THE ALL BLACKS

Southland Times, Issue 22770, 21 December 1935, Page 8

THE ALL BLACKS

TO-DAY’S BIG GAME CHANCES FAVOUR NEW ZEALAND INTEREST AT FEVER HEAT (United Pr<?ss Assn.—Telegraph Copyright.) London, December 19. Because Wales is the only one of the Home countries ever to defeat a New Zealand side more general interest is being taken in Saturday’s international match at Cardiff than in the games against Scotland and Ireland, and the match is being described as the “rubber”' game of the three. Interest throughout Wales is at fever heat and the Welshmen are hopeful that their champions will repeat the 1905 performance. The chances slightly favour New Zealand, and their combination, backing up and covering work on defence should again carry Manchester’s team to victory. The New Zealanders are hoping that it will be a dry ground and a fine day. There is not the slightest doubt that they will do better with dry conditions. Again everything depends on the forwards winning the ball from the scrums and loose rucks. When they were able to do it against the strong Scottish and Irish packs there is no reason why they should not do it on Saturday, especially as the Welsh eight are not regarded as of the same standard as the Irish vanguard. All Blacks Keen To Win. The tourists are desperately keen to win the game and the probabilities are that they will play above themselves. The Welsh selection is in the nature of a gamble. There are rumours that W. Woolier, C. W. Jones and D. J. Tarr (the hooker) may not stand up to a hard game. One report is that Woolier and Jones just managed to last out the Oxford-Cambridge game. Jones may be disturbed by sound tackling at the beginning. He is a player of undoubted brilliance, though he did not greatly impress the tourists at Cambridge. He will have a good partner, H. Tanner, who will be able to give swift and sure service at the base of the scrums. Tanner’s selection as scrumhalf was a foregone conclusion and in the opinion of many Tanner’s club partner, W. Davies, should have been preferred to Jones. Woolier should be at home on the wing, being the fastest man in the team. He is at present playing with great dash. If Claude Davey plays as well as at Swansea Wales may win. It will be surprising, however, if Davey is allowed the same liberty on Saturday. Several Changes Probable. The New Zealand team may not be definitely known till Saturday and even if the side is announced on Friday there may be last-minute changes. T. H. C. Caughey is still doubtful, while D. Dalton is suffering a slight leg injury. The inclusion of E. W. Tindill might not weaken the team. He is now playing much more confidently and his tackling has improved. C. S. Pepper undoubtedly will be in action in the front row with Dalton. Mr Meredith stated that the personnel of the team at the moment was in “the lap of the gods.” During training at Porthcawl special attention has been paid to scrummaging, and New Zealand may surprise Wales with one or two tricks they have been saving for the occasion. The tourists will make every effort to gain an early lead, following the tactics which were so successful against Ireland. It is now possible that the whole of the New Zealand back line may be reshuffled as there is even less chance of Caughey’s fitness. The three-quar-ters may be N. Ball and G. F. Hart on the wings and N. A. Mitchell in the centre with C. J. Oliver (second) and Griffiths (first) five-eighths. Snow fell at Cardiff, where the ground has been thickly covered with straw. Bad weather is indicated, lessening the tourists’ chances.

WELSH BACKS GOOD SHOULD PROVIDE STRONG OPPOSITION. NEW ZEALAND'S BIG TEST. (By “Onlooker.”) Although in the first two international games of the present series, versus Scotland and Ireland, the All Blacks were pitted against what was generally recognized as the strongest of the four Home countries, there will be no gainsaying that in to-day's game at Cardiff the New Zealanders are going to be faced with the real test of the tour. The announcement of the Welsh team, embodying as it does fast and weighty forwards, backed up by speedy and clevei' backs, makes this clear. The All Blacks have already had more than one sample of the energy of forward play in Wales, and as recently as the Neath and Aberavon game were convincingly shown that Welsh Rugby is anything but a parlour game. That, by the way. The Welshmen can play the best Rugby. Their record over many years proves that, and recently there have been definite signs of a return to that old style of fast forward play with quick spoiling on to opponents and quick opportunism in the loose which made Wales such a power in the Rugby world. Welsh Forwards. In T. Rees (Newport) and T. Williams (Cross Keys) the Welsh pack has forwards who stand six feet and scale 14 stone; and A. M. Rees (London Welsh), J. I. B. Lang (Llanelly) and G. Prosser (Neath) are big and strong packmen. D. Tarr (Swansea) is a fine hooker who has already had three games against the All Blacks, including the one at Swansea, when he secured possession of the ball almost whenever he liked. It remains to be seen if he will enjoy the same success to-day. Prosser, who played in the back row for Wales the season before last, is a wing forward of the fast spoiling type. The Welsh team undoubtedly has fine backs. H. Tanner, the schoolboy half-back from Swansea, has been included in place of the veteran W. C. Powell, who played last year, and both by his physique and skill should give his team good service in both attack and defence. C. W. Jones, the Cambridge University will-o’-the-wisp, has been included in preference to W. T. Davies, the other brilliant Swansea schoolboy. Jones, though rather frail, has great pace off the mark, and a wonderful eye for an opening. He, was regarded last season as the best inside back in the British Isles, superior even to R. W. Shaw, of Scotland. The Welsh threequarter line has two fine wings in W. Woolier, the big and fast man from Cambridge University, and G. R. Rees-Jones, of Oxford University. Woolier is six feet and only 22 and has a great scoring record. ReesJones is also a strong runner, and did well last season against England and Scotland. E. C. Davey,'of Swansea, played brilliantly against the All Blacks on the occasion of their only defeat, and is undoubtedly a fine centre, with all the shrewdness and generalship gained from six seasons in international foot-J

