RUGBY FOOTBALL

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18466, 3 August 1934, Page 8

RUGBY FOOTBALL

ALL BLACKS’ TOUR NEW SOUTH WALES GAME GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS The All Blacks of 1934, now on lour in Australia, will he getting down to business iii earnest to-monow, when they meet New South Whiles on the .Sydney (Ticket Ground. The match .itinerary of the team opened on Wednesday, when they plaj ? ej a Western. Districts team, ami Avon very comfortably by a margin of over 40 points. That game was in the nature of a practice run, and every one eounccti'd with the. lour, or billow ine,' the fortunes of the iNew Zealand team with close interest, will now realise that practise, days are over, and that serious issues are involved in the games set down for the remaining porttoil of the tour.

As indicated in a previous reference to the prospects of the All Blacks, the Ncvv .South Wales team which will meet the tourists to-morrow is quite a» heavy as the average of the New Zealanders, and has a. number 01. exceedingly useful .member;!. Much depends upon the manner in which the half-backs settle down, for one of the pair is a. former New South. Wales representative who has played his way hack info the team against the claims of two Wallaby half-backs, and the other is a. newcomer to representative standards in. the Mother State. The New South Wales pack is likely to do well against the All blacks, and their three-quarters line is a fast and penetrating one. The big question, therefore," is whether the scrum halfback and stand-off half are able to snap the ball away fast to their supports, as well as stop the rushes of the tourists’ forwards. In their outing against Western Districts, 'the All Blacks showed potential greatness, and to-morrow’s match will serve to indicate whether the promise shown was genuine. Next week, the New Zealand team will face the Auslraliau selection in the. first, of two test matches whidi are to be played at Sydney. Developments in the. Rugby game in Queensland and in Victoria' in recent years give good reason to siippose- that the Australian fable, will be an improvement on the New South Whiles team, so that the All Blacks are gradually coming tip against stiller opposition. The itinerary is, in fact,, an excellent one on which to judge the cla£s ol the New Zealand representatives, and those who keep their colors flying in this year’s series of overseas matches will lie certain ol inclusion in the team which will tour Britain next year. COUNTRY SUB-UNIONS SHIELD CHALLENGE MATCH MOTU’S REPRESENTATIVES Tho'Motn sub-union selectors have made slight 'alterations in the team which wilL meet Wa.ikohu to-morrow, in the Black and White Shield challenge which is to be played at Matawai, as compared! with the side which met ilauguroa. on the same ground last week. One of last week's forwards, H. Drummond, lias been placed in reserve, and bis position :iu the pack will be taker} 'by \V. Fletcher, who last week played at .three-quarters, on the wing. _ The personnel of the, two teams is similar otherwise, except that 11. Ashdown has been included ns full-back, J. Leslie has boon moved from. J nil-buck to fiveeighths, and A!. Johnston will pkfv on the wing in the. position held last week by Fletcher. The full selection is as under

Full-back. H. Ashdown; three-quar-ters, A. McTavish, R. Mortleman, and G. Johnstone; five-eighths, P. Crawford and J. Leslie: half-back, R. Wintle; forwards, W. Fletcher, W. Priestley, P. McHugh, P. Scholium, G. Mortleman, J. Lynch, E. Lynch, and L. Marino. Tim emergencies will he H. Drummond, forward, and J. Peddle, hark.