INTERNATIONAL RUGBY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19974, 16 June 1928, Page 12

INTERNATIONAL RUGBY.

ALL BLACKS V. TRANSVAAL. THE NEW ZEALAND TEAM. SOUTH AFRICAN COMMENT. CROWDS AND SPORTSMANSHIP. Australian and N.Z. Pres3 Association. (Received June 16, 1.30 a.m.) JOHANNESBURG, June 15. The All Blacks' team for to-morrow's match against Transvaal, at Johannesburg, is as follows: Fullback.—Lilburne. Threequarters. Robilliard, Carleton, Grenside. Five-eighths. —Strang, Johnson. Halfback.—Dalley. Wing-forward.—Scrimshaw. Forwards.—Hore, Swain, M. Brownlie, Alley, Finlayson, Stewart, Hazlett. The Johannesburg Star, in a paragraph headed "All Blacks' Secrecy," says:—The press and the public were refused admission to the ground yesterday, -while the All Blacks were training. Once they had started no one was allowed to watch the play except the more ardent spirits, who craned their necks through the doorway and watched the visitors from a distant fence. This is probably the first time any team, whether football, cricket or tennis, which has ever visited South Africa, has practised behind closed doors. A correspondent writing in the Star about the sportsmanship of the crowd, makes an appeal to Rugby spectators. He says: "I hope at next Saturday's match the crowd, or rather the booing section of the crowd, which made so painful an exhibition ot itself last Saturday, will show a little more true sportsmanship. Crowds at cricket and tennis matches in South Africa are the most sporting ever seen. The same cannot be said of certain Rugby enthusiasts. I was an eye-wit-ness at fairly close quarters of the regrettable incident last Saturday. It seems to me and to others in the vicinity that Finlayson received the most gross provocation. That did not justify him in striking Geere, but his handsome apology, and the fact that he took all the blame on his shoulders, should be knowD. "The referee, who did not see what occurred before Finlayson's action, subsequently behaved in a none too tactful manner, quite unnecessarily drawing as much attention as possible to the ordering off incident. Such incidents and the circumstances which give rise to them are unfortunate enough in matches between teams drawn from the same country, but are doubly unfortunate when the match is between a home team and visitors from another country. If such things are going to happen in the future amid such semi-hysterical, unsporting demonstrations as we saw last Saturday from a section of the crowd, the sooner we cease to invite teams to come to South Africa the better. Otherwise, these inter-Dominion fixtures will end in engendering, not good feeling, but bad." Members of the New Zealand team who did not play at Kroonstad stayed in Johannesburg to go through intensive training. ■ They have been playing tennis and golf. The visitors are being generally feted and entertained in lavish style. Ihey visited the Crown Gold Mine this morning and were taken down the shaft. Several players are suffering from injuries. Harvey has torn a muscle in his leg, Lindsay has an injured knee, Burrows injured ribs, and McGregor injured back. All are making a quick recoveiy. To-day's match, the sixth of the tour, will be the second game against Transvaal, the lirst one having been played last Saturday, when the home team won by b points (two tries) to 0. When the teams lirst met the All Blacks adopted a scrum formation of three-four-one. This was something entirely contrary to the general rules ol the ganle. Ihe reports of the match agreed that there was something radically wrong with the scrum formation of the All Blacks —in fact, with the forward division right through. Since then, however, the New Zealand team lias reverted to its original scrum formation of two-three-two, and met with success at Kroonstad on Wednesday against the Orange I 1 ree State side. • So far as the backs are concerned the cablo criticism last week told of their superiority over the 'lransvaal backs. There is no necessity for concern, therefore, that the New Zealand rearguard will not do all that is expected of it. The team of backs was evidently much in the ascendancy against the Orange Free State on Wednesday, and a repetition of that form, combined, of course, with a genuine forward effort, must make a wonderful difference to the all-round display. A win on this occasion is confidently looked for in New Zealand, and with it a great deal more confidence as to the result of the first test match on June 30.