ball. J. Idwal Rees, the other centre, is a former Cambridge University man, who has since played for Edinburgh Wanderers. He is a master at Fettes College. He is also big and fast. A. Bassett, brother of James Bassett, the full-back of the 1930 British team in New Zealand, has' been dropped from the three-quarter line. V. G. J. Jenkins (London Welsh) has been preferred as full-back to T. O. James (Aberavon). who played for Wales last season against Ireland. This back line has speed to burn and is a dangerous attacking force. It is probably the best, on paper, that the tourists will have encountered, and on that score is based the contention that Manchester’s men to-day are going to be fully tested in the backs as well as the forwards. Mitchell at Centre. The possibility of Mitchell being played in the centre position for New Zealand gives the game a greater interest than ever for Southlanders. Mitchell has already proved himself as one of the best all-round three-quarters ever turned out in New Zealand, and should he get an opportunity in this game there is little doubt about being able to do himself justice in the position. He is just the type to mark the mercurial Davey, who did so much damage in the Swansea game. Many would probably have a feeling of greater satisfaction if Caughey were fit and well to take r.is place in the team, but in his absence Mitchell at centre and Oliver at second five-eighth appeals as a sounder combination than Tindill (second-live) and Oliver (centre). In 2905 Wales beat the All Blacks 3 —o at the tail end of the tour, the only defeat suffered by the “Originals.” The manner of it has caused endless argument, it being claimed that R. G. Deans, the Canterbury three-quarter, scored a try after a run by W. J. Wallace, but was pulled back over the goal line by some of the Welshmen before the referee gave his decision. This happening has been revived from time to time, even to the extent of being recounted to the school children on one occasion in the School Journal. Deans in response to a request sent a telegram to the Daily Mail after the match, saying: “Grounded ball six inches over line; some Welsh players admit try. Hunter and Glasgow can confirm that I was pulled back before the referee arrived.” There is a legend that on his deathbed he declared: “I scored that try against Wales.” The 1924 All Blacks more than wiped off the score in the 1905 game, winning by 19 to nil. M. Brownlie scored one try, dragging two defenders over the line as they tried to pull him down, and W. R. Irvine scored two, one in a loose’rush and the other in a dribbling rush which took the ball nearly the length of the field. K. S. Svenson scored a try from an opening made by J. Mill from a scrum and M. F. Nicholls converted one try and kicked a penalty goal. SCOTTISH MATCH MOMENTOUS VICTORY. ALL BLACKS’ BEST FORM. (By Air Mail.)

London, November 25. New Zealand won the first of their four international matches when they beat Scotland at Murray field on Saturday by three goals and a try (18 points) to a goal and a try (8 points), writes the Rugby correspondent of The Times. Such a decisive victory easily could have defied deprecation but for one thing. Scotland, to the surprise and dismay of 60.000 people, were outplayed in the scrummage from the very start — certainly in the essential matters of hooking and clean heeling—yet, through a superb breakaway by two of the backs, took the lead inside 10 minutes. For nearly 10 more minutes they held their own fairly well and then W. C. W. Murdoch was badly shaken up in making a tackle and had to leave the field. The moral and material effect of this disaster was revealed in a quick revival by New Zealand, who never looked back once they had scored 10 points inside five minutes and so completely outbalanced their opponents’ three. Murdoch returned as a limp passenger on the wing instead of as a lively centre and, but for two magnificent tackles by J. E. Forrest, who by a supreme effort managed to defend both wings for a while, New Zealand must have scored two more tries. Team-work Tells. Early in the second half Scotland made a match of it by scoring another brilliant try, this time at the goalposts, but, although the whole side refound itself to some extent, the heeling never was clean enough to give the backs a clear advantage. Nor, for that matter, were the Scottish pack often able to raise the old Scottish war cry of “Feet, Feet” from a now thoroughly excited crowd. One or two desperate efforts almost crossed the New Zealand goal-line, but the necessary team-work was not there. Finally, too, the greatness of little B. S. Sadler, always present in bad times as well as good, supported by a superlatively fine example of passing at top-speed by Mitchell and Caughey, brought their side a try that, in effect, settled all arguments. Having in this summary of events made every excuse possible for the beaten side, it is bare justice to New Zealand to grant that Murrayfield not only was their most spectacular and momentous victory, but in every way their best match up to date. From the front row in the scrummage, in which W. E. Hadley, a splendid all-round player, has become an inspiring example, backwards through the side to Gilbert, the All Blacks of 1935 seem to have found themselves at last as a team of the highest class. An exceptionally early kick-off at a quarter past two at one time threatened a disappointing attendance, but not long after the All Blacks and the Ail Whites—as Scotland had to be on this occasion—had got to grips, the mountainous banks of Murrayfield were crowded enough and the enlarged stand appeared to hold its full quota of about 15,000 sheltered people. The early start proved to be wise, for a white mist preceded dusk. The turf looked well, but was on the soft side—not, however, as soft and wet as many Scotsmen hoped. Improved Heeling. The first seven minutes’ play, which brought more enforced kicks to touch than effective passing movements,_ was conclusive evidence of only one thing—the progressive improvement of New Zealand shoving and heeling. It was clear that a promising Scottish pack was likely to be fully matched this time. Fortunately for Scotland, their own shoving, spoiling, marking, and tackling were good enough to neutralize their opponents’ advantage in heeling and to offer themselves a chance to bring off a sudden coup in attack. At least the Scottish forwards did their part as scrummagers, and Logan and Shaw theirs as half-backs, before Dick went through a gap so fast that the defence was caught standing still, Hart on the right wing among them. Even this, however, was not enough to ensure a try, and it was left to Fyfe to accomplish three sensational things—first to keep pace with Dick, next to veer in and so keep in touch, and finally, when Dick approached the full-back and passed outwards, to cover the remaining 40 yards sufficiently fast to defeat a

