South African Forwards Earned Third Test Win.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18576, 26 September 1928, Page 9

South African Forwards Earned Third Test Win.

NEW ZEALANDERS FRITTERED AWAY SOME EXCELLENT SCORING CHANCES (Written for the “ Star ” by GRAHAM E. BEAMISH.) PORT ELIZABETH, August 18. IN a game of thrills and brilliance South Africa to-day bea New Zealand by a goal and two tries (11 points) to two trie: (6 points) on the Crusaders Ground, Port Elizabeth. It was touch and go right until the final whistle, but in the last quart® of an hour the New Zealand forwards cracked up slightly, an< with fine assertion the Springbok forwards again carried the day It was just that slight superiority among the forwards u the last fifteen minutes that made all the difference between ; win and a loss for the All Blacks. Nobody could wish for mar. brilliance in an international match, and no one could ask foi more thrills. It was fine football, and will probably go down ii the history of the game as one of the greatest of all inter nationals.

No team could have gone on to a football field with more confidence of a win than the All Blacks when they trailed on to the Crusaders Ground with Maurice Brownlie at their head to play the critical third test match. They were playing in a climate that suited them; they were playing on the ground which all South Africa feared, for their Springboks had always been beaten in international matches on this field. Every player was fit and certain that New Zealand would win. Jack Slater, one of South Africa’s greatest wings, had to be dropped at the last minute because of a hurt thigh 1 muscle. That gave the All Blacks an even better chance. There is not the slightest doubt that New Zealand got opportunities, but there was something lacking in the play and those great chances were lost. Tries Scored and Chances Lost. When a man plays for his country he puts his heart and soul into the game and produces the best that is in him, and every player on the New Zealand side did his best, but unfortunately chances were frittered a wav. Both New Zealand tries were good. The first was the result of fine line-out play. When the attack was on the Springbok line Finlayson made a jump in a line-out, whipped to Stewart, who made one determined dive and landed over the line with three men hanging on. Lindsay had fiendish luck with his kick, for it hit an upright and bounced back infield. The second trv scored by the All Blacks came from a clever piece of work by Dailey. He worked the blind side of a scrum near the South African line, dummied a man, got tackled by two, but even then managed to get the ball out to

Grenside, who forced De Jough over the line with him as he scored. Again Lindsay missed the kick, this time by a couple of feet. So much for the New Zealand scores. South Africa’s first try, to say the least, was a lucky one. The Springbok forwards swept play to the All Black line. Carleton came hard across the field to save. He snapped the ball up and passed back to Lindsay, who was standing right on the goal line. The ball hit the full-back’s shoulder and bounced off. Mostert made a beautiful swallow dive and landed on the ball. Osier converted, and South Africa were five points up in the first four minutes. As the result of Van Druten sending the backs away from the ruck, the Springboks scored their second try. It was a beautiful piece of work which ended in Dc Jough going across at the corner. After that the South African backs schemed, but their craft was futile against a rock-like defence. It was left to the forwards to score the next points, which came half way through the second spell. There was a flash of fine forward assertion which culminated in a scrum on the New Zealand line. Here the Springboks wheeled the scrum adroitly and this allowed Nel to score in a position from which Osier could not convert. Grenside's Opportunities. Most of the opportunities went out to Grenside’s wing. The New Zealand backs at one stage were letting the ball go with sweeping movement, and here and there Grenside showed brilliance in a dashing foray down the left wing, while the roar of the crowd grew into a crescendo. Once he broke clean away from a clever intercept, and in a glorious swerving run, raced past Tindall and went, in fully cry for the goal line. A few yards away he made the fatal mistake of looking back. He was thrown slightly out of his stride and lost that essential second which meant the difference between getting and losing a try. In the next second Rousseau, who has an amazing burst of speed for the first twenty yards, had made a flying tackle, which connected, and Grenside went down three yards from the line. Again Grenside broke away when he badly beat De Jough. He went hard for Tindall, who came up to meet him. He had the whole of the open field to swerve past or run round Tindall. He hesitated and appeared to decide between a side step and a swerve, found Tindall too close to him, and decided to crash right into the fullback. Both players went down in a heap, and another movement, which looked a certain try, went by the board. The All Black Insides. There was something lacking in the attack of the New Zealand inside backs. At times they kicked a bit too much, losing possession and throwing away their chance of attack, but there was a lack of driving power even when they did get the ball. (And they heeled from seventeen scrums against the Springboks’ twenty-eight, and won the ball from twenty-one line outs compared with the South African’s thirty-one). Dailey could not have been expected to be at the top of his form when he had not played for three weeks after his injury at Bloemfontein. He did good and grotesque things. There were one or two flashes of the true Dailey, such as his brilliant burst round the scrum when Grenside scored and on another occasion when he sent Robilliard away. His defence, as usual, was sound enough, but his attack was wayward and uncertain. Then again, Lilburne, the youngest member of the team, did not seem to be at all certain of himself. He is a good player and he is going to be an even better one. He has shown good form each time he has played in the five-eighth positions, but it would appear that he is not yet up to international standard. Too often he was standing still to take his pass, but perhaps that was because of the uncertain-

