TEST HONOURS EVEN

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXVI, 6 January 1936, Page 7

TEST HONOURS EVEN

ALL BLACKS OUTCLASSED ENGLAND WINS CONVINCINGLY OBOLENSKY, HERO OF THE GAME NEW ZEALAND’S WEAKNESS IN FIVE-EIGHTHS (United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright) LONDON. 4 f.h January. England defeated tin; .til Blacks bv 13 points to 0, after leading 6-0 at halftime. New Zealand has won two internationals and lost two. The English team was: IJ. G. OwenSmitli ; Prince Obolensky; I*. Craniuer, R. E. Gerrard, H. S. Sever; I’. Candler, B. C. (kidney;.!). A. Keudrew, E. S. Nicholson, R. Y. Longlaud, C Webb, A Clarke, E. Hamillon-llill, P. E Dunkley, and W. If. Weston. New Zealand: G. Gilbert; N. Ball, C. J. Oliver, N. Mitchell; T. H. G. Caughey, E. W. Tindill*; M. Corner; A. Lainbouru, W. E. Hadley, J. llore, J. E. Manchester, R. R. King, S. Reid, 11. F. McLean, A. Mahoney. Seventy thousand roared a welcome to the teams as thc-y were filing on the field at Twickenham, the Grenadier Guards band playing the National Anthem. The sun was shining and the ground appeared good despite recent rains.

England immediately attacked from a scrum and Gadney from a line-out passed to the threequarters, but Obolensky droped the pass. Later Obolensky kicked strongly, taking plav lo the New Zealand half, but Corner with a fine kick regained many yards. Gadney, kicking to touch, put England in an attacking position but feet up in the scrum let in the New Zealanders who attacked strongly. Owen-Smitli relieved with a strong touchfiuder. Candler from a midfield scrum accepted an awkward pass from Gadney, then burst through but Sever was overwhelmed. The All Blacks forwards had thus far won the majority of the scrums but the English forwards broke up so quickly that the New Zealand backs were unable to make headway. Gilbert fielded a short punt and ran downfield but was pushed into touch. New Zealand seized the opportunity when the ball came to Tin dill from a scrum. He sent on to Caughey whose crosskick enabled Mitchell and Oliver to carry on until checked, Owen-Smitli finally saving with a magnificent kick to halfway. CLOSE CALL FOR- NEW ZEALAND The English forwards secured the ball and Gadney, with a thrilling breakaway, had the All Blacks’ defence in a tangle. Gerrard and Obolensgy came up in support and the ball reached Obolensky who was almost over when a terrific tackle prevented an apparently certain try. New Zealand with dribbling rushes iorced play back, after which Oliver and Caughey attempted to force their way through hut were pulled down. Sever picked up and left Gilbert standing, but slipped on the treacherous turf. FLYING WINGER SCORES After a series of midfield mauls the English forwards heeled and the ball was passed along the line of threequarters to Obolensky whose speed enabled a wonderful try in an easy position, hut Dunkley hit the crossbar with the kick. England 3, New Zealand 'O. New Zealand rallied magnificently in an attempt to equalise and attacked continuously. Oliver once crashed into the corner flag and Caughey and Tindill were pulled down when dangerous. Then Grannie: - hurst through and passed to Gerrard who sent on to. Obolensky who raced over for a try which wa s unconverted. England 6, New Zealand 0. England’s fierce tackling had thus far somewhat subdued the All Blacks. Moreover the New Zc-alander’s advantage in the scrums was offset by Gadney's quick breaking through and Owen-Smith’s cleverness in the scrums. Obolensky s tries showed astounding speed, beating both the New Zealand wings as for the second he came up in support of Gerrard on the opposite wing. The New Zealand forwards opened tile second half by scrummaging strenuously and obtained’ a foothold in England’s twenty-five, but the backs were beaten on both wings. LEAD INCREASED Mitchell twisted and turned in a great crossfield run, then England charged down a kick and C'ranmer, Candler and Sever opened the way for what might have been another try but the lastnamed kicked ahead instead of crossfield when Gilbert approached. Cranmer, amid delirious cheering, increased the lead, potting a left-foot goal when the threequarter s were checked. England 10, New Zealand 0. New Zealand was now bustled and lacking its previous fire, and looked beaten. The heavy English forwards crashed into the opposing outside backs before they could gam ground, forcing the All Blacks to kick, but Owen-Smitli, whoso bands were wonderfully safe, fielded most efforts and repeatedly found touch with lengthy kicks. England s superiority on attack i,vas so marked that they took scrums instead of line-outs, continually heeling. From one scrum Cranrner made a fine breakaway and paved the way for Sever who in a thirty yard dash outpaced the defence to score. Dunkley did not convert England 13, New Zealand 0. New Zealand re-attacked desperate v, invading England’s territory and the defence was repeatedly forced to kick to touch. Owen-Smitli was once only-yards from the goal line when be kicked as three opponents dashed up. Thus England surprisingly but deservedly defeated New Zealand for the first time., The Prince of Wales was .present and was introduced to the players before the game. DARK DAY7OR DOMINION IMPROVEMENT IN BRITISH RUGBY ALL ENGLISH BACKS SUPERIOR -LONDON, 4th January. The special correspondent of the United Press Association says that New

