LLANELLY BEATEN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22710, 24 October 1935, Page 11

LLANELLY BEATEN

ALL BLACKS WIN BY 16 TO 8 OLIVER SCORES TWO TRIES (United Press Association) (By Electric Telegraph—Copyright) LONDON, October 22. The All'Blacks defeated Llanelly by 16 to 8, after leading s—o at half time. Llanelly had been iraining for weeks, playing all matches 40 ■pinutes each half, hoping to repeat the Swansea victory. The ground was heavy after the morning's rain. Caughey and Griffiths immediately gained ground with line kicks. The Llanelly forwards were playing hard in an attempt to rattle the All Blacks. The game had been only a minute in progress when Caughey, receiving from a scrum, with a typical dwerving run beat two defenders and dashed over bc'tween the posts before the Welshmen realised what was happening. Gilbert converted. New Zealand .. . • • • 5 Llanelly •. ■ 0 Llanelly then pressed for a long period. The All Blacks, who during recent games appeared to have "tile heart in their work, were now fighting all the way, packing well, and using their weight honestly, and their handling was good, despite the heavy rain. The All Blacks were penned on theit line during the last five minutes in the first half, and Llanelly missed scoring owing to wild« passing. After the resumption Ivor Jones kicked a penalty goal. • New Zealand 5 ' Llanelly ° Then Sadler, securing from a scrum near the line, darted over. Gilbert's kick failed. New Zealand s Llanelly 3 Oliver, intercepting, be?an a determined run, and avoided several opponents for a try, which otilbert converted. New Zealand • • .. ' • • 13 Llanelly •■ • ■ 3 Oliver added another try after. a clever passing bout in conjunction with Mitchell, and Gilbert narrowly failed with the kick. New Zealand 1Q Llanelly 3 The New Zealanders were now giving one of the best exhibitions of the tour. E. Davies finally went over from a scramble on the line, and Ivor Jones converted, but he failed w'th a penalty in the last minute. New Zealand .. . •' •• I 6 Llanelly 8 The football was not spectacular, but it was most interesting owing to the great battle between the All Black forwards and the Llanelly backs, who were often caught in possession as the result of receiving passes " flat footed." _ Caughey almost scored a few minutes from time, kicking over the line, but the ball was dead before he dived on it. There was occasional rough work among the forwards, and the tackling was very fierce. The referee once spoke to Lang, and the crowd cheered and hooted. ■ EXCITING MOVEMENTS LONDON, October "2. . The special correspondent of the United Press Association, commenting on the All Blacks v. Llanelly match, says: There was intense enthusiasm over the visit of the All Blacks to Llanelly. Nowhere in Britain is Rugby taken so seriously. The whole town was interested. There were big crowds in the streets throughout the morning discussing the prospects. The local people were convinced that Llanelly would win, relying on their forwards to overwhelm the All Blacks. Lianelly thus far had lost only jnce this season. • To-day's match, by agreement, lasted 80 minutes. The crowd, simmering with excitement, was singing Welsh songs long before the game, ..nd greeted the Scarlets with deafening applause and shouts of "show 'cm how to play, Ivor." Llanelly's dwarf mascot, dressed ill scarlet, paraded the field. The Llanelly forwards clashed fiercely right away and the game L nomised to be a torrid affair. The crowd of 20,000 was stunned by the All Blacks' first try during the first minute. . . The All Blacks' forwards, using their weight vigorously, once pushed the scrum 10 yards. D. John, the Welsh "Field Goal King," sought every opportunity to pot. The tourists' backs were handling well and were dangerous nearly every time they secured possession. Griffiths, who was wearing mittens, and Sadler and Gilbert often pained ground with welliud«ed line kicks. The whole team exhibited far more life and dash than recently. The forwards were scrummaging earnestly. Vorrath and King were playing in the middle of the second row, and Manchester and Wynyard on the outside. Manchester provided an inspiring example to his forwards, following tip "randly, working hard in the tight stutt, coming round the scrum speedily, and worrying the opposition half. The forwards generally seldom have ■riven a better display than they did during the first half. Hore, King, Vorrath and Hadley were prominent in many dribbling