WHAT A GAME and WHAT A GATE!

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18305, 5 November 1927, Page 7

WHAT A GAME and WHAT A GATE!

All Blacks of 1928 should Kick Off by Playing Waratahs in Sydney Written for the “Star” by “Hacka” The “ Waratahs” will be back, in Sydney just about seven weeks before the 1928 All Blacks leave for South Africa. If a match could be arranged , just imagine what a crowd these two teams would draw. The writer has just returned from Sydney and knows that the New South Wales Rugby Union keenly desires this match to be played if at all psssible. Officials there say that they do not care what day the match is on as long as it can be arranged. Why not? It would be | a great Rugby event, thrilling and historic.

The All Blarks certainly would be Cut of practice, but so would the “Waratahs.” They would have had a sea voyage of six weeks before disbanding and then another seven weeks before the match. It certain!} 1 - would be a chance for the All Blacks to get together, and the xnatch already arranged with a Victorian side could still be played. The writer, when speaking on the subject ■to a Rugby Union official in Wellington, was informed that the New Zealand Rugby Union was not going to take any risks. If such is the case, New South Wales will lose a game that people would travel miles to see. Surely New Zealanders are not going to have it said that the 192 S All Blacks were frightened to meet the “Waratahs.” A Strong Side. The New South Wales selectors. Messrs Griffcn, Bos ward and Walker, carried out their difficult task in choosing the twenty-nine players that are now touring Great Britain in a most praiseworthy manner as the results to date testify. Their task at the start was a very hard one, especially where the forwards were concerned, for they had to pass players of such calibre as Louden. Telford. Windeyer, O'Dea and \Vaddington. The team, taken ail round, is certainly an excellent one. The back division is speedy, and ail .the men are possessed of the greatest of all assets, “football brains,” and with suf'h magnificent offensive players as Wallace. Sheehan. Lawton, and Egan, should provide the English enthusiasts with some dazzling play. Certainly they could be considerably strengthened in- defence, but with such grim defenders as Towers, Lawton, Egan, King and Duncan they have already been able to stem the forcible attacks of the grim Home forwards. “Speed Merchants.” The forwards are a brilliant lot, who although not so heavy as some of their opponents, at least know how to use their weight to advantage. With such speed merchants as Breckenridge, Greatorex, Finlay, Woods and Tancred, one confidently expects to hear of them launching attacks in the real New Zealand way. while in the ruck work they should be able to hold their own against most of the teams they meet. There is perhaps no greater rake playing the game than Blackwood. One thing is manifest, and that is that the “Waratahs” are a combination of true Australian sportsmen, who, both on and off the field, will in a noble manner maintain the name we have for sportsmanship. Leading Players. Skipper of the tourists is Arthur Cooper Wallace, who, incidentally, is one of the greatest backs the Rugby game has ever known. In nominating Wallace for the position of captain, the New South Wales Rugby Union Committee was of the opinion that he was qualified, not only by reason of his wide experience and proved ability as a leader and tactician, but because of his intimate knowledge of the "conditions, players and officials to be met on the tour. Wallace has had a long and brilliant career on the sports field from the first time in which he represented Sydney Grammar School in 1916, until to-day, when he has cap-

ped all his past performances by earning the right to lead the “Waratahs.” After leaving Grammar in 1919 Wallace went to the Sydney University, and played for them in 1920-21, touring New Zealand with the State side in the latter year. He then graduated to Oxford as a Rhodes

scholar, gaining his football “blue” during his first season at that establishment. In 1923 he won his International Cap for Scotland against France. In the following year he played against England, France and Wales, while in 1926 he took part in every international game with the Scottish fifteen, but this proved to be his last “heavy” vear, as in 1926 he only took the field irt one game—versus France. So brilliantly did he perform in these games that he was rightly judged by the English critics as the best back in the .United Kingdom. Wallace, who is

twenty-six years of age, weighs list 61b. and is oft Sin high. Very popular on and oil the field, he is the possessor of a charming personality that is sure to earn for him the wholehearted respect of every member of the combination.

