RECORD OF MATCHES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26197, 6 July 1946, Page 4

RECORD OF MATCHES

A STRENUOUS TOUR TEAM-WORK A FEATURE The Kiwi team played 33 matches in Britain and on the Continent, won 29,' lost 2, and drew 2, scored 605 points and had 185 points scored against it. Major Saxton said that the side perhaps lacked the experience in the forwards of the 1938 All Black team, but the backs and the team work were every bit as good. The team spent about eight months in England, and it had to do far more travelling than would be the case in a normal prewar tour, because the visit was arranged so hurriedly and the dates.had to be synchronised with club and county matches. , , , 10nnn “Altogether we travelled about 12.0U0 miles by train,” he added, “ and sometimes we covered the same ground two or three times.” Method of Selection

“Except for perhaps six members of the team, all the players were unknown to the New Zealand public outside their own districts, and more than half of them came from minor unions or country districts,” said Major Saxton. After a strenuous system ot trials, Jack Hore, Ron Stewart, and Vic Butler selected the best 29 players, and their choice was a really good The selection had to be carried out expeditiously, said Major-Saxton, and the procedure followed was that nominations .were asked for from e .y unit in the divisoin and outside it or men who thought they had a chance of gaining selection. In all, 350 names were submitted. Every one of these was interviewed and cross-questioned by the selectors, and in three days 40 players were sorted out to fly to England for training, and a: further 100 went to AustriaVto carry out a series of trials, from which 25 players were selected and sent to England a month there were then some 60 players, and a final series of trials was conducted . until the selectors ,were satisfied they had the best 29 men for the tour. “When the 29 players were assembled arid looked over by the manager of the team (Lieutenantcolonel A. H. Andrews)', . Jack Hore, Jack Finlay, and myself; we found that the majority were very young but tremendously keen, and with individual football ability above the average, said Major Saxton. Pollshing-up Process “A policy of sound A B C foptball was decided on, and all went to work to polish up positional play, passing, running, backing up and sound solid forward play to obtain the ball at every opportunity. Jack Hore did a tremendous amount of work before he left us for New Zealand just after the international match against England early in the tour. “ Everyone developed a keen sense of team work, brushed up individual mistakes, and settled down to play sound, constructive Rugby, ‘ spinning ’ the ball at every ■ opportunity and on every type of ground, whether hard,.. wet, or covered with snow.” It was a policy at the beginning of the tour to give every man as many games as possible, Major Saxton continued. “We found this rather difficult after the first three or four games becausd we were playing only Saturday matches at this stage of the tour and'we were meeting first-class teams in every match. For instance, we met England, the Army (with 13 internationals, League or Rugby), R.A.F. (witn some 10 internationals), London clubs, Cardiff (the best club in the British Isles), which included 10 Welsh internationals, Wales, Combined Services, and Scotland, one after .another, which meant that we had to play our best available sides and that,many promising. plyers lost valuable - match experiperience.” Outstanding Players Individuals who stood out in the test's and the big matches as improved and promising players likely to make their mark 'in New Zealand Rugby were H. Cook and R. Scott, who were both excellent full-backs, right up to AIL Black standard; J. R. Sherratt, who improved on his Wellington form as a wing three-quarter; J. Smith, the North Auckland centre three-quarter, who was really the star of the side; F. Allen, the ex-Canterbury first fiveeighths; P. Rhind, the ex-Canterbury front-row forward; J. Finlay, the wellknown Manawatu all-rounder; A. Blake, the young Waiararapa forward; K. Arnold, of Waikato;,and S. Young, of North Auckland.

Young players such as R. Dobson (Auckland), I. Proctor (North Auckland), J. Kearney (Otago), who suffered from injuries just when he had reached his peak form as a first fiveeighths, G. Bond, a front-row forward from Canterbury; J. Simpson

(Auckland); N. Thornton (Auckland), R. Johnstone (Pukekohe), W. Woolley (Marlborough); the two hookers, N. Haig and M. Inkpen, played really well and can quite easily be in the running for any provincial or New Zealand side provided they strike form. N. McPhail, who also showed good form, is retiring from the game. Other members of the team such as G. Nelson (Auckland), L. Grant (Temuka), W. Argus (Canterbury), E. Boggs - (Auckland), W. Meates (Canterbury), W. Edwards (Auckland), N. King (Wellington), and Don. Bell (Gisborne) played football up to interprovincial standard, Major Saxton added but some of them suffered from ill-health or injury and did not get so many games.