THE ALL BLACKS

Otago Witness, Issue 3885, 28 August 1928, Page 50

THE ALL BLACKS

SOUTH-WESTERN DISTRICTS MATCH. WORST EXHIBITION ON TOUR. OUDTSHOORN, August 22. A poor exhibition of Rugby was given by the All Blacks when they beat the South Western Districts by two tries and two penalty goals (12 points) to one try and one penalty goal (6 points). There was an attendance of 3000. It was a beautiful day, but the ground con sisted of patches of grass. The New Zealand team was:— FULL-BACK. D. F. Lindsay (Otago), 13.6. THREE-QUARTERS. C. E. Rushbrook (Wellington), 12.3. S. R. Carteion (Canterbury), -11.5. jF. W. Lucas (Aucki"- ' l '. 11.6. FIVE-EIGHTHS. M. F. Nicholls (Wellington), 11.0. N. P. M'Grcgor (Canterbury), 10.6. HALF-BACK: W. A. Strang (South Canterbury) 11.4. FORWARDS: G. Scrimshaw (Canterbury), 12.6. J. T. Burrows (Canterbury), 12.10. S. Hadley (Auckland), 12.6. R. F. Stewart (South Canterbury), 15.1. I. H. Harvey (Wairarapa), 15.12. R. G. M‘Williams (Auckland), 14.5. P. Ward (Taranaki), 14.10. E. Snow (Nelson), 13.10. THE FIRST SPELL. The Westerns started off with a rush and carried the ball to the New Zealand line, where, by great defensive work Carleton saved a likely try. The All Blacks' backs then opened out. Rushbrook beat his man, and put in a fine run down the side until tackled by the fullback. Then the All Black forwards asserted themselves and made things warm for their opponents with repeated efforts to get across the line. New Zealand was heeling the ball frequently from the scrum. At this stage the backs and forwards were combining in telling passing movements, and from a penalty Lindsay kicked a goal. NEW ZEALAND .. .. 3 SOUTH WESTERN .. Nil

The New Zealand backs continued to get most of the ball, but the Westerns moved quickly and smashed the attacks. Through a clever opening by M'Grcgor the New Zealanders went away in a pretty movement, which' ended on the goal line with an obstruction by a local man, for which a penalty was given. Nicholls kicked a goal. NEW ZEALAND ■•• . . .. 6 SOUTH WESTERN Nil There were only fragments of football, from then on till half time.

THE SECOND SPELL. The All Blacks played eight backs in the second spell, Scrimshaw going out to the wing and Lucas playing extra centre. Nicholls started off by making a fine opening, from which Stewart scored after seven New Zealanders had handled the ball. Strang’s kick missed. NEW ZEALAND .. .. 9 SOUTH WESTERN .. Nil. An attack by the Western forwards and a counter-drive by the New Zealanders followed, and then came some fine work by Albertyn, which ended' in Myburgh being pushed out near the ’’wenty-five. A penalty for lifting in the scrum was awarded to the Westerns, and Smuts kicked a good goal. NEW ZEALAND .. .. 9 SOUTH WESTERN .. 3 The local side began beating the All Blacks for the ball from scrums, and a great rally by their forwards carried play to the All Blacks’ line, where they were forced twice in succession. The New Zealanders then got to work, and threw the ball about, and a movement saw Lucas tackled within a yard of the line. A spell of distractingiy poor football followed, but M’Gregor produced a gem whet he cut in, dummied, and sidestepped through, and only sound tackling saved a score on this occasion. Strang next sent the backs away. The ball went to M’Gregor, Nicholls, and Lucas. The latter missed the pass, but Scrimshaw picked up, and more passing by Nicholls, Strang, and M’Gregor sent the latter over for a fine try. Lindsay’s kick missed. NEW ZEALAND .. ..12 SOUTH-WESTERNS .. 3

Within a minute of the final whistle Badenhorst scored for the Westerns in the. corner from a loose rush. Final:— NEW ZEALAND .. .. 12 SOUTH-WESTERN .. 6 Taken all through, the game was a sluggish one, and was probably the worst display the New Zealanders have given on the trip. M'Grcgor and Harvey, who had been out for so long, put up good performances. Nicholls, Strang, Carleton, and Lucas played reasonably well. Rushbrook and Scrimshaw made occasional good breaks. Lindsay had his shoulder hurt in the first spell, and this plainly affected his play. Ward, Hadley, M’Williams, and Snow were good in patches. There was no sparkle in New Zealand’s play, but at the same time the Westerns’ fight must not be disparaged, considering that they are regarded as the weakest team in the union.

