SPRINGBOKS MAKING GOOD

Taranaki Daily News, 10 December 1931, Page 3

SPRINGBOKS MAKING GOOD

LONDON’S DEFEAT AT RUGBY. THE SOUTH AFRICAN SPORTSMEN. (From Our Own Correspondent.) (London, October 22. The touring Springboks defeated a four-county London side at Twickenham on Saturday by scoring six tries to one, and kicking goals from every try. As London failed to convert their ewe lamb, the score ended 30 points to three in favour of the hefty visitors. Critics who follow Rugby for the London newspapers must have felt a trifle cheap as they watched the proceedings from the Press stand as part of a crowd of about 30,000 spectators. In spite of hints to be cautious from old international ’players, these sporting writers have keenly criticised the present South African side as below the standard of Dominion Rugby. Especially have they written endless nonsense about their tendency to overdo kicking. Admittedly, the Springboks were not up against a very worthy team at Twickenham, but they demonstrated, to real connoisseurs of the game, that they are a thoroughly formidable and brilliant side, and. my own conviction is that a Welsh international team is the only one that is likely to give them much trouble when they are all out for victory. Thera was not one point at which the visitors were not immeasurably superior to London’s carefully chosen but scratch side. I am told Tindall is not their favourite full-back. All I can say is that against London, with some fast forwards occasionally arriving on the heels of the ball itself, he gave a faultless display. We have heard a lot about Nepia, the New Zealand full-back, whose name has become & classic. I never saw Nepia play quite so well as Tindall did on Saturday. He never looked like dropping even the most awkward ball, never gave an attacking Londoner an inch or a second of grace in his clean tackle, and his kicking to touch, even with enemies swarming round him, was brilliant. Against this picture we had Sellar, the Navy’s old international full-back, behaving like a novice. He did get in one or two fine punts to ( touch, hut not always, and, besides badly missing his tackle when two men scored by running practically through him, he gave away London’s hopes time and, again by getting nonplussed over the’bounce of the bait

South Africa’s first ecor-e, in the first few minutes of the game, was his presentation. A high punt by on® of the visitors’ backs bounced on the goal-line. Sellar was standing within a yard of it, but -started running round in circles, bo 'that a fast-following South African got a beautiful touch down. Why somebody had not the gumption, eince he could not work it out for himself, to tell Sellar to reposition himself, and stand 20 yards farther back 'than in any ordinary match, I cannot imagine. He persisted in keeping close up to Springboks who are long-distance howitzer punters, with the inevitable result that he constantly found himself the centre of a bracket kick that passed high over his head, and under the painful necessity Of chasing backwards for the ball, with very nippy Springbok’S, who had a flying start against his slow one after a right turn, worrying his soul out. Sellar has, I surmise, made his last appearance for England. He went down pluckily enough to a forward rush, but even his old-time torpedo tackle has lost its snap and resolution. At half-back London played Sobey and Windsor Lewis, but neither showed much resource against Osler and de Villiers, who were definitely the better artists as well as the faster and stronger players. The London backs tackled well, and passed fairly well, but were outpaced, with the inevitable result that they generally ran across instead of down , the field. And, like the halves, they were playing behind a beaten pack. In the loose the London forwards showed some dash and speed, but they did not get the ball in the -scrum more than once in a long' blue moon, and were quite outclassed by their gigantic opponents.

Ooote, the RA.F. man, playing centre, managed to score just one try. But even that was a bit lucky. The Springbok scores were made by Zimmerman, who got the touch down when Sellar missed a bouncing ball on his own goal-line, and also scored one magnificent try after eide-istepping half the London side at full burst, by Osler, who was on a misskick by Lewis like a flash, by Bierman, who secured two scalps, .and by Brand, who dodged over on the wing in fine style. The Springboks in this match mixed their kicking ahead and passing in a most skilful way, and their forwards have now settled down as a most cohesive and formidable pack. Bierman, a good-looking young son of Anak, la the most prominent forward, and I rate him as one of the most effective loose forwards I have ever seen. He is as fast and opportunist as Pillman in his palmiest days, and twice a* strong physically. I will give one instance that impressed me. Early in the London game a long kick by Sellar curled awkwardly towards touch. Tindall tried to save it. His feet were together, with toes just on, and barely on, the touch line when he cleverly caught -the balk He glanced down, saw his toes just level with the line, and, though there was no touch judge near and, the referee was miles off, shook his head, and laid down the ball. I cannot imagine many full-backs being so meticulous. As a matter of fact, I was just at that spot, and my verdict would have been that he was not quite in touch. Yet Tindall gave his opponents the big advantage of a -line-out in his own 25. .It was then I made up my mind Tindall is a great player.