SOUTH AFRICAN RUGBY

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 145, 20 June 1936, Page 4

SOUTH AFRICAN RUGBY

“OTHERISM” HAS GONE TREND TOWARDS OPEN GAME PKAISE TOR THE ■•WALLABIES” One of the most famous ’iiugbv footballers in post-war history. Bennie Osler, is now under a cloud in this country, which he greatly helped to put on the top of international football, slates one of the Australian cricketers who recently visited South Africa. “Give it to Bennie!” became a parrot-cry in South African Rugby. The fly-half (or fivc-c’ght as wc term the position in Australia) was a powerful kicker, and his snap at goal from the field gave South Africa many international victories. “We thought it wonderful to win victories by such methods,” a leading

South African Rugby official [old me in Capetown, “but your Wallabies proved to us that we paid too dear a price for success.” lie explained that the powerful African forward? got more than their share of the bail. It would u r o to Osier, who invariably found touch well upfield (the old Rugby kick-intu-toucli applying), and then when the jail came again to Osler he often found himself in position to attempt a field goal. “‘Schoolboys aped others’ niethoas and before long African Rugby found itself largely made up of touch-finding and potting at goal. Our Rugby players, so we are told, exploited moves and the openness of their play not only cause! their opponents much concern, but it led South African supporters to expect more from their own men. “They were the brightest team wc have ever seen here,” a leading official told me. One learnt in Africa, that the Wallabies’ lessons had not been assimilated last season. There was stiH too much kicking and everal unions particularly stressed this in their annual reports, asking that the coaches should instil an open-play complex into the charges. Turner, or Johannesburg, was the only back who had improved la>t season, and there had been no great discoveries. So far as one could gather, and that from high South African officials, the union is infavour of modifiaction of the kick into touch. For such *. state of affairs, no doubt, much of the credit is due to the Wallabies for, as was written before, they taught Africans that they were not getting their due enjoyment out of Rugby. We met Osler z down at Ntwlands, the scene of many of his successes. He has retired now, and he shook his head sadly when a comeback fo r the Australasian tour next season was mentioned. “I’d like to do it immensely,” he said, “but I am afraid I am well pas.t it now.” Wherever we went in South Africa and Rhodesia we heard glowing reports of the sportsmanship of the Wallabies. Travelling in the wake of such a team made it easier for the cricketers—and we found “Wild Bill’ Cerutti and Aub Hodgson almost as well k’-own in Africa as the Zulu chieftan. Chaka.