splendid attempt by Sadler to cut him off. The movement, it should be added, had started well inside the Scottish half of the field, and yet Sadler was able to get back and to tackle Fyfe as he made his final dive for the line in the left-hand corner. Fyfe himself failed with the place-kick, but this early lead and the liveliness, if no more, of other breaks away combined with the close marking of Sadler and the New Zealand five-eighths, seemed to foreshadow a Scottish victory. But Murdoch was either less lucky or less robust than Dick in stopping the New Zealand runners, and, in a silence that could be felt, he staggered from the field holding his head and not to reappear until the whole course of the game had been changed in a few short minutes. Even when he did return he was too shaken to be of much service as a counter to Hart, and, almost needless to say, the temporary withdrawal of Thom from a hardpressed pack was a serious manner. New Zealand sensed their chance, and, it must be admitted, seized it with the utmost speed, combination and determination. Scotland, for the rest of the half, were on the verge of being overrun as well as deprived of their lead. The Lead Lost. First signs of the overrunning came as a pass from Oliver to Hart went astray when the latter was the odd man over. Scotland replied with a fine movement, which was cut short only by a heavy tackle, but before they attacked again in force they were seven points down. New Zealand’s effort was a team effort and so sustained that no sooner had Hart been held up in a corner than passing was started again and the latter was taking the ball from Sadler under cover of the scrummage. The five-eighths linked up quickly and it seemed that Griffiths shook off a tackle just before he sent Caughey over. Caughey just got there with several men hanging on to him and Gilbert easily placed a goal. Murdoch then returned to the field, but only in time to see the New Zealand forwards force another try close to the goal-posts. Appropriately enough, it was Hadley who took the plunge which, with the aid of Gilbert’s place kick, brought five more points and placarded the words “impending defeat” on the Scottish goalposts. A breakaway by Logan, supported by Dick and Forrest, and an attempt by Fyfe to kick a penaltv goal from 30 yards out at an angle, offered Scotland some hope, but soon Hart, on the right, and Mitchell, on the left, were running for an open goal-line, and only Forrest, by an inspired bit of covering, pulled them down in turn. Before halftime brought Scotland relief, however, New Zealand pressed home their advantage again. A long drop at goal by Gilbert was followed by a dangerous attack in which Sadler was backed up by the forwards. The defence was valiant, but pressed beyond endurance. One felt little surprise when Sadler suddenly sent Caughey in for a try in the left-hand corner. The Second Half. In the second half, Scotland accomplished something big in reducing this lead of 10 points to 5, but, having done so, they lost their best chance of saving the game by heeling so slowly from the scrummage. The try admittedly was made possible by an exception to the rule, but it required one of Shaw’s swiftest dashes through a lane in the defence to find the open. There he found Dick up for a pass and it was amid a deafening roar that Dick reached the posts untouched and Murdoch, now back in the centre and slowly recovering, added some invaluable goal points. It also was something that Scotland managed to sustain an intense excitement for another 25 minutes or so, largely because the forwards at last managed to shake New Zealand’s confidence by a few fierce foot-rushes. On the other hand, when New Zealand got the ball—though no longer so often as in the first half—they showed a superb dash and capacity for taking the reverse pass at top-speed The Scottish attacks by contrast were either mechanical or isolated endeavours. Still, there was just a chance of a surprise so long as no more than five points separated the two sides and it was not until six minutes from no-side that the issue was settled. Then, Sadler broke away on the blind side of a scrummage, Mitchell raced up in support and Caughey did the same for Mitchell in midfield. The whole movement was perfect and Gilbert crowned it with a goal. Scotland ’made a final despairing effort and Shaw nearly sent Fyfe in for a try, but neither this, nor a penalty kick by Fvfe, was to offer the home side any further consol^-^m..,