DEFEATED BY WESTERN province:

• GAME PLAYED. IN MUD. CAPETOWN, August 25. New Zealand’s fifth defeat came today when Western Province beat the All Blacks by 10 points (a try, a potted goal, and a penalty goal) to 3 points (a try) before a crowd of 20,000 people on the famous Newlands ground. Ceaseless rain last night converted the field into a slithery quagmire, but luckily there was not a drop of rain during the match. Again Bennie Osier’s deadly kicking, together -with the mobility of the Province forwards won the day. At the last minute it was decided that Alley should play lock in the scrum, Harvey playing in the back row with Hazlett. The teams were as follow:—■ NEW ZEALAND. FULL-BACK. H. Lilburne (Canterbury, 11.2). THREE-QUARTERS. A. C. C. Robilliard (Canterbury, 11.8). S. R. Carleton (Canterbury, 11.5). B. Grcnside (Hawke's Bay, 13.6). FIVE-EIGHTHS. W. A. Strang (South Canterbury, 11.4) L. M. Johnson (Wellington, 12.3). HALF-BACK. W. C. Dailey (Canterbury, 10.10). FORWARDS. R. F. Stewart (South Canterbury, 15.1). J. T. Burrows (Canterbury, 12.10). H. J. Swain (Hawke's Bay, 13.2). M. Brownlie (Hawke's Bay, 14.3). G. T. Alley (Canterbury, 15.7). B. Finlayson (North Auckland, 15.4) W. Hazlett (Southland, 14.7). J. H. Harvey (Wairarapa, 15.12). WESTERN PROVINCE. Tindall, Van Niekerk, Van Der Westhuizen, Keet, Morkel, Bennie Osler, De Villiers, Danell, Mostert, Louw, Du'toit, Melck, T. G. Osler, Van Der Merwe, Beyers. Western Province is the strongest team in the country, and the match was regarded almost as of test calibre. THE FIRST SPELL. The New Zealand forwards started from the kick off with a great combined attack led by Swain and Harvey. Again Swain headed a rattling forward rush, which ended at the twenty-five line, where Strang missed a goal by inches from a penalty. Dailey then dashed round the-scrum on the blind side and passed to Robilliard, who beat Van Niekerk and sent infield to Johnson. Then Harvey came into this brilliant passing rush, but found his way blocked when only a yard from the line. He sent the ball to Dailey on the outside, the latter diving over at the corner for one of the cleverest tries of the tour. Lilburne missed with the kick.

NEW ZEALAND 3 points. SOUTH AFRICA .. Nil. The All Blacks were having the best of things at this stage, They , were

getting the ball from the scrums, and the backs were opening out in pretty passing movements. After Grenside had been caught with the ball the Province forwards came on with a solid rally. Hazlett sent them back with a fine line kick. They kept up the pressure, however, and soon a penalty was awarded them, Osler missing the kick at goal. With a brilliant break through, Dailey sent Grenside away. The winger made a great dash down the side and looked as if he would go over, but he swerved out 10 yards from the line. There was a brilliant forward movement by the All Blacks before half time, only Osier’s fine kicking keeping them out. THE SECOND SPELL.

Carleton, who had his knee badly hurt in the first half, came on for the second bandaged and limping. He stayed on for 20 minutes, but was almost useless, and had to leave the field. It seemed that the All Blacks would win the match at the start of the second spell, but, with an amazing recovery, Province soon held the upper hand, and were almost continually on attack, mainly through Bennie Osier’s kicking. Play was mostly among the forwards now, the Province men badly beating the New Zealanders, who appeared to have cracked up. Nine times in succession Province heeled the ball from the scrums, the backs occasionally opening out in dangerous movements. For the most part, however, Osler elected to kick for the line and keep his forwards storming the New Zealand, citadel. Every time the All Black forwards broke away Osler sent them back with amazingly long and accurate kicks. From a penalty Osler landed a goal. NEW ZEALAND .. 3 points. SOUTH AFRICA .. 3 points.