ty of the All Blacks forwards capabili ties of heeling the ball. His defenc could not be questioned, but his a 1 tack, well, in this third test mate! he was not a finished player. One mus not forget his great break in the las minute of the game when he picked u; in the loose, and with shrug and swerve cut clean through the Springbok foi wards and inside backs. It almost enc ed in Grenside scoring under the post: but that movement can be dealt wit in a moment. Next comes the question of the pla of Johnson. He gave a sound exhib tion. Johnson went on to the paddoc with the whole of South Africa an many of the New Zealanders shoutin “Nicholls should be played in place c Johnson.” The selectors may have mad a tactical blunder in playing Johnso at second five-eighth for he is essentiall a first five-eighth, but Johnson full and firmly vindicated himself. On th form shown in the last few matche there is not the slightest doubt th£ Lilburne and Nicholls should have bee the third test five-eighths. Johnso himself may or may not have had tha idea, but he went on to the field wit the odds against him from the outse and he played a sound game. All cred to him. There were occasions when h might have passed instead of kickinj and there were times when Van de Westhuizen beat him, but Van der We thuiz«n is a very clever player, and clever player will always beat a ma at least once in a match, no matter ho sound the defence of his vis-a-vis ma be. Magnificent Defence. Carleton again did not prove hin self to be a great atacking player bu as he has done all through the tou he showed himself as a magnificent d fender. When on attack, he fumbled o casionally, or kicked at the wrong m< ment, but his defence, brilliant at a times, had the backing retribution < great anticipation. He is a wonderfi defender, fine exponent of attackin power, and often, as he did to-da; downs tw'o men in the same movemen A man very, very rarely gets pa: Carleton. Robilliard played his be: game of the tour. He had few attacl ing opportunities, but when he did g< a chance, he put more dash into b play, than he has done in any of h previous South African matches, an r showed glimpses of the brilliance thz ’ has given him so big a reputation i 2 an attacking three-quarter. Never one

did Brand get past Robilliard, for the Canterbury man had the Springbok wing in a panic every time the ball swung out on that flank. Lindsay, never quite so brilliant as in the first or second tests, did his job well. It was unlucky for him that the pass from Carleton bounced off his shoulder and allowed Mostert to score, but apart from that unlucky mistake, he did a nice job of work. His kicking perhaps was not as accurate as in other matches, but this fault was covered up by his never-failing tackling. Lindsay has turned out in a big number of matches and always he has played great football. He always plays a game of international calibre. But only the greatest praise can be given for the whole of the New Zealand defence. Agile and deadly, solid and unwavering, the defence seldom faltered. TJnfit Man to Lock Scrum. It was a great misfortune for New Zealand that the pivot of the scrum, Alley, was hardly properly fit. He had had a very bad attack of influenza, contracted at East London. From the 7th till the 15th, which was the Wednesday before the Test, Alley had not trained and had been in bed for the greater part of that time. It was natural, therefore, that he was not by a long way fit. In spite of this, he locked the scrum admirably and it seemed that it was only in the last fifteen minutes that he really cracked up. When his capability to lock the scrum went, it seemed to have an effect even on the open play for the New Zealand forwards. For the greater part of the game, the All Black forwards were tireless, dexterous of foot and quick of wit, but to an extent they faded away towards the end. It was the old old story. South Africa’s solid orthodox scrummaging beat the traditional diamond formation of the New Zealanders. Even playing Stewart in the front row as a loose head, there was little difference in the ultimate result of heeling the ball. All through the country South Africa’s orthodox scrum formation has beaten the New Zealand scrum. But that is another story.

