THE ALL BLACKS EXTENDED

Southland Times, Issue 22991, 10 September 1936, Page 11

THE ALL BLACKS EXTENDED

Match Against South ■ Canterbury I' NEW ZEALAND WINS BY 16 TO 13 i. FAST, OPEN RUGBY e j 3 (United Press Association.) t Timaru, September 9. For the first time in the history of i Rugby football in South Canterbury t an All Black side played a match in J Timaru to-day and a crowd of 4000 • was treated to a fast and open exhibition, the All Blacks being fully ex--3 tended to win by 16 points to 13. The occasion was a great one so far as football in this district was concerned, and the home team rose to the occasion in great style, revealing itself in its true form. From start to finish it kept the game going at a fast pace, and though the New Zealand team had nothing but reputations at stake and might have been trying to keep out of harm’s way in ’ view of the Test match on Saturday, it was forced to meet spirited opposition. ’ A combination of these factors resulted in a game which delighted the crowd. The teams were as follows:— New Zealand. Full-back.—H. R. Pollock (Wellington). Three-ouarters. —B. A. Killeen (Auckland), J. Sullivan (Taranaki), N. A. Mitchell (Southland). Five-eighths.—J. L. Griffiths (Wellington), C. C. Gillies (Otago). Half-back.—B. S. Sadler (Welling- ■ ton). ’ Back row.—J. G. Rankin (Canterbury). Middle row: T. Lockington (Auck- ' land), S. T. Reid (Hawke’s Bay), R. R. ’ King (West Coast), R. Ward (South- ■ land). Front row.—E. Jackson (Hawke’s Bay), W. E. Hadley (Auckland), J. i Wells (Wellington). | I South Canterbury. Full-back.—G. Gaffaney. Three-quarters.—T. Morrison, C. 1 Cartwright, E. Ryan. i Five-eighths.—R. Lundy, G. Wright. ! Half-back.—G. King. Front row.—H. Graham, T. Gunn, G. ' Adkins. Middle row- J. Strang, W. Robertson, F. S. Thomson, I. Caird. Back row.—G. Vucetich. The All Black forwards were bigger I than the home eight, but there was no ' difference in weight, and the scrums I went down fairly well. In the first half | Hadley outhooked Gunn, the home ( hooker, but the latter secured possession sufficiently to give the South Canterbury backs a number of runs. It was in the line-outs and the loose that the All Black forwards shone, their quickness to make use of openings pro- | viding the backs with a feast of ball. Killeen on the Wing. If the crowd expected to see something brilliant from the New Zealand line it was disappointed, for rarely did the backs flash right down the field in i scintillating movements which a side of the calibre of the team should have done. The line was not at full strength, however, but with the exception of Killeen, who played on the wing, the ■ others were in their right positions and were either Test players or reserves. Sadler opened up the play well, but Gillies was inclined to be selfish and go too far after making openings with the result that the wings were more or less starved. Pollock, who gave a brilliant display at full-back, came up to fiveeighths for a period and straightened up the attack, but after 15 minutes resumed his place, Griffiths going back to second five-eighth. Sullivan impressed the crowd with his speed, but did not have enough chances to display his true ability. The All Black forwards handled well and indulged in nippy short passing rushes, but failed to work as a unit in the loose. They frequently overran the ball and let the home forwards, who always made use of mistakes, set up hot counter attacks. The outstanding feature of the game was the solid tackling of the South Canterbury team, especially the backs, who repeatedly broke up All Black rushes. Only twice did the New Zealand backs score from passing rushes, the other two tries going to the forwards following solid scrummaging near the line. Hand Broken. Lockington broke a hand in the first half and retired, being replaced by Dalton. The home backs were unable to ; penetrate very far in concerted rushes, ( but were often dangerous. Following ] a breakdown of All Black movements t on one occasion Griffiths cross-kicked j to the corner flag, Ryan beating Killeen , for possession. Instead of forcing, Ryan ( set off down the field, reaching half- ; way before being forced into touch. <■ Morrison also made good runs, but the ; chief feature of his play was his tack- s ling of Mitchell and later Sullivan, who r went to the wing. Gaffaney played a t sound game at full-back. The best of I the home forwards were Adkins, a 1935 s All Black, and Strang. c South Canterbury were seven points up in the first ten minutes, Ryan kick- g ing a field goal and King a penalty goal. C Pollock made a opening to send Mit- j chell over, Pollock missing with the r kick. Then Lockington scored from a scrum, Pollock converting. Just before ( half-time Rankin scored and Pollock ( converted, making the half-time scores: J New Zealand 13, South Canterbury 7. d Play was very even for a long period J in the second half. Following a scrum p on the line the All Blacks hooked the C