RUGBY DEFEAT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21882, 18 August 1934, Page 8

RUGBY DEFEAT

FIRST TEST MATCH ; ALL BLACKS' FAILURE WEAKNESS OF FORWARDS GREAT DISPLAY BY ROSS BY E. N. GREATOREX / fFormer Australian and New South Wales Rugby Representative, who witnessed trial games ,- n New Zealand on behalf, of tli6 Sydney Telecraph.] . '< ■■ ' j! SYDNEY. August .11 . All Black teams have been beaten in Australia before to-day, but- never before have men wearing the black jeraey and silver fern of New Zealand been conquered, so decisively as the fifteen which met Australia this afternoon. There is no use in mincing words —the All Blacks of 1934, were simply overwhelmed in the first test at the Sydney Cricket. Ground, and the visitors will have to show, vast improvement on to-day's form in the vital game on August 25 if they are to retain the Bledisloe Cup. The All Blacks did not even go down fighting, and the fact that in the concluding fifteen minutes of the game they offered no serious opposition to their opponents was perhaps the most remarkable feature of the test. Too often have ,we seen the All Blacks wipe off a deficit and turn apparent defeat into victory. New Zealanders are generally most dangerous on the football field when the tide is. going against them. . • ' It was not so this afternoon. It was obvious ten minutes after the beginning of the second spell that the All Blacks

•were going to lose. From the period when Ross put Australia one point in the lead with a pehalty goal there was only one side in the picturie. From then on it was not a matter of Australia ■winning: it was a matter of how much it would win by.

A Good Team They are saying now, of course,, that this New Zealand side is one of the weakest that has ever left the Dominion, and those who saw Kilby's men for the first time to-day can be excused for arriving at that conclusion. I do not agree with.that. I still,think that the team, if not the best we have seen, is at least up to New Zealand standard. The reason why the All Blacks were so convincingly defeated in the test is that they were up against one of the best combinations Australia has fielded since the war. Our team played above themselves, and on the day they were irresistible. To-day they might .have been any team. To those looking on there appeared .to be something radically wrong with the All Blacks—and there was something •wrong. The blame can be laid against some of the forwards. The pack did not play like an All Black vanguard, except for one spell in the first half. - The tries that Here, Knight and Max scored came from tearing, Dustling and determined forward rushes, when the men used their strength to burst through in massed, formation. They showed in that period that th6y were to be feared, and that they had it in them to do great things if they liked to try.. But they did not keep it up. Loose forwards After a while the forwards became very loose /and casual,' and most of them appeared anxious to shine. With McKenzie, Max, Manchester and Knight in the second row, New Zealand had all the weight necessary, Ibiit the weight was not applied. "Bill" Hadley, the All Black hooker, could tell what was wrong; that is if ha •would tell. ; / Hadley was almost a cripple at tbf» end of the game. The weight in the set scrums came from one side, and Hadley was pushed out of position practically every time the two packs went down. He found it difficult to keep his feet. If that was the state of affairs, in th#> scrums how could he be expected to hook the ball?

; We thought we would be beaten in the forwards, but, to the surprise of all, the Australian pack carried the day. Figures tell the story—in the first half- Australia won 12 scrums to 11, and .in the second spell 15 to 111 " Boss heard the New Zealand front row men pleading for weight, and was quick to take advantage of the fact that all' was not well . with the All Black scrum. The astute fullback ordered Malcolm to take scrums instead of line-outs when it was Australia's ball. It was the same in the.rucks, the Australian forwards,, all honest workers, had but one thing, in mind, and that was to get the ball back to Malcolm. The veteran halfback was able to fjive his backs a regular feast of passes. . , . Value of Possession . Possession, meant everything to Australia, for our backs were faster, cleverer, and had more ability to pehet'rate than the All Black threequarter line. They Tfcced "the New Zealaiiders off their feet, and - with : Ross, • whp played the most .spectacular game of liis long career, rushing up from the fullback position to join in passing rushes and give the wingers the overlap, • the backs toward : the > end were able to do almost as they liked.- i .

. That Australia was almost constantly on the attack in the second half was a. tribute to the ability of Bonis, the Queensland hooker, but Bonis would be the first to admit that it was because he had honest weight behifad him and Hadley • did not, that he was able to do so well. If some of the All Black forwards must plead guilty to a charge of not iloing what was expected of them in the tight work there were a few who worked really hard. Hore, McKenzie and Knight played sterling football, and it was no wonder that they were exhausted men when they left the field.