RUGBY IN ENGLAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 20088, 27 October 1928, Page 19

RUGBY IN ENGLAND.

COMPARED WITH DOMINION. A LL blacks more CRAFT f. J-10ME PLAYERS LACK ELEMENTS. ri-BO.M OUK OWN CO ttHESroN MEN T. ] 1 ' LONDON. Sept. 21 Because thoro is to bo no visiting BiHbi' side' during Ibis winter many j people, i" the vitnv of ;l football contributor to a Birmingham paper, will f ce l'inclined to describe the. coming] joason as "humdrum." "Still," ' lo "" (>s u "' " w0 should do j well to refrain from grumbling. Visits j from tile AH Blacks, the Maoris and the Waratahs in eight, .seasons is not ;H all t d goin l '. These invasions from overseas w't" l , ' ltU u> ' st ,lial,iu?i ai| d the excitement that ace panics speculation •is to whether the challenging side will manage to escape defoat in each sucees- : sivo encounter, are like so many cock- j tails that give pleasant stimulation toj iho enjoyment of tho ordinary Rugby I feast. t su t constant recourse to cock- j tails"is U()I to be recommended; and it j is no bad tiling that we. should be given an opportunity to simmer down, and resect our position, us the gunners phrase 1 '"Have we learnt anything from our overseas friends? Is British Rugby football any the better for these visits, apart, of course, from the pleasure afforded by fraternising with the sportsmen from distant lands, and the knowledge gained from them that the old game is making steady progress in places so many thousands of miles away from Iho spot that paw its birth? One is not quite sure j{ we were perfectly honest with ourselves, we could give anything but the vaguest of answers. If our visitors had Anything to teach us (and it is assumed {Jjcv had), have we assimilated and applied (ho lessons? I have not yet met with any sign of it. Was English Rugby football any better last season, for instance, for the tour of the All Blacks in 1924-25? If so, in what respect? He is a clever man who would answer those questions. Exaggerated Talk. "There is a good deal of looso and exaggerated talk on the occasion of these tours, especially if the visitors prove to be unusually successful. The cry goes lip that there must be something wrong with Rughv in this country, and that wo should set tn work ufc once to copy tho methods of the conquerors. We have not commenced that copying process yet; and that is nothing to grieve about. "If there is to be an improvement it must come from within, not as a result of imitation. If there is to bo a change in the style of the game it must bo a natural development, and not the result of something forced upon us. Many people say: 'Whv should wo not imitate the New Zealanders? What is the difficulty?' The difficulty, of course, is that New Zealand is not Great Britain—a fact at once so vast and so simple that thousands of people cannot perceive it. "Rugby men in this country aro exceedingly conservative; they are also very jealous about anyone laying hands on their beloved code and attempting any fancy tricks with it. Those are two answers straightaway to the people who aro impatient for change, and cannot understand why we do not model ourselves upon other folk.

"Tlie New Zealanders showed us i'.heir live-eighths formation twenty-tliree veavs ago. The number of English clubs who have exploiter) it since cap be regarded as negligible. Leicester gave it a trial for several seasons. Then they dropped it; and they are now playing every bit as well as they used to no. "It lias been urged that we should at least adopt the All Blacks' principle tii encouraging tho forwards to be threequarters as well as scrum magers. It is a good idea. Tin Coventry pack are proceeding with great success on those lines; n'Miongh whether or not they not, the idea from 111p All Blacks one cannot say. This I do know, that quite a while before tlio memorable 1905-6 visit of the All Blacks the Welsh Union had come to the conclusion that the old heavy typo forward who could do little but scrummage was out of date, and that what was described as a 'general utility' typo of forward who could join in with the backs when called upon must be evolved; and George Boots and J. J. Hodges were regarded as the ideal results of that policy. Not a New Idea. "When the All Blacks arrived, Hoots had ended his international career, and llodges was on t lie point of closing his. although he played in the great game at Cardiff which Wales won by a try. The idea, you perceive, was not a new one; and it had been grasped in this country before tho All Blacks arrived. The fact that it has not been more generally encouraged is a matter that rests with tho individual clubs. That is the whole point. You will not get a general improvement in the standard of play unless it is a natural development from inside the clubs themselves. Certainly you will not get it by advocating the alteration of rules or grafting upon the present stylo some new formation of play. "iSorno innocent individuals s: 'll believe the All Blacks beat our half-baked scratch sides because of some magical quality in their formation. I can 'asisuro these good folk, they are entirely on the w-rong track. The formation adopted by tho All Blacks had almost as little to do with their successes as the fearsome waryell they were wpected to deliver at nil their matches. The success of the New Zealanders was entirely duo to the- fact that they were a good deal more expert in the essentials of the game than the sides that met them in this country.

"By I hat I mean they were far hotter technicians; or, In put it in anc'Jier way, they had grounded themselves thoroughly in tho rudiments (4 the game, ami then proceeded to make tho natural developments that is based upon sound technic] lie. Hie whole thing seems so obvious to me that I am not surprised at all this talk in past seasons of the need of a change, if not in Style, then in the; higher strategy. The All Blacks beat us, not because of their formation, but because they were bettor craftsmen—if one may "sc stub a term m connection with an amateur sport. Rudiments of the Uame. "Marking and tackling are among the things a junior should learn before bo Ventures into first-class football- They mo the rudiments of the game; yet, it I were to say that 75 per cent, of players in first-class Ilugby to-day were not thoroughly grounded in the rudiments, people .would accuse mo of being insulting. "Again, do you, as spectators and old players, realise that most of the men pluy'"g in what is called first-class Rugby have not yet firmly grasped the elements of the game? Year in and year out J have to keep on urging the importance of things that are in the very primer of liiighy. Lot us be quite frank, and admit that a considerable number of pl.iyeis in what is called first-c lass Rugby have not really equipped themselves for the game. Jhe game is all right: it is the standard of skill on the part of the players that is lacking. "As a concluding example: Take tho M't of kicking. Many a back thinks hirn*elf well equipped if he can manage, to propel tho ball into touch with onci foot (generally the right). lie is a halfbaked person. His captain is quite entitled to demand of him (.1) he shall be ll'le to kick equally well with either loot; (2) he shall be a good drop-kick; and (3) he shall be able to put in a screw kick ivlicn necessary (a priceless asset if a man 'ins to effect a save when running back tor (ho ball with fast forwards in purtuit). "This may soom to bo asking a lot. •To Dominion clubs do not think so. Perhaps that is why they rnako U3 look Imall."