SOUTH AFRICAN FOOTBALLERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13355, 8 December 1906, Page 5

SOUTH AFRICAN FOOTBALLERS.

A COLONIAL'S IMPRESSIONS

TEAM COMPARED WITH THE "ALL

BLACKS."

The following interesting particulars of the South African football team, now,'touring Great Britain, together with -comparisons with the All Blacks," are written by Mr. W. E. Woods, a well-known colonial enthusiast, now spending a holiday' visit in the Old Country : \ •

Every Rugby footballer in Great Britain now realises that a new era has arisen in the game. The colonies have brought this about; New Zealand last season and South Africa this. ' At the time of writing the South African team are carrying on splendidly tin good work started by your men. They limy not have been quite- .so startling; they rasiy not- have won their first few matches in such a marvellous manner as the ''All Blanks" -did when they arrived in England, and began instructing, but the Africans have, already done more.than enougk to assure the success of their tour. ' ...

Strenuous endeavours to get as fit as possible in t he short space of time at their command were made, and are being made by the- various Englishmen '"billed" to meet the visitors. Neither has the mistake of overestimating the power of the visitors been dene quits so much, but even as it is Englishmen fire prone to adopt defensive tactics » little too much. Such measures may limit the scoring of the tourists, but it is not settling the question of bow strong their defence will prove. Personally, I do not think that there is anything to (ear on that score, so far as plenty of pluck, and pace, to get hack smartly and assist the defence goes. Fumbling on the part of the forwards, which, if not properly eradicated as the tour progresses will, however, test all the resources of their bucks. . The forwards have not fully settled down consistently to their game vet, of that I am convinced, but they have only to repeat, the form they exhibited against the Midland Counties to beat any pack : u England, and hold their own with the other oountriw. ',

Then, like your men they are -wonderfully smart at getting into their stride and following up„ and also just as solid tacklers. Still, in . combination, in the loose, and in their scrum work so far the ; palm is indisputably to the New Zealauders. Of course combination in both these instances' -a ill improve. In the scrum they pack s—£—2; and havo no very special notion of going to work, but by comparison with the English clubs they heel out both smartly and cleanly. Still give me a representative Welsh pack, and I think they would obtain tho ball far moro frequently than the South Africans. It may bo just as-well at this • 'stifje- to state that in style they have taught the Englishmen nothing, new. In fact-, as long, back as the early ' eighties", they played the South Africans' present Came .in England. The visitors' crack half, H. W. t'arolin, is just that old-fashioned type of : individualist once, so notable in English [Rugby. . Strongly built, with a rare dash, Cstolin will break through on his own if he can. Regrettably for the complete success of Carotin's tactics he is not always so brilliant. He has his bad days; one of them was again Kent, thought to, paint .the-.other, side of fcbo picture, he was the "king pin" of the gain© at Leicester. Plainly speaking,': they do cot possess such a consistently safe man as Roberts, but there! I never saw his equal for solidity of purpose.

We have not yet seen their crack four playing -all together in the three-quarter line. These fourcomposed of Loubser, Krige,'De Yilliers, jand Stegmann-—play'for'the same club, Stellenbosch, in South Africa,, and know each, other's moves from Ato Z. The wingme;i:i are rare fliers, and closely rival • 'Wallace and McGregor in this respect.* Their "^defence,'"fob*,-, is wonderfully good. Krige is the'mosi brainy player South Africa has produced, wlii.e De Villiers has a swerve reminiscent of Hunter. In fact, . their best third line is*&, dangerous scoring one indeed, and with two brilliant halves would be even more so. Th* halfback question .is the one the South Africans will have to solve if they are to do more wonders. C The fullback, Jou- , bc-t, could not come over, and though Burnieister and Marsburg are not such geniuses as '■ Wallace, they are better, I think, than either Gillett or Booth. Burmeister is very, sound and kicks finely; while- Marsburg is very fast, strong, and daring. No fullback has ever played a'better game than he did „■' against Durham. .'.-■:. Another happy feature of the team is that • fill the reserves are fine players, and as "individualist*" are about as good as many of the representative players. Then the forwards are; taller than your men, notably shining at the !.ineout. To sum up, pace will be ■ a very great factor in their successes, but wo ■ have yet to see them perform on heavy grounds. In some; part 3of South Africa they play on,grounds as hard, and with as little grass on them, as country roads, so naturally the harder the ground the better. The men themselves are rare sportsmen, and play a perfectly clean game in every respect. The team are mostly Dutchmen, with a few of French extraction, the remainder beingof British descent. With one exception all were bora in South Africa. Many of them . fought against the British in the great Boer war, in fact some of. them were imprisoned at St. Helena. They have brought over 28 players 111 backs and 14 forwards), as against your 27 (13 backs and 14- forwards), and there is a talk of one or two more players coming > over. Their fixture list is not so long as your men's was; your lot played a few too many matches. I append a comparative table with the ages, heights, and weights of the South Africans and those of the New Zealanders last year:— •■'_'• '■■.'* ■ '■■

Teams" Average: Age, South Africa 23", years. Sew Zealand over 25: height. S.A. sft JOJin. N.Z. :>ft 9-! in ; weight, S.A. 12st 10JIU, N.Z. 12it 10 1 -91b.