Zealanders present at Twickenham will remember 4th January 1936 as one of the darkest days in the history of the : Dominion’s Rugby. They saw England \ completely outclass the All Blacks innict- - mg one of the most convincing defeats j possible. Now Zealand against Wales although defeated made a grand showing and fought to (lie bitter end. The same cannot be said of to-day s match. ! England appeared to have the upper I hand ten minutes after the start, while ; the longer the game continued tlip more superior they looked. All that can be said is that the New Zealanders did their best but it was a poor best. Best English and New Zealand enthusiasts were disappointed with then display. Not once throughout the game did the tourists’ backs stage ■ a real breakaway. Indeed they found it impossible to pierce the opposition. . England like Whiles showed the visitors muiiv points and fine phases in forwaul and hack pla\ . The score should have been 1(-U, Dimklev’s first attempt to convert being very unlucky. The ball striking the crossbar and' bouncing infield. Another kick shaved the upright. WANTED A BRILLIANT FIVEEIGHTH The game further proved—not that proof was needed —that British Rugby has improved out of all knowledge, also that the New Zealand side, sadly lacks a brilliant five-eighth. Moreover, one or the biggest faults of former English teams has been reckless passing, but the backs to-day gave the tourists a lesson in passing and handling which was almost perfect throughout. Moreover they never passed needlessly. Not a single man in the English back line was afraid to be tackled when lie found himself unsupported. ‘ ENGLAND’S RUSSIAN HOPE W 7 ale s against New Zealand produced a hero in Woollcr. England too, produced a hero in Obolensky, who before the game was named England s Russian hope. The All Blacks never, once during the tour encountered his equal for speed. Twickenham showed that Obolensky is apparently faster than Hart, the touiists’ speediest winger. The Russian lett the All Blacks standing on both occasions he scored. Once he turned, chased and caught Ball from behind when the New Zealander was in full pace. Hie Now Zealanders were in position both times Obolensky scored. Obolensky on the first occasion secured a pass from Cramner, raced round Ball, and heat Gilbert just as easily. The full back was completely baffled by the Russian’s change of pace and went for a tackle but was left clutching at air. Well deserved thunderous applause greeted Obolensky’s jgreat effort, men and women standing up and cheering, it was probably one of the most enthusiastic demonstrations seen at Twickenham, where the crowds seldom register their feelings. , , Obolensky’s second try again showed pace too great for the opposition. Cranmer made an opening giving a perfectly timed pass to Gerrard, who sent on to Obolensky. The latter ran diagonally acrossfield, heading for the corner flag. Mitchell, sensing the move, raced across to intercept. He had a shorter distance to travel but could not reach the spot before tlie Russian. Moreover Obolensky was not the only great back iu the English fifteen. Excepting Candler, who was a very orthodox and mechanical five-eighth, others were superior lo the New Zealanders. BRILLIANT HALF-BACK Gadney had a very prominent share in the victory. His bullet-like passes from the scrums were a joy to watch. Neither Corner nor Sadler could compare with him in this. Gadney was able to send the ball a surprising distance. He passed So quickly that Tindill was unable to reach him in time to smother the pass. C'ranmer and Gerrard were thus able to get moving before the tourists’ backs could get up to them. England’s all round display confounds the critics, most of whom anticipated an All Black victory, some believing the visitors would win by a handsome margin. Commentators before the match expressed the opinion that the English puck was likely to be unwieldy and slow, although it should win the ball from the scrums. The exact opposite happened. The All Blacks won thirtyone scrums to twenty-one while the lineouts were even. Nevertheless the scrums were the only department forward in which the 'Englishmen were beaten. Their rucking and tackling were definitely superior. They more than held their own in the loose and also lasted out better than the AH Blacks’ forwards, who were hard pressed in the concluding stages, one reason being that King was practically a passenger most of the second half, the West Coaster receiving a bad knock on the head soon after half time. He then sustained a badly injured shoulder, and was unable to pack in the middle of the scrum. He took Manchester’s place, simply leaning against the pack. CRITICS ALL ASTRAY The critics were also wrong regarding the method of scoring. The majority anticipated that England’s tries would come from scrambles on the line, the tank type of forwards pushing over, but all the tries came from fine threequarter movements, the ball going out to the wingers by good chain passing. It was also thought "that Tindill would win the game with field goals but he made only one attempt from a difficult position, the ball not going near the posts. Nobody expected Cranmer’s dropped goal; it was a beauty. Tindill, Oliver and Caughey seeing both Ball and Mitchell opposed by swift runners and good tacklers repeatedly attempted to burst through but ineffectually. If one English back missed a man another would dash round and save the situation. Apparently they had learned this from the All Blacks whose covering work on defence has been one of the features of the tour. Obviously as against Wales many of the tourists were stale but that was not the chief reason for tile defeat. The trouble is that the New Zealanders have a weakness, particularly regarding penetrative ability and defence by the inside five-eighths which it was found impossible to remedy. Something must he done regarding this if the All Blacks are to have a chance against the South Africans next year. CAUGHEY’S POOR GAME The decision to play Caughey was made a few hours before the game. The Aucklander earlier in the day said his leg was stiff but he was sure it would wear off. Had Caughey dropped out it was intended to play Griffiths but it is doubtful whether it would have made much difference, although he could not have been poorer than Caughey, who played the poorest game of all the visit- ! ing backs. Caughey on scvoral occas- ! ions was beaten by Cranmer and Gerrard i and was partly to blame for the two | English tries. He was also of small value on attack and kicked poorly exI cept at the start when lie made several long line-kicks. Nevertheless Caughey I tried to make openings but was not given room by C'ranmer and Gerrard who I generally managed to tackle him in such a manner as to prevent bis passing. This type of tackling also upset lindiU and Oliver, resulting in most of the New Zealand attacks breaking down prior to the ball reaching the wingers. I lie English forwards were quick to rush up when the All Blacks’ backs were tackled and thus started rushes by swift heeling when the New Zealanders’ were out ot | Zeal . uul back played up to

