THE FIRST TEST

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20450, 3 July 1928, Page 9

THE FIRST TEST

AFRICAN PRESS COMMENT. A BATTLE OF STYLES. LITTLE SPECTACULAR PLAY. NOT WHAT THE PUBLIC WANTS. (Spkciaj, to Press Association.) DURBAN, July 2. (Received July 3, at 0.30 a.m.) The newspapers throughout the country devote columns of comment and lead ing articles to the test match. The Natal Mercury, in a leader headed “ A triumph of tactics,” said: “ There is one serious question which must inevitably be raised after a game of the type seen at Kiugsmead on Saturday, and that is the effect of the tactics adopted by the Springboks on the popularity of the game, which must after all be a large consideration with thost in authority. To counteract the brilliance of the New Zealanders in the open, South Africa had to close, up the game and keep it close throughout. This was done, wonderfully well done, but there were many who witnessed the game who asked the question ‘ls this Rugby? Ts this the best South Africa, having built up a reputation by brilliant back play, can do? The Springboks in 1906 were capable of playing Wales at her own game, and beating her. Should not the Springboks in 192 S be able to beat New Zealand also at her own game? The tactics adopted formed a tacit admission of inferiority in that respect, so we had a game glorious in matching force with force and a remarkable demonstration of the physical fitness of the two teams, but not beautiful to watch. There was none of that captivating back play-which has been in the past South Africa’s peculiar pride, and none of that swift passing to speedy wing men, followed by an exhilarating burst for the line. The battle of styles is for the moment over. South Africa has gained the first round, and that so decisively that the tactics followed appear to be more than abundantly justified, but the general public demands a spectacular game today, and if they do not get it that support is liable to fall away. For South African Rugby to prosper the play must count almost as much as the' result.” Mr F. M. llcAvard says: ‘‘ South Africa von one of the greatest triumphs of her Rugby history when the New Zealanders were beaten by 17 to nil in a match which must go down in the records as productive of some of the finest forward play even -seen, for the South African pack is acknowledged to be a fine one, and it played extraordinary Rugby from the start and gained such a stranglehold on the All Blacks that they were never able to get away in their specialty—fine combined ■ attacks, with the ball slung about with glorious freedom. Never for a moment did the Springboks relax their grip on the game. The All Blacks were pinned down to dour defence for the greater part.” Great exception is taken by the New Zealand team to the following paragraph which apeared in the Natal Mercury: “It is common talk, based on concrete fact, that everything has not been well, or run as smoothly as it might do,' for some time in the All Blacks camp. Where the fault lies it is not our business to pay, but any dissension or lack of pulling together must reflect equally upon every member of a party that should be held together as one man by the thought that they are, above all other minor considerations, the chosen representatives of a country, and charged with upholding the honour of the common homeland in another part of the globe.” Both the manager and the captain of the team strongly deny any suggestion of dissension. The reporter who was responsible was asked by the All Blacks to substantiate his statement, but could not do so, and he has promised to publish an apology.

