ALL BLACKS’ TOUR

Southland Times, Issue 20834, 24 July 1929, Page 5

ALL BLACKS’ TOUR

INJURIES TO PLAYERS

TENDENCY TO UNDERRATE TEAM STRUGGLE AGAINST ADVERSITY (United Press Assn.—By Telegraph—Copyright.) Sydney, July 23. Cliff Porter, captain of the All Blacks’ team, will ' fly to Sydney by plane on Thursday to arrange for expert massage, electric baths and other preparations for the team. Mr McLeod said Porter, Nepia, Dailey, Oliver and Stringfellow would be included in the final test team. Nepia is now recovering from influenza. Porter suffered no ill-effects after Saturday’s game. .Stringfellow's poisoned knee is now clean. Oliver’s wounds are healing rapidly. Seven stitches were inserted over his eye. Commenting on the All Blacks’ tour, the Sydney Morning Herald says: “Because the All Blacks have been beaten there is a tendency to underrate their ability. The average New Zealand resident in Sydney declares that Porter’s present team is the worst that have ever worn the silver fern.' What an injustice to Rugby! Explanation can be made without any apologies. After surveying their performances, it can be seen they have been wonderful. After a storm-tossed trip they lost their captain and Dailey, leaving a fifteen which had not been moulded into shape. The team played a scoreless draw against more than a Waratfdi side, which was regarded as equal, to the strength of Australia. The next big loss was Dulley, ,and the New Zealanders were struggling to maintain a national record second to none. The second test was at hand, and now Stringfellow became hors de combat. Nepia and Reid were also laid up. Fate seemed to tread on the heels of the gallant band. They could not escape a train smash. It is not often the All Blacks, level at the interval, are beaten, but the retirement of Oliver in the second test must be remembered, and also that the New Zealanders met an ascendant Australia. The effect of the Waratah tour cannot be over-estimated. How the present All Blacks would have fared if at full strength is a matter of conjecture. At least injustice should not be done to their record in the light of unforeseen casualties. It is also overlooked that for the first time for twenty years New Zealand were outweighted man for man. These remarks are actuated by a desire not merely to present the case of Australia’s Rugby advance, but to do justice to the ability of a great but more stricken side which, notwithstanding that it struggled hard against adversity, has proved itself the most popular New Zealand side which has ever visited this country.”—Australian Press Association. LOST RUBBER THE LESSON OF DEFEAT. OPINION IN CANTERBURY. Canterbury Rugby enthusiasts are not at all downhearted over New Zealand’s loss of the rubber in the Rugby tests with Australia, states the Christchurch correspondent of the Dunedin Star. The general opinion of leading administrators and players whose views were sought on the subject is that Australia's success should be beneficial to both Australia and New Zealand. “As I am an old-time five-eighth, and some people think that the old-timer always lives in the past,” said one old player, “you had better not mention my name; but it seems to me very clear from the cabled reports that where New Zealand has failed is in its back play. The New Zealand selectors are paying less attention to the ‘shiners’ in the -forward play, and we are clearly told in the cabled reports that our forwards have been playing a good hard game. It is evident, however, that the standard of hooking in the scrums is still below what it used to be. While A. E. Cooke is absent from our New Zealand teams we are lacking the old-time penetration in the backs. The Australian backs handled the ball very well on Saturday, it seems, and they evidently had too much initiative for our fellows. That lesson should do us good. Our back play in general certainly needs improvement. The standard of club play is not what it was, generally speaking, for it is easier than it used to be for a man to get into a senior team, and there is less attention paid to strategy and tactics.” This old player remarked, too, that as an aid to the fostering of Rugby in Australia the New Zealand team’s visit to Australia seemed to have justified itself, and it was no good making excuses for defeat. But if one considered only the Rugby prestige of New Zealand, it was rather unfortunate that New Zealand sent teams to Australia so often, as the best, teams could not always get away because of the difficulties players had in getting leave of absencc. f The Canterbury Rugby Union’s protest earlier in the season that, the present tour was being hdld too early, and was interfering too much with club games, was justified from that point of view.