Remarks.

NZ Truth, Issue 108, 13 July 1907, Page 3

Remarks.

The Wellington' Provincial, team which -did duty on this occasion was not so powerful— back or forward— -as •the 1903 and 1905 combinations wftich conqueredi the colonial combinations^ for Australia and Great Britain. There was an admixture of solidity, smartness j vim and certainty about the former Provincial teams which was noticeably deficient m the- ranks of Saturday's combination. Nobody who saw the game will deny the superiority of the All Blacks whose combination, skilfulness and resourcefulness were too much for the Provincials Individually the color forwards showed go ocl form, hut collectively the machinery of the whole division did not work with the precision and smoothness so characteristic of the colonial scrumming brigade. The frontrankers were quite outclassed, Hughes and Casey losing possession only two or three times 'right through the game. The packing did not make for cohesiveiiess, though on the shove ihi Provincials, who were probably a weightier division, had slightly the best of -the argument. They tackled well, but m the open failed to Profit by the lessons of unison m dribbling rushes. Their line-out work also -suffered by comparison with that of the 'black brigade. The failure to control the ball when executing a dribbling rush lost the color forwards one cert try The black forwards were smart, 1 very keen and played- capitally to- ' pettier. Their tight tactics were no- | thing, to rave about, but m the loose

they showed themselves to be a formidable comitanaticra, trickiness, pace, footwork and tack-ling all- being, m evidence at one stage of the game 9Z other. They were expert toads feeders m- every pn&se of forward fcl&y, and time after tixn© the spectators would tie treated to their masterful tactics m opening up attack from all sorts of possible positions. When the black pack, gets fairly in* to its swii^s; on the pther side, the writer is confident that no scrumming brigade m either State will live with it. .-'■■.' Coming >to the hack division,! Rob-, crts, Hunter, and Co. knew too many' tricks for .the othex division, whose greenness was so often apparent what time Roberts was sailing right up to tha three-quarter line. Ryan and Abbott were made to look like dummies, 'and it does seem stance that the Wellington captain did not observe the ineffectiveness of the chain of defence and made it stronger by putting Wrigley m Abbott's place. The suggestion of Off-side Map to bring ' a man out of the scrum to check Roberts from making so much headway would not, m my opinion, have worked out so satisfactorily as. he thinks, as it would probably have tended to create some confusion m the tack division, and Hunter could j .easily have brought a plan into ex- ! ecution on 'h.-js si.de which would have ' .counteracted the efforts of the'"rover.'* ' - ' There were times when the black ■ rearguard gave some sparkling exhib- , ifcions of ccfebiination m attack. If the passing was not always up to ' concert pitch, it must m fairness be admitted that <the preva-iMing wnw? ' was a heavy handicap to ma'thema'ti-. cal accuracy m the transferring of the leather. The wind, in -fact, beat several of the blacks' judgment when the . . ball was -baaing shing amongst them on Saturday. There was also a disposition to recklessly throw the ball „about (juite. regardless of , whether, a comrade was at hand to receive it, but here again providence ordaineS that m every instance, save one, the experiment' was unattended with g-er..