rushes. Their play was the more impressive since they were up against a really good pack. Although they did not provide scorinsr movements and did not gain a great advantage territorially, their display was most heartening compared with recent games, and they were combining better. Their liveliness may have been due to being earlier in bed. Sadler showed football brains in scoring his try. When he saw an opening he did not hesitate. He has a tricky run when he gets going. The New Zealand scrum occasionally was pushed many yards, but. this was due to the failure of the tourists to get down sufficiently quickly, which still is not a habit of theirs, as it was on previous tours. Nevertheless, when they formed properly, the All Blacks held Llanelly, often gaining ground. Griffiths made an excellent showing with his unexpected thrust and passing at racing pace. Dai John (Llanelly) played gallantly. The veteran Ivor Jones is still a cunning player, and was often dangerous in the loose. He pluckily dived for the ball at the feet of the charging forwards. The n-ame was punctuated with excitin" movements. Oliver's first try came as° the result of a typical All Black movement. Manchester snapped up the ball in the loose, and it went along the chain to the vice-captain, whose pace carried him through. Similarly Oliver's speed enabled him to score a try under the posts after a 40 yards' run after Mitchell had beaten the defence. PRESS COMMENT ON MATCH LONDON, October 22. The critics congratulate the All Blacks on clearing one of the most difficult hurdles of the tour, but agree that the win was due to cleverly snapping up

opportunities from Llanclly'a blunders, through which they obtained three tries. The News-Chronicle says: Llanelly had CO per cent, of the game, and triumphed forward, but the backs failed to seize chances. The Daily Mail says: The All Blacks completely outclassed their opponents behind the scrum. Mr Howard Marshall, in the Daily Telegraph, says: The All Blacks emerged creditably from a considerable ordeal. it is not easy for tourists to become accustomed to the tenseness of Welsh matches, but the New Zealanders refused to be stampeded. The Daily Sketch says: The All Blacks regained all their scoring power and attractiveness. SOMERSET-GLOUCESTER MATCH FORWARDS FAIL TO IMPRESS (From Our Special Correspondent.) (By Air Mail) BRISTOL, October 3. When I left Paddington by the " Bristolian " express this morning to see New Zealand play Somerset and Gloucestershire at Bristol I had plenty of food for thought. Indeed, the ron-stop journey of 117 miles in 105 minutes was scarcely long enough :o get one's ideas properly in focus. Absence on the Continent had made it impossible for me to see the opening games, and the defeat by dwansea, whom I had seen overwhelmed by 39 points to 3 by the 1924 team, seemed to open up any number of distu-bing possibilities. As soon as the itinerary was arranged last year I made up my mind that if the team could lefeat Somerset, and Gloucester and Lancashire and Cheshire within three days it would be a good side, and I must admit that of the Welsh clubs Swansea d : d not appear to be the most likely to defeat New Zealand, though one heard gvat things of their schoolboy halves. The defeat occurred, however, and in conversation with the New Zealanders at Bristol I was to learn more or less how it happened. THE DEFEAT BY SWANSEA It was a case, apparently of the New Zealand side all being off form at once. The Welshmen astonished our men by the cleverness of their tactics. They had an answer to every move in the true tradition of the golden age of Welsh Rugby, and in shrewdness the backs compared favourably with the best in New Zealand's history—those outstanding men to whom the present team look back with deep admiration. Once the Welshmen got a lead their Celtic exuberance of temperament caused them to rise to even greater heights, and the All Blacks with a slippery bail and a solid forward phalanx to overcome had an unenviable time in the second half. But even making every allowance for the superb display of Swansea, to which our men paid full and generous tribute, it seems certain that the form of those who played for New Zealand was too bad to be true. MATCH AGAINST COUNTIES Now to to-day's game. The weather was "mainly fine." An occasional shower before the match did not prevent a huge crowd from gathering for the game, and local journalists estimated that it was a record for the ground. There was a great roar