his best form. Corner worked hard throughout and defended magnificently hut was outclassed by Gadney. Tindill was included because it was thought he would make openings but one reason for liis non-success was that the English wing forwards, fearing his goal kicking ability, watched him very closely. UNO RTIIOD OX F ULL-BACK The South African Owen-Smitli was more brilliant and sound than Gilbert. Owen-Smitli is the piost unorthodox fullback the tourists have met throughout the tour. He played risky football and was not afraid to try to beat his man before kicking. He almost let in the All Black forwards on several occasions through failure to go down to the ball, but luck generally enabled him to get out of tight places. Gilbert had several bad patches, failing to take the ball clearly, and knocking on. Constant playing is telling the tale in his case. Hadley, Reid, Mahoney, Manchester and Horc were the best of the All Black forwards. Mahoney was a champion in the line-outs and used every ounce of his weight in the scrums. Reid made many solitary dashes and twice was within ah ace of scoring. The Englishmen found him very difficult to pull down in full stride. Hadley did his share, outhooking Nicholson. He was also prominent in the tight. The English wing-forwards HamiltonHill and Weston were invaluable, holding up the tourist threequarters. Dunkley and Clarke were two of the best forwards on the field. Gilbert in the final stages came up to the three-quarter line in the hope, of making an opening but the All Blacks were unable to pierce the defence. The game was played in the best spirit, although once or twice the English forwards were guilty of late tackling through ’overkeenness. SUPERB FOOTBALL HISTORY MADE TRIBUTE TO “GRAND FELLOWS” LONDON, 4th January. Tlie newspapers emphasise that England /hade history by defeating New Zealand. Tlie “Sunday Times” admits that the All Blacks’ changes may not have produced the best team and been wise, but England played such superb football that she would have beaten any team the tourists fielded. The New Zealanders’ defence was not particularly good at the best of times, but it is doubtful whether, even if better, it would have stopped the three great tries scored against them.

