KING COUNTRY TEAM

Taranaki Daily News, 6 August 1937, Page 4

KING COUNTRY TEAM

prominent men included. TARANAKI B TEAM'S TASK. ' The Taranaki B Rugby team, which ■will leave for Taumarunui to-night with Mr. L. H. Sampson as manager to play the elect of the King Country to-mor-row, has heen set a very difficult task, for on form King Country would fully extend Taranaki's best expononts of Ihe game. When Taranaki B visited Taumarunui last year King Country scored such a decisive win by six trics to one try and a penalty goal that the opinion was expressed that King Country had demonstrated it5 right to be pittea against Taranaki's best. Thcn, too, lt must be remembered that thc King Country team, drawn from a very scattercd district, was playing its first game together. . To-morrow, however, Taranki B wiU meet a team that should be in good condition, as it includes nine of the combined team that held the South Africans at Hamilton recently to a narrow marwin a feat that no other provincial team

has been able to perform yet. Four of that nine aLso took part in the test trial series at Wellington and one, Crossman, the ex-Taranaki player, has reached the final 20 and has his chance of wearing the All Black jersey in the first test. King Country's inside backs are apparently deadly in defence, as it was the same trio, Robinson, Crossman and Cameron, that nullified the Springboks' back movements. In addition the two wing three-quarters in that match, Phillips and Dixon, who also went to Wellington for the trials, will be secn in action against Taranaki B, It will thus be seen that Taranaki is ambitious in challenging, such a fifteen with its B team. Taranaki teams, however, have the happy knack of always giving of their best when "up against it," and on paper tlris Taranaki team should be up against it to-morrow. It appe.ared, indeed, as though the Taranaki selectors' objective in giving the A team emergencies a game by including them in the team against Canterbury might have been even better achieved by including them in the team to play King Country. That would have served a double purpose— not only would it have strengthened the B team but it would also have given the five men who are standing down from the A team a

game, and would have enabled that team to perfect its combination in view of future matches. The defection of Ford has certainly led to the inclusion of one of the A team backs, Wetton. Nine of the King Country team to play Taranaki B to-morrow figured in the match at Taumarunui last year— Crossman, who scored two tries and was responsible for two others, W. Phillips, E. Gilbert, C. Box, A. Fleming, A. Nelson, W. Trustrum and C. Coffin (forwards), as well as N. Margan, who came on as emergeney during the game. Tlie Taranaki team on the other hand includes only two of last year's fifteen, Ross, now included as full-back and last year playing wing three-quarter opposite the dangerous Phillips, whom he kcpt well in check, and Longstaff, tlie Clifton forward playing in the front row. The inclusion of Ross will give general satisfaction as he will unquestionably strengthen the team from the viewpoint of kicking. He has all the essentials required by a full-back and has only to make good there to be the logical successor to Collins as Taranaki's last line of defence. Coull and E. Smith, two of the ten Taranaki forwards selected for the A team, were members of the B team at Taumarunui last year.