: INTERESTING COMPARISONS. Our -London correspondent, writing on October 26, states that "Astral." of the Morn nip; Leader,* remarked:—" The scores of the 'Springboks' are getting smaller by degrees and beautifully less. After touching the high-water mark of 44 points against Aorthuniljei-land, they came down the scale, hrst against Yorkshire, then Devon anil Somerset i prevented them piling on , the agony in the old sweet way of the New.Zea- ; landers, and yesterday they failed for the \nrst time, on the tour to reach double figures. They met Middlesex at Richmond, »na were rather lucky. to win by a penalty goal and. two tries, or-9 points, 'to nothing. They, were lucky to win because Middlesex, having the best of (ho game forward, threw away several chances of scoring. The South Africans brought, off very few passing : . : movements :■ amongst their three- • flutters, for the reason that, the Middlesex for* a ds played so closely on them and the hall- that i; was impossible. Their habit of straight running in the orthodox fashion of coitreo payed somewhat in favour of Middlesex.; -?he/Springboks' have not learned thakmyiterious habit,the ' All Blacks' had °' developing ■ their attack whore it. is least expected, or of changing it trickily while ?»„ Ul « ~,v: e - , At Bedford I saw' eleven All fßladss handle the ball, while the Englishmen looked on in helpless amazement You don t pret thai sort of magic jugglery with the 'Springboks.' Their objective is plain fiough to the simple understanding of the English athlete Every attacking move is straightforward, and the South African moms is that of superior speed, stamina, and resolution." . Mr. iriitriisli Stuart, the well-known ait--tnontT,-ias contributed a special article to the, Pa i| Mall Gazette, in which he compares the; New Zealanders and South Africans. H& writes:—'•Although the. South Africans. have so far met with quite as striking access as attended the New Zeaanders laid, season, the similarity between the. two colonial sides begins and "ends with their records. Indeed, it would be difficult to concMvatwo sides more dissimilar in style or general, methods, yet at the same time Having so,,* points of resemblance. As, -however, the said common features—resolution iii -running, pace, opportunism— tinguish the. play of all successful sides, the fact, thai; the South Africans nossess and the. isew /Zanders possessed "these qualities to on uausuabdegreo in no war affects the accuracy ot the generalisation that it would be difficult to ; conceive two .sides of more dissimilar style. The greatest and most obVlOttS dlftei*no6 111 the vies of the two sides dees not lie in the different arrangement of the backs, but in scrum work. The New Zealand system, of packing is the most scientific yet devised, and not only enabled the forwards to get the ball, but to heel with a rapidity and clearness unapproacheel by any British pack past or present. To beat the New Zealanders for the ba - was the great problem; which the national sides had to solve. Wales alone devised a scientific way of besting the "hookers.' and all tour nations, bad to depart, from their traditions in the effort to hold their own in the tight with the New, Zealand forwards. -No 6ucn [■problem has to be solved in the case of the South Africans, whoso scrum work is ordinary in point of skill, and the reverse of novel in point of method, unless the fact that they pack 3-3-2 >in preference to 3-2-3 be regarded as a novelty worthy of imitation - It; is in the scrum work that the real difference lies. The New Zealanders, ,in' this important department, are so greatly superior to the 'Springboks' that it is safe to say they would always defeat the -South Africans, simply because the latter would rarely get tho ball at all, and would have to rely upon chance openings in the loose for their opportunities of scoring. Leaving the wing-forward out of j the ; calculation," continues Mr. Stuart, "the back plav of the .Now Zealanders is .much more scientific than that of: the South Africans. No South African movement, so {«■; as the writer has observed, is, in football language, 'a try. all the way.' The crowning of- a South African movement 'with a try always necessitates some individual exhibition; of pace and cleverness. The defence is rarely drawn, and the lino, of attack is invariably obvious The New. Zealanders developed attack both ways,'■ ■ and, generally, speaking, ran .more risks thai the South Africans.'* 'At pre sent the ' visitors :, have scored : 232 points, gainst ,' 10 points in their nine matches, all of which have been, won : the New "Zealanders, ,in their corresponding matches Kith the same English teams, scored points, against 12 points.

