BRILLIANT BACKS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20977, 14 September 1931, Page 11

BRILLIANT BACKS.

AUSTRALIANS' CLEVERNESS. ALL BLACKS BELOW STANDARD. SLOWNESS OF INSIDE PLAYERS. New Zealand has to thank . Bush, its •fullback, for regaining the Rugby ashes from Australia. As a team the Wallabies were the more impressive, the play of their backs being very spectacular. They always looked dangerous when in possession of the ball, whereas the slowness of tho New Zealand inside backs made their passing rushes ineffective. Had the All Blacks been ,able to produce a five-eighths of the calibre of Steggall there is 'no telling what the score would have been in their favour. "What was seen of the speedy wings, Hart and Ball, made the onlooker fidgety when the ball was in possession of the men inside them. New Zealand's tries were scored by the wings. Hart's effort was a brainy one. The new ball had bounced the wrong way for Boss and Hart was on it in quick time. He discreetly refrained from trying to handle it until it had bounced the right way for him. The Wallabies had the better of tha first spell, the forwards securing possession of the ball in the scrums and giving the backs plenty of opportunities. It was obvious someone in authority had a word with tho All Blacks at half-time, because they were an improved side in the second spell. The forwards the upper hand, but. the backs failed to take advantage of the opportunities placed in their way. Impressive Fullback. Apart from his brilliant kicking Bush played a sound game at fullback. He handled the ball safely and his powerful kicks to the touch lino brought frequent applause. It was an impressive performance which should give Bush s. great chance of retaining his position when the All Blacks are selected next year for * tour of Australia. Hart and Ball both caught the eye for all-round good work on the wings. Hart played a particularly fine game. He was unlucky once when he potted a coal, the whistle having been blown for an infringement. Page was not a-success at centre, although he did some good tackling. Lilburne was suffering from an injury to his shoulder. He showed up better in the .second spell, trickinc the opposition occasionally with clever dummying. Strang was too slow at first fiveeighths, taking a lot of his passes when standing flat-footed. He and Lilburne allowed Steggall to beat them badly a few times. Corner was below form in the first spell, but he played much better after the interval. This was no doubt due to the fact that the forwards were getting more than their share of the ball from the scrums. Some of Corner's passing was bad, the ball being thrown at Strang's feet. S' , Forwards Improve. Solomon gave a good display at wingforward. He handled the ball well and had a hand in the try scored by Ball. The forwards did not play like an All Black pack until the second spell, when they dominated the play and contributed, largely toward the ultimate success of the side. Jessup and Cottrell secured their full share of the ball in the second spell, besides which both played fine games in the loose. Steere and Max were always in the picture, and Batty and Metcalfe were never far from tha ball. Max was probably the best of the forwards. Ross proved himself to be the fine fullback his Australian admirers had proclaimed him. ' His handling of the ball and rush-stopping were splendid. He had far more work to do in the latter respect than Bush, but never once did he allow the New Zealand forwards to take the ball past him. His line kicking was magnificent. The threequarter line was most impressive. Towers being outstanding. He and Steggall were two of the most brilliant attacking backs seen at Eden Park for a long time. Towers' first try was the result of a truly remarkable effort. .Racing down the right-hand side of the field lie centred the ball cleverly to an open space. The Australian forwards swooped down on it, and a short passing rush was quickly in motion. To the amazement of the onlookers Towers had raced across the field and was in position to take the final pass and score near the left-hand corner. As an individual effort this wonld take some beating. Popular with Crowd. Cowper also did some great work, both on attack and defence. Hemingway's weight and build would make him a hard man to stop when going at full speecL hut, fortunately for his opponents, he did not get a great many opportunities. Tolhurst allowed Hart to fend him off once or twice, but otherwise his work" was sound. Steggall's brilliant performance at fiveeighths made him a popular figure with the crowd. He has a pair of hands almost on a par with those of the famous T. Lawton, one of the finest five-eighths tho Rugby game has seen. Steggall played brainy football. He was quick to seize an opening and he left the opposing five-eighths standing when he flashed past them once or twice in the first spell.Steggall's defence was as sound as his attack was brilliant. Malcolm played a fine game, behind the Australian scrum. He sent out. beautiful passes to his backs, and varied his play by dummying the opposition occasionally. His rush-stopping was also very sound. Outstanding Forward. Perrin was one of the outstanding fopwards, not only in the Australian team, but on the ground. His splendid physique made him a tower of strength on the line-out, and he did great work in the scrums. He was also prominent in the loose, although a little overeagerness caused him to get offside once or twice. Palfreyman, Blair and Cerrutti all played good games. Summed up, the match was a very fine one to watch. The Wallabies certainly performed much better than their record indicated. They must have reserved their finest, effort for the test- The splendid games played by Ross, Towers, Steggall and Malcolm will live long in the memories of all who were fortunate enough to see them. As for the All Blacks, they did -not , reach the standard expected of them. Bush was the hero of the side, but, apart from him and the wing-threequarters, the others were not so consistent as is expected from' wearers of the silver fern. This may be accounted for by the fact that the team did not assemble until practically the eleventh hour. Mr. S. Hollander, of Christchnrch, gave a very fine exhibition of refereeing, his interpretations being easy to follow. He did not use too much whistle, applying the advantage rule well. This official contributed in no small measure toward mak ing the game so spectacular.