RUGBY TESTS AHEAD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19976, 19 June 1928, Page 11

RUGBY TESTS AHEAD.

SPRINGBOKS PREPARED. C TEAM IN SPECIAL TRAINING. 1 THE PROSPECTS DISCUSSED. ' [FftOM OUK SPECIAL CORRESPONDEKX.] JOHANNESBURG, May 14. While the All Blacks are on the water and the captain and engineers of the Euripides are endeavouring to make up the two days lost before the boat left Fremantle, so that the tourists will be able to obtain the necessary practice before engaging in their opening match, the authorities in South Africa are scouring the country with the view to picking the very best players to carry the Springbok colours in the test matches. Trials are being held throughout the country, and, following a series of representative matches to be commenced next week, the 40 best players will be selected to participate in the final trials in Durban, to be spread over a week terminating on June 23, giving the finally-selected side a week to practice together before the first test match. The men selected will be under the control of Theo. Pienaar, who was captain of the Springbok side in New Zealand in 1921, and it was the of the All Blacks' methods which he acquired on that tpur which was the deciding factor in his appointment. Pienaar, who is one of the selectors of the South African side, is the principal of an important high school in the Cape, and has long been recognised as an inspiring leader and a clever tactician. As a captain he was always prepared to place his side before himself, as he proved in New Zealand when he stood down to allow that great forward, "Boy" Morkel, to lead the team in the test matches. The Provincial Tests. Everything possible is being done to discount the usual advantages of a touring side in the way of personal intimacy and combination, and the South African team which does duty in the first test match at Durban should be welded into a self-reliant and confident side as the result of a week's practice together following the trials. The earlier games of the tour should have provided the New e Zealand public with a fair impression of their representatives' chances before the first test match is decided. Such an authority as Gerhardt Morkel, who will be favourably remembered in New Zealand as the capable fullback who did duty for the Springboks in the test matches during the 1921 tour, has committed himself to the opinion that the tourists will probably be defeated in two of their first four matches and likes the prospects of the country district team of the Western Province, who oppose, the All Blacks in the first match of the tour, and the Transvaal. Phil Mostert, one of the greatest of all South African forwards, and generally regarded as the Springbok counterpart to Maurice Brownlie, •and likely to lead the home pack in the test matches, will captain the country side, and he will have at his command a fine rugged lot of forwards and some capable backs, but, despite Morkel's opinion, it will be surprising to most critics in the Union if the All Blacks do not win by a margin of 10 points, providing always they have found their land legs at the time the match is played. Nursery o* Backs. The second match against the combined universities of Oapetown and Stellenbosch, will provide a trial of a different nature. Whereas the forwards wil be the strength of the country team, the universities are not so powerful in the van, but have some most capable backs. These two great colleges have always been the nursery of back play in South Africa, and for many years have provided the international team with 80 per cent, of its backs. The interest in the game at these universities amounts to a passion, and it is the spirit which animates their teams which plays a big part in their success. From Captown the tourists move upcountry, where they play Griqualand West in their third game. Tt was here that the New Zealand military team which toured South Africa suffered its first defeat in 1919. But history is not likely to be repeated. Formerly one of the strongest "Rugby centres in the Union, Ki'mberley owes its existence to the famous diamond mines, but the poor demand for precious stones following the war, and the opposition offered to big diamond interests by the alluvial diggings, caused heavy retrenchments, and leading players moved away to the four quarters of the Union, with the result the game has never recovered its strength. The All Blacks should have no difficulty in winning here. First Really Hard Test. On the golden Rand, where the fourth match is being played, the tourists will have what is likely to be their first really hard test against the Transvaal. This high veld centre has always been famed for its forwards, and in Dr. Jack Van Druten, F. L. Kruger, Jack Oliver, have men who are practically sure of their places in the .Springbok pack. The backs are also sound and a good all-round side will be fielded. The British touring team of 1924 failed to win one of its matches in Johannesburg, and, if. the All Blacks can win their fixture by a convincing margin, they can look forward to the first test match with every confidence. Beating the Transvaal may be compared to a touring team in New Zealand defeating Wellington or Auckland. With this match successfully behind them the tourists can look forward to four fairly comfortable matches before the first test match at Durban. With possibly the exception of "the match ~at Kroonstad, in the Orange Free State, all the fixtures will bo played on wellSfrassed grounds, and there is no reason to anticipate that the crop of injuries will be heavier than associated with any other tour.