Beaten, But Acclaimed

Northern Advocate, 18 July 1949, Page 6

Beaten, But Acclaimed

All Blacks Better Side, But Penalties Decided The Issue

, (From Claude King) CAPETOWN, Sun. (11 a.m.).—Nowthat the excitement of the test victory has given way to more" sober reflection, the South Africans are amazed at the nature of their win over the All Blacks. . . \ . The Sooth African press is practically unanimous in acclaiming the All Blacks as the better side. The Cape Argus says: “The Springboks were beaten in the forwards and backs by a side which showed us how really to play Rugby. ~ ... “This match will go down in history as the game of the Pena “Rarely has one team so convincingly demonstrated its superiority, yet had to accept defeat.

"We must recognise the vast improvement effected by the All Blacks and prepare to match it. "The visitors have now measured up to all that was claimed for them when the team was selected in New Zealand. “The difference, between teams on Saturday was that the New Zealanders were always trying to play constructive Rugby and launched a number of sp’endidly-conceived. strongrunning threequarter movements, which came close to scoring. “In comparison, the South Africans’ play was negative. “Their halves let the ball out well, but on the day’s play the New Zealand pair, Savage and Kearney, were better. “The South African centres were not impressive. DEPENDED ON KICKING “They depended on kicking. and though Lategan made one or two ‘entative breaks; their wingers never handled the ball throughout the match and were virtual passengers except for a little defending. “On the other side, though Allen showed no signs of his ipjury, he did hot play one of his best games. “In addition to the halves, Elvidge. both wings and Scott were first-class “The fact is that the All Blacks had victory In their hands, and it would have been a richly-deserved victory, but they allowed it to slip away. “More and more it is clear that South Africa is going to have a grim, hard fight ahead to win the rubber, and first blood in the first match at Newlands may prove the decisive match of the rubber.” \ Geffin’s performance in scoring all the side’s points with five penalty goals has no known parallel in modem test Rugby. It is interesting to note that of 10 penalties awarded to South Africa, eight were in New Zealand territory and five of -the eight shots at goal were converted. Actually, four of Geffins’ five Hicks

were from very handy positions. On the other hand of seven penalties awarded to New Zealand, four were in their own territory, and of three shots Scott had at goal from penalties, two wore f-'or.i well out. TTis conversion of a try and a pens’ v out of four kicks was a big improvement or. previous performances, though it. falls short of the standard hd set on the Kiwis’ tour and in Australia and New Zealand. A diagram of the run of play shows that the All Blacks were in South African territory for three parts of the match and had nine excursions into their opponents’ twerity-five compared with' three by South Africa. ALLEN LACKED BRILLIANCE Illustrative of the nature of football plaved were the passmg movements. The All Blacks had 24 such rushes, of which five went to the wings, five through most of the backs, and eight stopped at Allen, who sought to vary play by kicking or going through on his own. These efforts, however, lacked his customary clever touch and. he tended also to crowd Elvidge, who needs room to exploit his strong running and powerful fend. South Africa had 14 rushes, of which none went past the inside centre. CATLEY WON SCRUMS Revised statistics of the match show that Catley won the scrums by 22 to 19. Details of the Springboks’ 1921 tour of New Zealand are not available, but in 1928 and 1937 the South Africans were never beaten in the scrums and Catley thus enjoys the honour of being the first New Zealand hooker to lower the Springboks’ colours in a department in which it had excelled. An important part was that Catley won seven of his opponents’ loose heads, while Jordaan won three. The South Africans rate the loose head as giving the side putting the ball in a five-to-two advantage, so

that Catley’s performance was most meritorious. He stated after the match that the New Zealand scrum was the best packed one in which he has hooked. Of 41 scrums during the ipatch, Wahl put the ball in 25. SURPRISED The All Blacks were surprised whan the referee awarded him the ball following rucks in New Zealand territory, as the usual practice in indefinite mauls which are halted and scrums awarded, is for the defending half to put the bail in. At a dinner in the evening, Allen expended congratulations to South Africa and complimented Geffins on setting a record for test matches. Felix du Plessis replying, said: “It was a grand game. • “At first the occasion seemed too great for our men. “They have not played international football before. But you saw what happened in the end when they gained confidence. "If the Springboks maintain this form the All Blacks will not smell us in the rest of the tests.” The All Blacks were pleased today to x-eceive a message from the chairman of the New Zealand Rugby Union (Mr Belcher! congratulating them on their performance, also a very fine message from the Prime Minister (Mr Fraser). COMPETENT REFEREE • The referee (Mr Hofmeyr) gave a most competent display during the match. The Ail Blacks have no one else but themselves to blame for their infringements. They resulted in a earn which really settled down to first-class Rugby going down to defeat without having its line crossed. The diminutive Savage played easily the best game of his career and was outstanding among the All Blacks. He had gained confidence with each game of the tour and today direc ed the foi’wards ably, as well as whipping out crisp passes. His short kicks ahead were also a menace to the Springboks, and he was given a tine ovation for much of his work. GRAND QUARTET Simpson, Harvey, Willocks and Grant made a grand quartet in the lineouts, whei'e the New Zealanders’ work was always efficient and left no gaps for the opposition to break through. Grant won most of the ball and had no superior on the field, but an important factor was the excellent support he received. McNab and Thornton made a fine pair of harassing forwards, and generally there was an impressive mobility in the whole pack. Kearney brought to bear all the resource which has marked his Rugby for years. Unless he was able to send his backline away advantageously, he slammed the ball down the sideline, and his dropped goal was a real gem, the ball soaring .high over the bar from about 35 yards out. Henderson was the outstanding winger on the field and one could not be other than delighted with his efforts to cap off bright passing rushes. At no stage on the tour had he handled better of moved off the mark

with such speed, and as a result he was able to race past Marais impressively. Only grand cover defence by van der Schijf stopped him twice near the line. ' BOGGS WAS SOLID Boggs was solid and a most useful footballer without having the top pace which means tries. Scott again delighted the crowd with his. pe:feet positional play, but, although there was little wrong with his game, he has given better displays on this tour. His goal-kicking was better than it has been recently, but it is still that of a competent, not an inspired, kicker. Allen did not appear to be suffering any ill-effects from the knee injury he received during practice earlier in the week, but he was not the finished footballer of previous games. Some of his kicks ahead were not well judged and he also sent out some high passes. As a result. Elvidge was not able to exploit his strong running or his powerful fend to the best advantage. Allen also bumbled the ball at some critical moments. The All Blacks won the line-outs, 27—14.