The paper adds: “Tlie team is not as good as its predecessors, hut the members are grand fellows on and off the field, and pleased us immensely with the spirit with which they played, which should partially compensate them for their defeats.”

The “Observer” expresses the opinion that England made a notable step by abandoning nothing in the venture of defence-first play which has ruined her chances in international matches in recent years. The All Blacks’ worst luck was Sadler being stale. Corner, although he played well, was unable to get the ball away sufficiently fast. Tlie “Sunday Dispatch” says England played with an understanding not exhibited for many a day. Critics especially pay a tribute to Prince Obolensky, the “Flying Prince,” and Gadney, for play and captaincy. Tlie “Sunday Graphic” says GiicTney kept two defenders occupied by his individual brilliance, and greatly assisting the English three-quarters.

THE TOURS RESULTS

>The completed All Blacks’ record is: v. Devon and Cornwall, 35-0. v. Midland Counties, 9.-3. v. Yorkshire and Cumberland, 14-3. v. Abertillery and Cross Keys, 31-0. v. Swansea .(lost), 3-11. v. Gloucestershire and Somerset, 23-3. v. Lancashire and Cheshire, 21-8. v. Northumberland and Durham, 10-0. v. South of Scotland, 11-8. v. Glasgow and Edinburgh, 9-8. v. Combined Services, 0-5. v. Llanelly, 10-8. v. Cardiff, 20-5. v. Newport, 17-5. v. London Counties, 11-0. v. Oxford, 10-9. v. Hampshire and Sussex, 14-8. v. Cambridge, 25-5. v. Leicester and East Midlands, 10-3. y. SCOTLAND, 18-8. v. North of Scotland, 12-0. v. Ulster (drawn), 3-3. v. IRELAND, 17-9. v. Mid-Districts, 31-10. v. Neath and Aberavon, 13-3. v. WALES (lostL 12-13. v. London Counties, 24-5. v. ENGLAND (lost), 0-13. Matches' played 28, won 24, drawn 1, lost 3, points for 431, against 180.

INDIVIUAL SCORES

The All Blacks’ individual scoring chart is as follows, with the number of matches played by each in parenthesis:—

The number of games played by those who have not scored points are: Lanibourn 21, Mahoney 10, Collins 7, Best 5, Dalton 8, Page 3. ■'Goal from a mark.

TEST RESULTS Tost results of the 1905, 1924 and 1935 All Blacks are:— Scotland—l9os, won, 12-7; 1924- no match; 1935, won 18-8. Ireland—l9os, won, 15-0; 1924, won 0-0; 1935, won, 17-9. Wales—l9os, lost, 0-3; 1924, won, 19-0; 1935, lost, 12-13. England—l9os, won, 15-0; 1924, won 17-11; 1935, lost, 0-13.

Tries. Con. Pen. Pot. Tl. Gilbert (20) .... — 30 10 3 120 Canghey (20) 12 — — — 40 Mitchell (22) 12 — — — 30 Ilart (19) .... 11 — — — 33 Oliver (20) 8 3 ~ — 30 Ball (14) 7 — — 1 25 Thidill (13) .... — — — 5 20 McKenzie (15) 5 — *1 — 18 Brown (7) 4 — — — 12 Sadler (14) .... 4 — — — 12. King (24) 4 — — — 12 Griffiths (10) .... 2 — — 1 10 Corner (14) .... 1 3 — — 9 Pepper (10) .... 3 — — — 9 Wynyaul (8) 2 — — — 0 Adkins (9) 2 — — — . 0 Reid (19) 2 — — — 0 Manchester (20) 2 — — — G Hadley (15) .... 1 — 3 Vorarth (11) .... 1 — 3 Solomon (7) .... 1 — — — 3 Hore (15) 1 — 3 McLean (14) .... 1 — — — 3 Totals .. 88 30 17 11 431