-The New Zealand backs when into their stride on the other side will o-ive the Australians something to think about. There is the most essential qualification, combination, they are tricky, nippy, slippery, clever, agile ; grasp the necessity for change m tactics readily, and put the finishing touches on. their work m ship-shape and effective style. The defence is about as solid as can be found anywhere, whilst the attack- , jng power, judging by the performance of the colts Fryer and Colman, will, after, all', take a power orgeating. ■ _ With the provincial backs, it was a case of "saving" graft almost all through the proceedings. The chances opened up for attack canie'their way seldom, by reason of the expert hooking of. Casey and Hughes. They did not work m the best of harmony, and a better understanding might have checked two of tih-e tries placed to the blacks' credit. The five-iaiigihths were t tending far too d©e<p m defence, whilst tile three-quarters were crowding on to thiem m such a way that Roberts and Hunter, when once the first line- of tyie colors' -defence was pierced, had 'comparatively little trouble m driving the attack right !hom;e. I nofoce.that "oft-side Mac", m his yttaresti'ng criticism of Saturday's play, speaks erf the screwing of the All Blacks. This, to m>v mind, Was the least interesti'ns: feature of their worjv, as though the wheeling movements were engineered on many occasions, the results . were 'by -no means fruitful. It was the fault of Hughes; and the left side support, as their packing made the scrum "wobble" when heads were down- for -the heave. The heeling-out was . very clean and and the rapidity with which it was shot out to Roberts made old-? timers marvel. The quickness of the movement so deceived the colors that ; Roberts, with /the hall m his posses^ sion, was past their five-eighths before they had .grasped the situation. Gdll-ett worked off some beautiful ' "pointers" on to' the unsuspecting ; provincials, land his artless wiles made one wonder no longer why Hamish Stu- ] art and other bilious English writers and' authori ties on the game got to Gallaher for has ''winging" tricks during that' British tour. Gillett, who is as >g!uick with 'has feet as with his hands; had the referee beaten every time *wQi>eji it was his turn to put the' ball m the scrum. The leather wasn't put m fairly by Gi'llett more than three times at the most. Time after time, the ball cannoned off the ' side support's leg and .was caught by G-i'llett m a twinkling, and before the pro-vinciali> knew what was happening, the player was streaking down the field, with Roberts, Hunter and Co. lying very handy for the transfer. He was "a ba© of 'tricks," was Gillett, but this spanking hand-newness of Rugby, as "offside Mac" describes it, is entirely foreign to the present-day Rugby code, and' m tna hands of competent interpreters of the laws of the game, would meet with the severest penalisation. It might bean enjoyable side-show to the spectators to see Giillett' and Co. work off these coups, but all the same it isn't Rugby. The "•ssr.iter prides himself on his fairly good' knowledge of Rugby, tactics, but "he is prepaid, to hand over a tenner to "Off-side Mai- S \j>r any other fol-. lower of the ga'me,~:7rh:o Can prove to him that Gillett's tactic^, eonfCr-med to the law of Ru-gibv m the sT*B^test degree. And heaven only knowS the writer hasn't got many, tenners *» throw away. ' V . As a scrum-half shielder, " GilV&tt s blocking powers were not severely tested. In the role of back-spoifer he was a complete success. His yghtning dashes and swift and clever land passing paralysed the colors' rte.rguard as far as the halves were <*ncerned. When Roberts hadn't (be chance to get his backs moving n passing bouts, Gillett took up tfe cudgels, and with complete succes. Intelligence and originality are pr& dominating qualities " in Gillett's worW and his general quickness to size upL the situation and) '.'by an adroit niove-> ment confound his opponents, was an } object lesson to our local players. By his originality I do not refer to his packet of surprise tricks. Spencer was not up to his tip-top form, and once or twice when ho was •'%ustled" the Melrose man went under badly. On the faster Australian grounds, he will have to show more celerity and pace and quickness. Colman showed his versatility by I playing m a new role, as wing m the I three quarter line; He >s pacy, ener-