Swain and Hadley are a pair of fine hookers and they both played great football to-day. It is a puzzle to everyone how they stand up to the desperate scrummaging and still have energy aplenty to shine out in the loose. Swain, as usual, was handy when a try looked likely and occasionally Hadley made a fine break from the line out or from the loose. But the two outstanding forwards were Ilazlett and M’Williams. Hazlett was at the top of his form, playing brilliantly. Frequently he broke clean away from line outs to beat a man and send a pass to his backs. His work was facile and accomplished. M’Williams, like most of the pack, semeed to go dead in the last few minutes, but until then he gave a fine all round display, using his weight in the scrums to all advantage and often harassing the Springboks with

fine breaks. Maurice Brownlie played a game which only surpassed his fine performance in the second test at fohannesburg. He too, showed flashes of his old form, dashing out at the head of clever forward movements or breaking from the scrum in time to get among the fast Springbok backs. Unluckily, Hazlett, after his great performance, made a ghastly mistake in the last minute of the game. He got the ball from Lilburne’s brilliant break and passed to Swain too soon He did not draw Tindall as well as he should have done, with the result that Tindall was able to get Swain. Grenside came in on the inside but he too got his pass too late, otherwise it seemed certain that he would have scored under the posts. Springbok Players. P. De Villiers, a half back of many gifts, who worked beautifully behind the Springbok pack, played with nice variation and fed his backs generously. Bennie Osier, although not as outstanding as he was at Durban, was the brains of the back line. He was the presiding genius, always a gay deceiver and ever a puzzle to the New Zealanders. At a critical stage in the match he adopted a kicking policy which ga\e his forwards a slight rest when they were inclined to tire. Van der West huizen was always a dangerous man. making fine thrusts on occasions that gave his outsides great opportunities. He is a clever player, Van der Westhuizen. Jackie Tindall was better than he was in the second test, but even then he was not up to Lindsay’s standard. He tackles brilliantly. Mostert, Daneel, Van Druten and Pretorius, were again the men among the forwards who troubled the New Zealanders most. Mostert is an archschemer, who knows every point in the game. He is a great player and a fine Captain. Van Druten and Pretorius, perhaps not quite as solid .in scrum work as the others, were always making a name for themselves by their fine all round play. The All Blacks have to take their hats off to the Springbok pack. A. Delirious Crowd. Crusaders Ground, where the match was played, fringed as it is with tall bluegums and native South African trees, had crammed into its comparatively small area a delirious, surging, shouting crowd of 20,000. It was a mag netic and fascinating spectacle. In the trees about the park, small boys and coloured men precariously balanced on fragile branches and rocked with frenzied excitement as the scores alternated in sensational fleeting moments. There were ten tingling minutes before the end with the All Blacks striving desperately to win this vital match Then came that great break of Lilburne’s which ended in Grenside being crashed out at the corner flag. Then came the final whistle—then din and delirium. It is doubtful whether there has ever been such an animated demonstration at a Rugby match before. It was a great final to a great and brilliant Rugby game. On to the playing area surged the crowd. They hoisted Phil Mostert. the Springbok captain, shoulder high, and shouting and cheering, they carried him to the pavilion. There must have been 10,000 people swaying and singing “For They Are Jolly Good Fellows” as they waited for the players to leave by their cars. The New Zealand team was given a resounding cheer as they left the ground, but when Phil Mostert came out he was not allowed to leave until he had made a short speech to the frantically excited crowd. It was a great tribute of a devoted Rugby public to their idols.