The Vice-captain. Charles Leigh Fox first came into the limelight as a forward in 1919, when after a great season with the North Sydney Club, he was selected to play for the State against the famous A.I.F. combination; he toured Queensland the same year, and repped against the Springboks and New Zealanders a year

later, while in 1921 he was one of the forwards chosen to tour New Zealand. He has taken part in tests against the Maoris and All Blacks in 1922, and the New Zealand combinations of 1924-25-26. “Foxy” is vice-captain of the “Waratahs,” and is sure to prove a sound general in the matches in which Wallace will not be playing. Age twenty-eight; height, 6ft lin; weight, 13st 71b. A graduate from the Sydney Grammar School, Alexander Williams Ross first played grade football in 1924, when he was a member of the University reserves, but the following season fie not only played regularly for the firsts, but. in addition, gained State representation. Improving every season, Ross has been proclaimed by the daily Press as being one of the best, if not the greatest, full-back the fifteen aside game has produced. He possesses all the qualifications necessary in an international custodian, and will be sure to prove a valuable asset to the “Waratahs” for his ability as a goal-kicker. Ross has also gained his “blue” for cricket, and if he continues to bat as he did last season it should not be long before he represents the State in this game as well as football. The journalistic profession will be ably represented by Edward Neville Greatorex. He played first with the Y.M.C.A. in 1922, and with the State a vear later, when he toured New Zealand. Age twenty-four, height 6ft, weight 12st 61b. Sergeant-Major John Laidlv Duncan is known far and wide as “ The Little Man with the Big Voice,” but this only applies to the parade ground, as in the dressing room he is a proverbial oyster. Duncan worked the scrum for a New South Wales side against the All Blacks last year. Age twenty-three, height sft 4in, weight lOst 81b. The Heaviest Man. The heaviest man in the team is John Alfred Ford. who. although only twenty-one years of age, weighs over lost. “ Rattles,” as he is commonly called, is a product of St Joseph’s College. Since the termination of his schooling has played for Glebe-Balmain. and won his spurs in his first season by being selected as a member of E. J. Thorn’s New Zealand team. Ford is an ideal lock man, and is sure to build for himself a great .reputation on the other side. The veteran of the “ Waratahs ” is Manly’s genial skipper, Edwin Joseph Thorn, who is thirty years of age. Thorn is well known to all New Zealanders, as he has played against them here and in Australia since 1922. A great breakaway and lock man, Thorn is an asset to the Union code, not only for his ability on the field, but also

for the many valuable services he renders off the field. As a captain, he has on numerous occasions proved himself to be one of the most capable leaders New South Wale- i -''>-sessed, while in addition he is a wonderful goal kicker. The Versatile Lawton. One of the outstanding figures at Home at the present time with the “ Waratahs ” is T. Lawton, captain and five-eighth of the Western Suburbs Club. In fact, they say that Sydney has no more consistent player. An excellent stand-off half, Lawton is a determined runner, the possessor of a

great fend, a tiger in defence and a reliable goal kicker. Receiving his early education at the Brisbane Grammar School, Lawton went to the Sydney University in 1920, when he was the recipient of a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford. He played with that famous Varsity in 1921-22-23, and also gained his international cap with Scotland. On returning to Sydney he was a member of the State side that toured New Zealand in 1925—a trip that he previously made in 1920. When in England there was some controversy in regard to his amateur status, as he had at one time played Leagtie football in Queensland. However, he was exonerated, owing to the fact that there was no Union football played in the northern State. Lawton has already enhanced his reputation while on tour, and one would not be surprised to see him continue to be the “ star ” of the combination. The utility back of the “ Waratahs ” is Francis Wallace Meagher, captain of the Randwick Club, who has successfully represented New South Wales for the past four seasons as either fiveeighth or half-back. He has already had two trips away with the State fifteen, touring New Zealand in 1923 and 1925. Age twenty-four, height sft Sin, weight lOst 71b. He Runs Straight. Just twenty years of age, Cyril Henry Thomas Towers is one of the youngest “ Waratahs.” After playing good football for the Waverly College, he obtained a position in the Randwick team in his first session, and since then has always been a prominent member of the side. He played for a Metropolitan side against the New Zealanders in 1925, and last year he “repped” against the All Blacks. Towers is a centre who believes in straight running, and if he concentrates on this style of play will be sure to do well in England. A staunch defender and an excellent kick. William James Sheehan, or “ Billy,” as he is called, -is a product of the King’s School, and has had a rapid rise in football. Like Egan, another ex-King’s scholar, Sheehan gained representative honours during his premier season in grade football, taking the field for the State against the Springboks. He has played in the New Zealand tests in Sydney in 1922-24, the Maoris in 1922, and toured New Zealand with the State side in 1923. “ As elusive as the ball itself ” is how some. players speak of this brilliant five-eighth, who possesses a “ dummy ” that even the most experienced players swallow with a "regularity that is alarming. He is also a demon in defence and an excellent goal kick. He is twenty-six years of age, height sft lOin and weighs lOst 101 b.