BIG ISSUES AT STAKE

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 388, 23 June 1928, Page 9

BIG ISSUES AT STAKE

ALL BLACKS UP AGAINST IT If the New Zealand team selected above is a reliable forecast for next Saturday, then the constitution of the pack, even allowing for the later introduction of Finlayson, must cause some slight surprise. Hadley and Swain appear to have been the least successful hooking pair, and it is surprising not to find Tlore again bracketed with Swain. Again, in view of Stewart's success at wingforward on Wednesday, it would have caused no surprise to find him

again on the flank of the scrum. Most of all, secure in the conviction that Lucas will do brilliant things whenever he is given the ball on a dry field, Aucklanders will regret the exclusion of Lucas. Since Grenside appears to have shown, as indicated in independent reports, better form than Robillaird, one would have liked to see him and Lucas played as the wing-three-quarters, who would then have had eeffctive variety in their attack. However, Robilliard, on his day, with his speed and great physique, is as good as any threequarter in the country, and ho may easily do great things next Saturday. As to Carleton, he may be the best centre offering now that Lindsay is to be played as fullback, but the cable-man’s remark about his selection only endorses what was printed in these columns last Saturday. THE FATAL WEAKNESSES In telling us that the 1928 All Blacks fall short of the 1924 team, Mr. F. M. Howard is saying nothing new. As has been repeatedly stated here, this team is uncertain, almost to the point of weakness, in the positions where the 1924 team was brilliantly secure. There is nothing in the latest cable to inspire complete confidence in the outcome next Saturday. Under the circumstances to-day’s match will be looked on very much as a test gallop for the selected side, and beyond that New Zealand will place its faith in the general .ruggedness and will-to-win of its footballers, no matter who they are. Of the African team, sufficient is already known to indicate that it will bo immensely powerful forward, though whether its pack will be superior, beyond th© addition of Mostert, to the hai'd-fighting Transvaal pack, is actually a matter open to question. There are four of the Transvaal pack in the selection cabled. The African inside backs may be superior to New' Zealand’s, but on the flanks New Zealand should hold command. P. K. Albertyn, the centre, is a doctor who at one time played for Guy’s Hospital, London. He was captain of South Africa against CoveSmith’s side in 1924, and he may lead the Springbok side again. Tindall, the possible fullback, is a Capetown man, who toured New Zealand as an inside back with the 1921 Springboks.