when Manchester led his men on to the field. Gerrard, one of the four internationals in the counties team —they had three international trial players as well — kicked off for the counties, and it was not long before Caughey, who appeared to be in good form, made a dash which nearly took him through. HORE OPENS SCORING After an exchange of penalty kicks New Zealand got going in a combined rush of forwards and backs. Play was carried right to the counties' line and Hore knocked the ball down and fell on it. There were two or three players in the referee's line of sight or he would probably have ordered a scrum. A try was given, however, and New Zealand led by three points, Gilbert's kick from wide out failing narrowly. SCRUM TACTICS . It was interesting to see that the New Zealanders were experimenting with the orthodox English 3-2-3 formation, but evidently it did not satisfy them, as later in the game they reverted to the 3-4-1 plan, for which, in theory at least, there is very little to be said. In practice, it seemed to work very much the same as the other method, for the counties continued to get more than their share of' the ball. No doubt by the time the international matches come round a definite scrum formation will have been adopted. At present it is apparently changed to suit the particular peculiarities of the opposing side, but chopping and changing in the middle ot matches can be overdone, and it is to be hoped that by the end of the month a final decision will have been come to. MANCHESTER PROMINENT A thrilling movement by the counties' backs threatened danger, and with the counties' election to take scrums instead of line outs, it was some time before a definite superiority was established by the All Blacks. Manchester was playing a terrific game, and he was well up to take an inside pass from Hart after a characteristic sharp burst by the wing. Gilbert kicked,a goal and very soon after Hore gave a .pass to Hart, who dived over, but the referee ordered a scrum. The attack was kept up, and Caughey, after a short diagonal run, dropped a good goal. OPPORTUNITIES LOST With a lead of 12 points, the All Blacks were fairly safe, but the counties, with their advantage in the forwards, were not finished. It was some time before New Zealand managed to repulse the attacks and gain a scoring position a<min. Then Hart got the ball at the end of a sharp passing rush and his pace did the rest. More opportunities followed, but the New Zealand backs were inclined to bunch, with the result thai openings were lost by knocking on. Sadler was playing a good game, though he was well squashed at tunes by the opposing forwards. It is just as well that, in spite of his size, he seems to have an infinite capacity for taking punishment. Griffiths was ui "ood form, and his defence is probably as good as that of any back in the team. Caughey, at second five-eighths, played well, though one has the impression that he is better suited by Ins New Zealand position'as centre. In the second half the Counties held their own for a good time, and Boughton, the full-back, who won international honours for England last year by his goal-kicking, missed two rather easy penalties. ' His play altogether was much below the usual standard, and I question whether he will gain his cap again unless he quickly improves on his present form. TRY FOR THE COUNTIES After Gerrard and Boughton had put New Zealand on the defensive with two great line-kicks, Hart broke away, and Oliver cleared to halfway. ' Oliver then made an opening for Mitchell, who went hard for the line and scored. Gilbert converted, making the score 20 points to nil in favour of New Zealand. The Counties retaliated, and a chapter of defensive accidents with an excellent application of advantage rule by the referee led to Watldns scoring a well-

deserved try for the Counties. Soon after Oliver dodged three men, and Caughey went off at a tangent to beat several others and run in under the posts. Oliver failed with the kick, and the game thus ended in a win for the All Blacks by 23 points to 3. WEAKNESS IN FORWARDS Discussing the match afterwards with the team, I expressed disappointment with the forwards. Apparently they played better than usual, and I was asked what I was comparing them with. I replied: "The form of the forwards in the inter-island match at Auckland last year." They agreed that that was a super-excellent display, but it will need to be rivalled for the team to win the international games.