THROUGH ENGLISH EYES

Manawatu Times, Volume 61, Issue 74, 28 March 1936, Page 9

THROUGH ENGLISH EYES

COMMENT ON ALL BLACKS CRITICISM OF PLAYERS WEAKNESS IN FIVE-EIGHTHS The fourth tour of the side from New Zealand—the third of a fully representative band of players —has come to an end, and they are. now on their way .home (January 16), carrying with them something better than an unbeaten . record, the admiration and regard of all who have seen them in defeat as well as victory, comments the London Times, regarding the 1936-56 All Blacks. They, as well as the players and followers of British Rugby, should rest content with the fact that tho words All Black still are words to conjure with and will be again when the next tour is organised. Just as the British team in New Zealand in 1930 suffered an irreparable loss in the first game when W. 11. Sobey, their No. 1 scrummage half, was injured beyond repair, so the third All Blacks may well have had their whole scheme of things at five-eighths upset by an early injury to J. R. Page. Hardly, less serious for a long while was in the injury sustained by W. E. Hadley, an able hooker and fine allround forward, in the opening match at Devonport. Certainly, while Hadley was on the list of casualties, the New Zealand scrummaging was singularly unsound and became first-class immediately he returned. It was not, of course, all Hadley, for tho All Blacks and their manager, Mr. V. R. Meredith, were not above learning a lesson first enforced upon them by a Midland pack under P. E. Dunkley’s leadership, at Coventry. A Flaw at Five-eighth. Naturally, the back-play suffered accordingly, and sometimes led to the horrifying sight of All Black fiveeighths kicking to touch as often as they ran and passed the ball. This view may have been unreasonable, for backs must play as the ball comes to them, but undoubtedly the tendency left its mark on the New Zealanders' play in midfield. Page’s place at first five-eighth, where confident, incisive running is so necessary, thus fell to either J. L. Griffiths or E. W. Tindill, the former a superb artist as fieldsman and kick to touch, aud the latter a young player still in the making. Griffiths became of almost vital importance while the forwards were being held or beaten, but his constructive powers were either discouraged into futility or never existed. It would bo hard to say which, for Griffiths looked the perfect first fiveeighth. Tindill, for his part, showed up fairly well in the free and easy matches, arid several times, as at Newport and against Loudon Counties, proved himself a deadly positional drop-kicker—always remembering that these dropped goals came from a teameffort in - front of the posts—and eventually won his cap against England, not, however, with the desired effect.

T. 11. C. Caughey, who became the accepted holder of the second ■ fiveeighth position, proved himself a fine runner and almost unstoppable if allowed into a full stride. Unfortunately for Caughey, the wiser and stronger of his opponents knew this, and his temperament was not suited to the tightly closed defence and the smother tackle. Nor, in the full sense of the word, was he, any more than Griffiths or Tindill, a constructive player. The heavy burden of creating openings and filling up the gaps in defence fell, aud in the end fell too heavily, upon C. J. Oliver, himself a five-eighth but fated to win the admiration of British Rugby, as a centre. Most of the really elever tries scored by the All Blacks were the work of Oliver, but the point was that, against first-class defences, a centre could not quite do what a fiveeighth ought to have done first. In other words, there was no five-eighth of the class of Hunter of 30 years ago, nor of Nicholls and Cooke of 19241.

Probably it was this fact more than anything that robbed the third. All Blacks of the fearful joys of invincibility. In the writer’s opinion there was nothing seriously wrong with the three-quarter line, although there was no effective reserve for Oliver, who in consequence had to take grave risks with half-cured injuries. N. A. Mitchell, for all his fine physique, was grand on the wing but moderate in midfield. G. E. Hart was left out of the side against England, but he was none the less the complete wing threequarter, fast, beautifully balanced and clever with hands and feet, as well as a good tackier. N. J. Ball had his big moments as a runner but was unsound in defence. Three Memories. But what of the half-backs—M. M. N. Corner, who arrived with a reputation but only won a belated cap in the last international, and young B. S. Sadler, the hero of nearly all the stern encounters that preceded Twickenham on January 4? That Corner possessed polish was obvious from'the start. But Sadler, of the expressionless face, and that made light of lack of size—his hand-off hand to be seen to be believed—shrewd tactics under merciless pressure and a cleverly timed breakaway that often beat the best of British spoilers, was better than polished. The chances are that over here he will remain longest in the memory—he and Oliver and the tall G. Gilbert, of the perfect catch and often perfect kick, at full-back. Gilbert’s kicking made him the chief scorer of points—he easily topped the hundred —and it was rather sad that against England he should have failed to ensure that in every match the New Zealanders managed to score at least once, if only a penalty goal. Of the forwards, Hadley was the soundest, with the veteran J. Hore another front row man, a good second. J. E. Manchester, the captain; S. T. Beid, the only Maori in the team; and H. F. McLean had their great days in the loose, and so had B. B. King, one of the really heavy brigade. A. Mahoney, another big man, improved

until he well earned the position of solo occupant of the third row, where he shoved well and seldom spoiled a heel.

In summary the team was a fine one, if not unbeatable by the best of the British teams who scrummaged hard, spoiled tirelessly, tackled with the gusto of a Davey or Cranmcr in midfield, and, what was hardly less important, did not play into tho hands of master opportunists by throwing and kicking the ball about wildly. AVhcnever all these things occurred the third All Blacks were “up against it”—and who should wonder!