OPENING GAME OF TOUR. A CRITIC’S IMPRESSIONS. STRENGTH IN THE FORWARDS. THE BACKS DISAPPOINTING. (Special to Daily Times.) CAPETOWN, May 30. Like many another great touring side, the All Blacks were not at their best this afternoon in their opening match of their South African tour, played on the famous Newlands ground where the Rugby game was first nurtured in this country. Many of the tourists were frankly disappointing, but that shrewd player, Mark Nicholls, with his wealth of experience behind him, was by no means distressed, and in the course of a brief conversation after the match, remarked: “ I am quite satisfied with the result. We hoped, of course, to win by a far greater margin, but it is invariably my experience on tour, whether in Great Britain or in Australia, that the first match always provides a hard, close fight, anu ends not infrequently in defeat. We certainly started quite as well as we did in 1924 in Great Britain, but the country forwards certainly made -s fight harder than we expected.” The concluding sentence fairly sums up the position. In the trial match played 10 days ago between the town and country teams, the latter side was beaten by 30 points, but form ir a trial match is never quite satisfactory or reliable, and yesterday the countrymen were 20 points better than they were in the trial game. Rough, rugged, and very fit, they enthused a tremendous amount of dash into their play, and with keen smothering they killed most of the efforts of M‘Gregor, who was a trifle too keen to try and make openings himself instead of letting out the ball. Their forwards never ceased harrying the opposition v.nguard, and against a team who had not had nearly sufficient practice after the long boat trip it was not surprising that the tourists were unable to settle down. A feature of the game which will probably surprise the New Zealanders is that this rugged team of countrymen, playing together as a team for the first time, were able to beat what is generally agreed to be an outstandingly powerful All Black pack for possession of the ball in proportion of six times to four in tight set scrums. It is too early in the tour to suggest that this result will be general in other games to be played, but coming on top of the repeated assurance of' the members of the 1921 Springbok side which visited New Zealand that the Springbok scrummaging met-iod is superior to that of thr All Blacks, it certainly provided ground for reflection. In the South African game winning scrums is an important factor, as even if it does not lead to scoring movements, it is productive of considerable ground gaining when possession is utilised for touch-kick-ing, but purely as a scoring factor it is mainly in the opponents’ territory near his twenty-five-yard line ' that wanning scrums can be expected to lead to a large proportion of the scoring movements.

To-day, however, I do not think the All Blacks’ hooking was what we are likely to see in future, as when they got the ball it came out very slovenly, and there should be a great improvement in this direction after the first few games, otherwise the South Africans can be expected to turn their scrum-winning to good account in the test matches. Where the All Blacks made such a profound impression was in their work in the line-out. Finlayson and Stewart, in particular, were outstanding among an exceedingly clever lot of expert line-out workers, as the tourists appeared to be, and the countrymen were simply unable t> get their hands to the ball. The towering All Blacks were continually hitting the ball back to Dailey, who cleverly lot it out, and this should have led to a greater advantage than it did, as there was a lot of fumbling, and M Gregor at first five-eighths was rot handling as well us he will do after a couple of games. Equalled only by their splendid work in the line outs was the touring forwards’ speed and handling ability in the loose. The handling and passing of even the biggest of the forwards was nearly comparable with that of the best of the backs, and the manner in which they supported in the attack, coining up again in the inside or outside after once having handled the ball evoked the warmest admiration from shrewd Cape critics, none of whom was more appreciative than Billy Miller, captain of the 1912 Springbok team which made South Africa’s reputation for forward play during the tour of Great Britain. Yet despite the many times the backs and forwards p oked like sweeping through the defences with their combined straight running and handling rushes, only twice did they succeed. Once was when Robilliard ■ got over after Mark Nicholls had drawn the full-back, and the other time was w hen Robilliard got away from a loose forward mix up and combined with a couple of forwards in a straight run up half the length of the field. It looked, however, as if the Refence sweeping across would cut off the movement, but Swain, displaying extraordinary speed for a forward, came up on the outside in support to take the final pass and go over. On other occasions forward passes, mulled passes, or the determination of some of the country players, who simply would not let the ball pass them, cnccked movements which appeared sure to succeed. While it may be much too early to form any definite impressions, the whole of the play tended towards supporting th e New Zealand view that the strength of a team is its wonderful pack of foiwards, and there were none better on the field to-day that Finlayson and Harvey, who are making their first tour. Both shaped like really great forwards, and my early impression is that I have never seen a better forward than Finlayson. The backs were not quite so impressive. There was intelligence and clear thinking brains in all they did, and to one accustomed to the orthodoxy of the South African methods it was refreshing to see how the tourists aimed at the unexpected, whether from a drop out or from a scrum.. Nicholls and Dailey were the most impressive of the two inside men, while both wings were not the keen runners, but sharp foragers. Beyond fhis I would rather wait a while before commenting further on individuals in the team. Every one of the forwards was outstandstanding, but frankly, in this game the backs were not so impressive except for their potential merit. The team had not had sufficient practice to appear at anything like its best. To-day’s match should be of great value to the side, as it wil] show them that they can never afford to take any team cheaply in their tour through Fouth Africa, There is a pride in South African Rugby which so often inspires teams to play far above their ordinary form when it comes to a big game.