getic ai^k li n a ll his V. dually gc% ' >should sayi or on attach;' but Vn.'"ts? feeding.. Colman' s proper/ undoubtedly niear the sdnif fringe of it. The red-hairea a. very useful player to have m. wsam. ' -i- v . . Mitohinson appeared to be somewhat at sea with Wallace away from him. He made one or two fumbles m taking the ball, and his kicking was less forceful than on other occasions, The ball, however, was not always correctly sent to him, and the wind deflected it m two instances which came prominently under my notice. Hunter also "starved" the Poneke la>d by, either going on his own or playing up to Mynott. Fryer made a name for himself m this game, and with such experts as Wallace and Co. behind him the Canterbury man should be a top-notcher. by the' time the team has got over its travels. He took the ball splendiidly iwhile moving forward at top to receive it, displayed a fine turn of speed and dash, and had a qjuick eye to spot the right moment for making a sally on the colors' citadel. He ran straight, and knew when to cutr-in, and how. Fryer was neat, nippy and dashing all through, His defensive powers could not be gauged by Saturday's game, but his fielding was sure, though his kicking was of uncertain quality. Mynott and Hunter worked splen-, didly together, and were concertedf action was necessary the pair were sail there, though at times I couldn't help thinking that both availed themselves of the opportunity of doing a bit of gallery play on their own. ;Mynott was not the surest of rushr stoppers when the provincial forward q did occasionally break away, but Hunter was the personification of soundness n this department. Roberts gave a grand display, andc it was his elusiveness, smartness and high sense of Rugby intelligence that so often led to him getting past nigh the whole cordon of provincial backs unsupported. He had plenty of scope fbr. his quick brain and eye, and well did he make use of the opportunities. As a skilful, resourceful,, and clever general, Freddy fairly took the cake on Saturday.' His knowledge and nippimess was too much altogether for the other crowd. The way he opened up those attacking rushes and brought all has backs into action was a treat. Of Gillett's merits I have already spoken. Among the scrummagers, Francis, Casey, McDonald and o"Sullivan were very prominent, 'but the whole bunch was a very eve-nly-bal-.anced lot. Hughes did some fast work m the open, The passing of Casey and his All Black confreres was refreshingly novel, dexterous and effective. . Barber made no serious mistakes at full-back on the colors' side. He homd-ldd ' the leather accurately, and kicked safely. He was slow, however, to cope with -ihs onslaughts of the black forward rushers. Twohill snapped up a couple of marks very smartly m the first spell whilst a bunch of All Black scrummers were coming at him at top. Dan should have checked Fryer: from on' one occasion. In the second half he was shivering for something to do. Evenson's display calls for no adverse criticism. 'His work was purely of the defensive order. >■ Wrigley was the solidest back m the colors team. His catching, fielding, and kicking were certain and vigorous, whilst his stopping and t?,ckling were marked by surendss : and soundness. He made a few fine bursts through the black ranks, but the advantage was not followed up his his comrades. ' Abbott had few chances to bring his attacking propensities into play.' At five-eighths he was placed m, a false position. The aggressiveness of the rival forwards not being to his liking. In slicker company, Abbott would have been seen to better, advantage. McNae shaped .very well on .the side of the scrum considering he "was opposed to the trickiest ■ and most eixpert winger m the colony. His shielding methods were somewhat crude, and ihe had a penchant for getting, offside. For a man of over 16st., the Palmerston North player is very active, and he gets over the ground at a decent rate. With more experience and about a stone less weight, McNae would be a, ■ nasty thorn m tfcs side of an opposing team- He paid great attention, to Gillett, who openly showed his dislike to the treatment. Thomson played poorly behind the scrum. His former nimbleness and raisin-stopping abilities were not m evidence this time. Lack . of condition was doubtless accountable for his tortoise-like movements. In the scrummaging ranks, Guseott proved his worth, his accurate taking on. the line-out being, very noticeable. The Wanganui man played with vim and robustness, and did his toil m the tight and loose. He is a fine stamp of a forward, and the selectors of the N.Z. team made a mistake w&en they- left him behind. Gilohrist, Lfile, and Bush were conspicuous for solid work, and Watkins, Wilson and) Cross showed up at times. The brigade, as a whole, lacked the combination anid smartness of the rival division. Bob Barry not what one would call a howling success with the whistle. Gillett had him on toast all through. Bob. however, was not blind, to any mistake committed "by the colors, who were promptly pulled up for their shortcomings. The writer hasn't -seen, the WelshU}sti and Banonalamlers performing since 1905. There is no reason to suppose that their Rugby is on a higher plane to-day than it was then, and that being so, he is unable to see how they can up-end the ' present Maori land combination, whose forwards must give them heaps of trouble. TheNew.'Zealanders know too much for our friends across the Tasman, and that British tour has brushed them up wonderfully. A surprise may be effected, ,'tis true,,' but going on Saturday s exhibition, 1 can't for the life of me see how. the fern-leaf wearers are going tinder, notwithstanding all the preparations made by the Cornstar&s to ensure thorough combination ajnongst their chosm team. , ' '