SOUTH AFRICANS (28 PLAYERS). (Backs. 14). Age. Height. , Weight. —~ It. in. , -st. ]1>. A. BurmeiMer ... 21 5 11 13 6 A. F. M.HjI.urg ... 23 ., 6 0 13 4 v .T. A. Louder ... 22 ft 8 12 0 • .T. D. Knit*- ... 27 5 7 10 10 H. A. d< Vjlliers ... 23 5 94 12 0 ' A. €. StifRnaaiin ... 22 5 11" 12- 7 I. S. Le fto'ix ... 23 5 11 12 '6 S.O. d<*•- .'.[.-Iter ... 22 5 7 10 10 I. 0. r IIinch ... 23 5 Hi 13 0 A. 0. Horbel ... 24 ft 10 12 9 1!. "iV". Cntniiti ... 24 ft 10 11 10 • V. H. Dobbin ... 27 5 A 11 3 B. S. Mara ... ... 21 S '9 13 6 , UC. Jackson ... 2] 59 119 ; Ayersge ... ... 23 5 9; 12 2; ' ';-- .(Forwards, 14). ' . : '". Age. Height. k, Weight. "-«. -.. '■'■ "'< ft-, in. st. 11). W. A. Burner- ... 22 5 11.'. . 14 0 .1. W. E. lUart . . 27 6 3 13 8 1\ J. Boos ... 28 ft 11 14-4 '■ T. A. Lb Rotli ... 21 5 10,' 13 10 . D, ,1. Drink ... 23 6 2 13 3 -,!'-. F. T. Morkel ... 19 6 10 14 7 W. S. Market ... 26 5 11 12, 7 • H. .1. BunreJ ... 2!) 6 0 13 2 W. A. Millar ' ... 22 ft 10 13 2 1). Brooke* , 23 6 1 12 10 W. C. Mairtheze. ... .28 5 9. 12 0 ''-. W. A. Nwll ... .;. 23 5 9 . 12 7, H. 6. Iteid ... ... 23 6 2.1 14 0 A. F. Burdett ... 24 5 lOi 12 9 'O Averag* ' ... 23.< ; 5 Hi 13 '4 •t NEW. ZEALANDERS (27 FLAYERS). :■ ' > 1 (Backs, 13). Age. Freight. Weight, it. iii. st. lb. ~ T W. WaliSM: ... ... 27 ,5 8 12 0 E. Harper ... ... 27 ft 11 12 7 E. Booth 26 5 74 11 10 G. W. yj Tit a ... ... 33 ft 7 -.11 12 H. Abbott ... ... 23 ,5-" 10: " 13 0 V. Robert* 23 ft 7 12 4 R. Deans ... ... 21 o 0 13 4 J. Hunter ... .. 26 0 fa 11 3 S. Mvnorfc ... .- 23 ft 7 "9 R. McGregor ..'. ... 28 .ft 9 11. 3 ? W.. Stead ... ... 28 5 9 11 0 G. GilHi ....... 23 6 0 13 0 ;'; H. J. 'Xlawnsou ... 24 5 8 10 9 «:■:■.■■ Awrapii'■:.'. .'..'. 26 5 ' 91-3-12 0] (Forward*, 14.) Age. Height. Weight. • :• ! • J ' ' ft. in. it, I''. r, D. Gftlltlte ...../ 29 6 0 13. 0 -'..W. S. Gteon ...... 27; ft .11 12 12 h -S. Casey :'.. ... 22 ft 10 12 4 A. McDonald ... - ... 22 .5 10 13 0 • l| W.i John stone t .... 23 6 . .0 ,.-■; .13 0, ■AC Seeling ... ... 22 6 ' 0 13 7 i>.«{. Niclioiacn ... ... 22 .6.3 '.'.. 13 10 £>.■'..«. A. Trier ... ... 26 . ft ' 10 ' 13 : 0 Sj 3. Corbttfc ... ;. 25 ' ; 5 .11 13' 9 '■'AT. ■■■ Newton „, ,., 23 6'0 la 0 $hT. "GlaJiiroB' ... .. 2= & 10 . 13 3 ■ J. O'Sailiv.in ... 22 ' ft 10-.. 13 ';; . - W. MacUrell .... ... 23 ft 10 , 12 .7 ■_ Jr7. Cuniiiiiirhaiu •-..... : ."29 ft 11 14 6 : Averse- ' *,. 24i ' 3 -11 . '13 5