recovered from a grave illness, was back in his place at fullback and was as cool and reliable as ever. Beyond failing at goal kicking in the gale he scarcely made a mistake. Bush, Auckland’s fullback, played a sound game on attack and he often moA'ed up to make an extra back. He was .very little more successful at goal-kicking than Collins, but the wdrid was too strong for-accuracy. A few Auckland players stood out from an even team. F. Solomon was prominent in lineout and loose work and used his weight effectively. A. Brown was perhaps the most prominent forward, while Frankham played effectively at halfback. Taranaki as a whole played with more penetration than Auckland and were sound or. attack and defence except that Clapham ’s defence was sometimes wanting McClenaghan and O’Dowda were perhaps the most effective of a virile pack which though lighter than Auckland’s always had control in tihe loose. Taranaki scored eight tries: Benton (2), Fastier (2), McClenaghan (2), Hunter and Richards. Collins converted one and kicked a penalty goal. Auckland’s five tries were scored by Lange. Moffatt, Pearson, Solomon and Byerley, Bush converting two.

BAY BEAT WAIEAEAPA 26 —6 IN POOR EXHIBITION

CARTERTON, Last Night,

In a poor exhibition of Bugby Hawke’s Bay defeated Wairarapa on Saturday at Carterton by 26 points to 6. The weather was bitterly cold and the ground extremely soft soon working into a sea of mud. A southerly wind was blowing and rain falling. Hawke’s Bay won the toss and played witih the wind.

Attempts were made at passing by both sides but the greasy ball nullified the efforts. A high kick by Bradley was fumbled by O’Callaghan and Clothier touched down near the poles. Bradley failed. Bay then staged about the only back play of the game and a pretty movement saw Apsey fall at the foot of the posts, Bradley converting. —Bay 8, Wairarapa 0. Another sloppy back movement ended in Beeves diving across at the corner, Dyer converting with a great kick from the side line.

A forward rush found O’Brien close to the poles and he barged through to score under the bar. Bradley goale 1. —Bay 18, Wairarapa 0. Wairarapa keeping the ball well at foot rushed the Bay line, t*he rush ending under the goal. Here Bay infringed and Brunton goaled. Bay 18, Wairapara 3. Bay immediately charge! back and near the goal Fraser emerged from the ruck and scored. Bradley failed with an easy one and the speel ended —

Hawke’s Bay .... . . . . 21 Wairarapa .. 3 With the wind behind them in the second spell Bay were mostly on the defensive but though Wairarapa worked hard they could not cross till a back movement, practically the only one attempted, saw Brunton cut through to score but he failed with the kick. — Bay 21, Wairarapa G. Bay accepted several forces averting scores by narrow margins. A forward rush say -Bay emerge in charge in Wairarapa ’s twenty-live. Here Fraser again picked up and bullocked across under the goal posts and Dyer goaled Bay 26, Wairarapa 6. Mr. J. Blake was the referee.

SPRINGBOKS WIN.

MATCH WITH - AUSTRALIA. CONVINCING SUPERIORITY. SYDNEY, July IS. The - Springboks won the second

Rugby Test against Australia by 2(3 to 17. The margin does not reflect their convincing sufjeriority in nearly every phase. They had the victory in hand at half-time, having scored six tries to nil to lead 26 —0. Thereafter they took passing risks, but w r ere never in danger, though their line was crossed three times in the second half.

For South Africa, Bergh, van Keenan, Babrow, Turner, Williams and , White scored tries and Brand-converted four O 'Brien, Hodgson and Kelaher scored tries for Australia, and Rankin converted one and kicked two penalty goals. The Springboks were without Fanie Louw in the front row. Nevertheless, his absence made little differeticc to their clearly superior packing. Boy Louw went into the front row and Craven packed in the last line. Theii seven stalwarts were quite able to coxae with Australia’s pack, consisting of six pushers and two breakaways, Hodgson and Win don.

The scrum analysis showed that the Springboks won 19 and Australia 15. Even more marked was the superiority in the line-outs. Whether the bail was thrown back or rucked through the Sjn'ingboks invariably gained the greater advantage and were better sup ported by their backs whose knowledgv of positional play was a feature of the victory. Half-way through the second sp) el 1 Towers retired with an injured forehead. The Australian form thereafter definitely imijroved, the forwards rising to heights quite lacking in the first spell. The Springboks early perceived that the Australian strategy was built on getting the ball to Towers and the Australian captain was closely marked and the inside backs utterly failed to check the Springboks’ attacks down the centre of the field.

The first act in a dramatic first spell was the domination in close rucking by the Springbok forwards. Within two minutes Bergh fox’ced his way over the line following a five yards serum. The next try was similar, the Australian forwards being helpless against the close passing of Strachan and van Been an following an in-pass from the winger Williams. The next two tries were due entirely to Towers' and O'Brien’s weak defence. Prom de Villiers's rapid service Barrow was cutting holes in the Australian defence and the only chance the Wallabies had of stemming the tide was the Springboks’ impetuosity. This was indicated in the tally of penalties through the game. .Referee Irving awarded 18 to Australia and four to South Africa. Prom two of these Rankin goaled. Meanwhile the Springbok three-quarters had added two more tries. In the second spell the Sxiring boks generally endeavoured to give the ball air, although Brand was occasion ally barracked for finding the line. Windon was pulled from the pack to replace Towers and was responsible for three Australian tries. It would be invidious to single out the Springbok forwards, but Boy Louw, Botz, Bergh and van Reenan,' who was limping in the second half, were superb. Babrow was a sparkling centre and was outstanding in an exceptionally sound back division. Brand was always cool.

FISTICUFFS IN SPRINGBOK MATCH. WILL HAVE TO DO BETTER IN NEW ZEALAND Received Sunday, 9.20 p.m. SYDNEY, July 18. The Sunday papers refer lo the fierceness of the encounter between the Springboks and Australia. Greatorex, the ex-Australian Test player, writing in the Sunday Sun, says: "To describe it as a fierce encounter is to be mild. Punches wore exchanged on numerous occasions and more than one player was stretched on the ground by tactics not recognised .in the rules. Australia’s defeat was due to faulty tackling.” Mr. Greatorex adds: "The Springboks will have something to worry about regarding their New Zealand tour. They will not be able to run up big scores in the first half against the All Black teams and if not they will not be in it.”