RUGBY FOOTBALL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21861, 25 July 1934, Page 17

RUGBY FOOTBALL

POSITION OF SENIOR TEAMS representative contests SELECTOR TALKS TO COACHES The senior championship match next Saturday between Mannkan and Grafton will have a very important bearing upon the ultimate result of this season's competition. Grafton is at present in the lead two points ahead of Mannkan, so that a win for the former will place it in a position from which it cannot be deposed. On the other hand Mannkan will have to defeat Grafton twice to gain the honours. Saturday's match is sure to attract a large attendance and it is one which should be well worth Beeing. The All Blacks are now assembled in Wellington and will depart for Sydney to-morrow. Accompanying them will be Mr. G. Pownall, of Wanganui, who will do press work J n connection with the tour. Mr. E. N. Greatorex, of Sydney, who has beefi in Auckland and Weil- >/ ington for the past few weeks in the interests of his newspaper firm, will also return by the same boat. The first match of the tour will be against Western Districts at Orange on Wednesday next. Vacant Dates Auckland's next representative match •will be against North Auckland at / Eden Park on August 11, while on the same day the B representatives will play South Auckland at Pukekohe. No matches have yet been arranged for August 18 and 25. Should Manukau defeat Grafton on Saturday, the play-off would fill August 13. It is understood ; the Auckland Rugby Union has not given'up hope of getting the 'Wairarapa team up for August 18. Failing Wairarapa, the union may feel disposed to invite Waikato. Aucklanders would appreciate « the opportunity of seeing M. Davies again, also the threequarters, Aitken and Oliver, among others. . The keenness of Auckland Rugby coaches to refresh their ideas on training and to add to their knowledge was indicated by the attendance of about &0 at a lecture given on Monday evening by the sole selector to the Auckland Rugby Union, Mr. V. R. Mere"'aith. Aim For Combination Speaking generally, Mr. Meredith said that coaches desiring to build a strong team must work on some define ite system, and aim for combination, which was not, as commonly supposed, the combination of backs, but the combination of 14 players—of everyone except the fullback, who was purely a defensive player. To gain this and speed, every one of these 14 men should be allotted a specific job. People nowadays were prone to for- ; get that the most important players in a team were the forwards. A dominating pack would beat the best backs ever fielded, as a forward rush, cor- • rectly done, was practically impossible to .stop. The first duty of the backs was to look after their forwards, but it was common to see good forwards run off their feet because the backs kicked too mucin In Mr. Meredith's opinion, a well- / done forward rush was the deadliest and also the prettiest movement in Rugby. Two things were necessary, pace and perfect control. The best plan was to start with a narrow head, and, if a man over-ran the ball, he should double back to cover. •' Quick Heeling Proceeding to scrum tactics, Mr. Mereditii referred to quick heeling, and said /that, although a try from a scrum was very difficult to obtain, this did not apply to a quick heel, following a forward rush. Onoe a rush was checked, every forward should do his best to get the ball out before the opposing forwards packed, and it was here that perfect drilling of each player proved its value. Quick heeling was also often the m6ans of catching the other side out of position. To obtain, combination between forwards and backs, a defined system of breaking from the pack was necessary. •With the aid of the blackboard, Mr. Meredith described the quick defensive break, showing how each forward should brea.K out in a predetermined direction to overwhelm the opposing halfback and ■first five-eighths if they gained possession of the ball. The attacking break was exactly the same as the defensive, only the forwards should take great care to keep on side. Well-judged cross-kicks from the backs to the forwards were often effective, and it was a good idea to have the ball sent out to the wing and then passed infield to the forwards. Specified Positions

Mr. Meredith advised practice of the breaks until forwards _ automatically took' up specified positions and thus shared the work with the backs. Before turning to back play, , Mr."* Meredith emphasised that forwards should tackle, and tackle low. If the forwards played right, it was comparatively easy to develop back play. Speed close to the scrum was essential. In comparison with players years ago, the bulk of present-day theeighths was slower, the'/ probable cause being that the same understanding was iiot developed between the halfback and first five-eighths. M& n > halves noticeably had two faults. Iney faced the scrum, instead of standing almost facing the first five-eighths, and threw the ball at him, instead of waist high at least a yard ahead. Ihe fneeighths should be made to run at tn ball. Speedy ' movement among bacKs could not be obtained without fast, accurate passing. , Mr. Meredith advised greater use ot the blind side, and, replying to a question, said he would never have anything to do with the five-eighths who used the stab kick, for he considered it the refuge of the weak P ,a V er -. - v few players could do the . " correctly ancl usefully, ond in ~ stnnced A. E. Cooke as one of these, but said that Cooke .ceased to b,e a combining player when he began to use it. Captain ol All Blacks 'Tairplay,"' Mount Eden, writes:— On behalf * of a great number of keen followers of Rugby football in this pro vince", I wish to protest most emphatically against the action of the New/' land Rugby Union in appointing i'• I • Kilby captain of the All Black team to tour Australia, as this will again mean the virtual exclusion of M. Corner, our Auckland half. 1 think we of the North are justly proud of our plucky little half, .who has proved his worth as a representative of New.Zealand not once but many times, and we very much reprettod the f/ict he was not given _ a fair chance during the last Australian tour Surely, on merit alone, he should have been chosen to play in at least one test—instead of which, I think, ! am correct in saying that he played in two unimportant games only. Kilby is undoubtedly a splendid footballer, but so is Corner, and if they are both to go, then tho last-named should, in all fairness, have a chance. If Kilby is to be captain again, however, is this a likely possibility? TLet us hope that true fi portsmanship will prevail, and that our representative will be given his chance.