RUGBY FOOTBALL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20641, 13 August 1930, Page 16

RUGBY FOOTBALL.

V' I ■■■■■■: v TOUR OF BRITISH TEAM. .VERY CREDITABLE RECORD. y ! I SPONG THE STAR PERFORMER. ;The New Zealand tour of the British Uugby team was brought to a conclusion with yesterday's match at Bleuheim and the team will sail from Wellington on Friday for Sydney. The tour has been a • jhhge success in every way and the record of the visitors in having won 15 of the 21 matches played is a very creditable one Indeed. Included in these successes was a victory irj the first test match at Dunedin, and this was particularly gratifying to the' tourists, who, however, (would undoubtedly have liked to have left these shores with honours even so far as the test games were concerned. Tho gradual improvement in the form of the |All Blafcks, however, precluded, this possibility and Britain had to be content with jpne win in the four tests played. ! In all fairness to the visitors it must be {conceded they have experienced exasperating luck in tho loss of players (through injuries. The most serious and most vital ,blow to the side was the defection of Sobey . after the opening match of the tour at Wangaqui. It is difficult to Estimate the true loss of this very capable scrum half, whose association with Spong in the more important contests would undoubtedly have made a world of /difference. , Open Exhibitions. • In spite of drawbacks, however, the carried on gallantly, and, whether .winning or losing, its members continued jto play bright, open football, more in keeping with what one usually sees in secondary schools' matches. It is these exhibitions which have drawn record crowds "to the various centres to watch the British players in action. TThe strength of the British toam lay in its backs, and that made the total disablement of Sobey and the temporary disablement of Murray all the more regrettable. Spong was undoubtedly the star back of "the visiting combination and ho was to this team what Cooke was to the all-conquering 1924 All Blacks. Spong's brilliancy is undoubted, and it is certain that with Sobey inside him Spong would have risen to even greater heights. Speed has proved a tremendous asset to the British backs and has provided Novis, Morley and Reeve with many tries. These fast wing-threequartors, howevor, required to have the openings made for them. They rarely got past the bettor class of fullbaoks. Novis appealed as being the piost dangerous scoring man of the trio. I Bassett gave consistently good displays *t fullback, more especially when it is Considered he played in a succession of hard matches. Bonner, the reserve fullback, did not impress, and did not appear eturdy enough to stand up to a hard game. . A Capable Halfback. . <■ Aarvold captained the visiting team in ill the matches in which Prentice did not take part. Sobey, the original vice-cap-tain, was, • of course, out -of action alter the first match. Aarvold displayed many "flashes of brilliance up to the bitter end of the tour, when his play deteriorated, no doubt on account of staleness, Murray proved himself a capable halfback, but none of the other backs impressed as being anything out of the ordinary. Murray ' 'was originally chosen as a threequarter. .'■> The forwards sfoowed up favourably Bgaiust the weaker provincial packs' but they were beaten in Wellington, Canterbury and Auckland, more especially in the case of Auckland. As regards the test matches, the final teot proved beyond any doubt that seven AH Black forwards, fit and well, were more than a match for the British eight. The strong point about tho play of the British pack lay .in the ability of its members to open up play at every available opportunity. (As events turned out this policy did not prove profitable in the test matches and an; the provincial games which were lost. 'However, it was particularly effective m many of the other contests, where the Visitors were opposed by a solid pack ■holding its own, but where the opposition provided by the backs was not nearly so strong. It was iu these games that 'the speedy British backs reaped their Practically the sole object of the touring pack was to let the backs have the •ball at all costs, hence tho great deal of 'i - passing done inside the British twentyfive by the defending side. Ivor Jones -proved himself an adept at feeding his / hacks, and he must be regarded as one "of the finest loose forwards who have loured this country. " To a lesser extent and Black were also clever at Seizing opportunities for making play lor -■'. their backs. Beamish impressed as being easily the most solid all-round forward /of the team, although Parker, Rew, Iven- ' drew and O'Neill were nuggety types of : front row men. Versatility was displayed >by Ivor-Jones, who acted as hanback iu '-the second test when Murray was injured, and by Wilkinson, another forward, who jpjaved at wing-threequarter in one of the minor matches.

y ' Lineout Play. Line-out play was one of the weakest of the forward play of the Britishers, and their scrumming was not so jDolid as it should have been. This was f undoubtedly attributable to the practice '•of one or more of the pack looking for 'opportunities of handling the ball and thereby failing to put their weight_ in properly. . A 5 a general rule the Britishers dribbling rushes did not gain nearly so / much, ground as those of the packs opposed to them. This was due to the starting of" passing rushes as soon as the ball was anything like clear. Time and. again a concerted dribbling rush would have paid better than passing, which was checked 'either through, mishandling, bad passing or with determined tackling. Although it was perhaps a little inconsistent" place kicking was one of tho outstanding -features of the visitors' ploy. iPrentice, Black, Ivor Jones and Parker alliegistered some brilliant efforts. Curiously enough all four goal kickers are forwards. The reverse is invariably tho case (with New Zealand teams. • The All Blacfcs.

New Zealanders should bo well satisfied fwith the result of the final test match against Britain, even if they were disappointed with the form of the All Blacks in the previous games. A loss in the first test at Dunedin was a big shock, and then the margin in New Zealand's favour in the second and third tests , was nothing to enthuse over. The margin of superiority in the final test should liavo been the game all along. "Why was it not .so? The answer is simple enough. Tho All Black representatives were not fit until the final game. That, at least, was the case so far as the towards were concerned. The Auckland pack, which took the field in tho pink of condition, showed . what havoc true forward play could cause in the ranks of the Britishers. Had seven New Zealand forwards, 1 equally as fit, taken the field in all the test matches the team's i-ccord would not have shown "one down." The backs were shuffled about a good deal, fortunately with happy results. 'Lilburne's display last Saturday proved he was unlucky to be dropped after , the first test. Mill's exhibition at Dunedin showed him to be past his best. The . selebtprs were of the opinion that Dalley had slowed up, and fortunately Corner ig',, /filled the vacant'; gap most creditably. f [;i •. The team was most capably led by Porter,-who must feel fully compensated -the disappointments he had on the. JS24, towri; in not .playing in tho inter-