There was willing play in front of the stand for a time. Then De Villiers, Osler, and Markel worked the blind side cleverly, Morkel scoring a good try at the corner. Osler missed the kick. SOUTH AFRICA .. 6 points. NEW ZEALAND .. 3 points. Next minute Osler dropped a goal, but the ball was touched in flight by Harvey, and the kick was disallowed. A few seconds later Van Der Westhuizen sent Province to the All Blacks line again. Then Osler secured from a scrum, and kicked, the ball sailing between the posts. SOUTH AFRICA .. 10 points. NEW ZEALAND .. 3 points. From that point onwards the All Blacks did not look like winning. They made several desperate and praiseworthy efforts to equalise. Stewart was out of the pack, playing at second five-eighths. It was almost a hopeless task, although on one memorable occasion, after a magnificent forward rush, Finlayson was almost over. The final whistle brought a great game in the,mud to an end with Province still attacking. The final score was: SOUTH AFRICA ...10 points. NEW ZEALAND .. 3 points. After the first 20 minutes it seemed that New Zealand would emerge with .

an easy victory. Tlic forwards, with Swain, Hazlett, Alley, Burrows, and Stewart shining out, had all the best of things both in the tight and in tlie loose. ‘ It was a different story in the second spell, when the Province forwards, led by Mostert, T. G. Osler, Danell, and Dutoit, took coniniahd and were much superior. Bailey and Johnson were in fine form. They attacked when chances came with good understanding, their thrusts being always dangerous. Lilburne played soundly at full-back. Until Carleton was hurt the three-quarter line was going on in great style. Strang was good in patches, his defence showing a big improvement. Bonnie Osler was the hero of the match. Van Der Westhuizen played well, but Van Nickerk, the famous wing, was not outstanding, although he showed flashes that marked him as a dangerous man. Tindall was erratic, but the luck was with him. After to-day’s match South Africa confidently expect to win the fourth test. INJURED PLAYERS. LINDSAY’S MISFORTUNE. CAPETOWN, August 4. Unfortunately Lindsay’s shoulder injury has proved worse than was first thought, and he will not play again during the tour. Nicholls had his leg hurt on Wednesday, which has kept him out of the team Hadley had his shoulder hurt again in the last match, but he will be well for the test. Sheen and Kilby arc making a quick recovery. RESULTS TO DATE.

AN UNHAPPY FAMILY. DISSENSION IN THE RANKS. AUCKLAND, August 22. “ The tour of the All Blacks in South Africa threatens to be the biggest comedy or tragedy that the Rugby world has ever known,” states an ex-Auck-lander, now resident in South Africa and a former keen follower of Rugby football in New Zealand, writing to a friend in Auckland from Johannesburg on the eve of the second test match. The ex-Aucklander, who writes in a kindly yet most candid way, says that Rugby followers in New Zealand have probably been surprised by the strange reversals of form by the All Blacks, and he thinks that when the full and true inside story is told on the return of the team the people of New Zealand will get a decided shock. He adds that he has been in close touch with the members of the team, and there is not the slightest doubt that Maurice Brownlie has not been a success as captain. Some of the members of the team have not been on speaking terms with him for some time. “ One of the South African selectors told me,” said the ex-Aucklander, “ that Maurice Brownlie was all that was wrong with the New Zealand team, and another of the shrewdest Rugby brains in South Africa has expressed the opinion that he could make the All Blacks into a team of world-beaters in a week, but without Maurice Brownlie in the team.” The writer says that the methods of selecting the All Blacks have been amazing. The Selection Committee consists of Messrs Hornig, Nicholls, M'Gregor, Stewart, and Brownlie. The man who knows most about the strategy of Rugby is Mark Nicholls, but he has consistently been ignored. They have never accepted his views, and there seems to be a conspiracy to keep him out of the teams. Proceeding, the writer says that the All Blacks admit that from a playing viewpoint they have been “up against it” by reason of the fact that the South African forwards are superior in the scrummages. The loss of Kilby through injury has been severely felt, as he was playing in great form. In conclusion, the writer says that some of the members of the team have got disheartened through dissension in the team, and there will be some plain speaking when they get back to New Zealand.

Points For. Agst. v. Western Province .. .. 11 3 v. Combined Capetown Clubs 3 7 v. Griqualand West .. .. 19 10 v. Transvaal 0 6 v. Orange Free State .. .. 20 0 v. Western Transvaal.. .. 19 8 v. Natal .-. 31 3 v. South Africa . 0 17 v. Northern Districts.. .. 18 18 v. Rhodesia 44 8 v. South Africa 7 6 v. Pretoria 13 6 v. Orange Free State .. ... 15 11 v. North-Eastern Districts 27 0 v. Border 22 3 v. Border 35 3 v. Eastern Province .... 16 3 v. South Africa .. 6 11 v. South-Western Districts 12 6 v. Western Province .. .. 3 10 The only remaining fixture is the fourth test match, which will be played at Capetown on Saturday.