SPORTS AND SPORTSMEN

Waikato Times, Volume 124, Issue 20786, 22 April 1939, Page 22 (Supplement)

SPORTS AND SPORTSMEN

By “ Spectator”

REVIVAL OF 2-3-2 RUGBY SCRUM URGED

i Regaining Prestige of Forward Play : Support from Great Britain : Weaknesses of the 3-4-1 Formation : W-a-side Team Suggested : W. J. Phillips To Play in Hamilton : Rugby in Schools

JN the eight years that Rugby players in New Zealand have been persevering with the 3-4-1 scrummage, there has been a rising feeling that the formation has been definitely detrimental to forward play in the Dominion. At last this contention is dawning upon tho conservative authority, the British Rugby Union, and from a former president of the union, Mr W. T. Pearce, comes the suggestion that the 2-3-2 formation should be adopted again. New* Zealanders would welcome the change and every efToit should be made by the New Zealand Rugby Union to see that it receive* full support. That any sporting authority in Britain, especially an amaetur one such as the Rugby Union, should respond to outside criticism and srjg- f gestions, is very rare. Nevertheless, the pressure on the British Rugby Union in regard to scrummages is increasing. A genuine effort should be made to revive New Zealand's prestige as great forwards and the opportunity is now at hand. Australia, too, recognises that the present Rugby laws relating to scrumming are unworkable and they may welcome a revival of the 2-3-2 scrum formation. New Zealanders certainly would, fnr if. cannot ho denied that the power of All Black forwards has fallen is i result of the players failing to master the techniepue of three men in tho front row. especially when impracticable scrum rules bind thom '‘ill furthor. Supporting Mr Pearce's contentions, a suggestion has come from Uond -n that the scrummage methods of the 1905 All Black foam, captained by fiallaghcr, would meet with the wishes of Rugby supj ters in England who complain of delays in the game. Acti I- fore U e All Blacks’ tour of South Africa next season is wanted.

It was a retrograde move when the j International authorities practically barred the New Zealand scrum formation. Rugby that has not been equalled was played by the greatest of All Blacks who used the advantages of the 2-3-2 pack to the gre itest extent. New Zealanders, to-day, seldom see good j forward Rugby, yet- they have the : remedy if only the international heads ! would stage a revolution. If the old New Zealand pack was revived and made compYilsory an end would come to a great deal of rough, heavy, useless and unentertaining work on the Rugby fields. The ball used to come clearly through a well-defined open channel In the 2-3-2 formation but under the present system the ball leaves the throe front men and meets all manner of obstacles before tho half-back receives possession, if he does before he is trapped. Half-backs would be able to devote more thought . to tactical play if they knew a workable scrum was in front of them and that they would receive protection from n compact. scr;;m instead of having heavy forwards bundling down upon them. Under the 2-3-2 system It was not easy for the flank forwards to break away without upsetting the scrum for they lock the three men in the second row. It is strange to see why the change from 2-3-2 formation was ever made, for Rugby representatives, in England and New Zealand, regard it as the most effective formation ever devised. Hooking was permitted with the inside leg, only, of either of the two hookers. The change having been made, however. it now behoves the controllers of Rugby in this country as well as overseas to authorise a revival of the “only practicable scrummage.” The Fprimrboks used the 3-4-i scrum formation with admirable skill in New Zealand in 1937 and seem to be the

| only international side to have mastered the formation but that does not indicate that even the South Africans’ scrumming would not improve with a 2-3-2 formation. Be that as It may, it is probable that seven big All Blackforwards pushing in a scientific way

J One of New Zealand's best forwards. who played rover under the 2—3 —2 scheme. in a 2-3-2 combination could well hold a Springbok eight-man pack with the . individual components failing to force all their weight to the general good

up of play it would be worth while. « That would eliminate tho wing-for- | ward. In a special interview, the chairman | of the New Zealand Rugby Union, Mr | S. S. Dean, endorsed the plan to field | a 14-a-side Rugby team. —R.C.5. | All Black Winger For Hamilton While being a great acquisition to g his team, the appearance of W. J. | Phillips, All Black winger, formerly of | the King Country, in Hamilton Rugby g this season. will be especially gratify- 1 ing from the point of view of the Wai- 1 kat-o representative fifteen. Phillips is | coaching the Raglan senior B fifteen | this season and it is his intention, it is | stated. In play for the side in the Ham- | ilton senior R competitions. It will he § rather strange for an rx-All Black to I bo playinsr senior R but it will not be | strange if he Is selected for the Wai- I kato team from the senior B ranks for | a player in that grade, C. Perkins Te fi Kowhai was selected for Waikato and | ! played well last season. Perkins is ai i winger also and, therefore, it would; | not be surprising if Waikato's two j ringers come from the lower grade j anks this season. Waikato has, for omc years, been weak in the wing J ositions. but. the inclusion of Phillips j could strengthen the backs consider- i bly and his appearance in Hamilton \ tugby will be looked forward to with een interest by followers of the tugby code. > rimary Schools Rugby The kindergarten of Rugby. tlje )rimary schools in Hamilton will this reason* launch upon a scheme which j nay be expected to assist the game ; n this district considerably within a : ,-ery few years. In addition to the 1 Wednesday competitions which are j conducted annually by he Hamilton Primary Schools' Rugby Union, the j schoolboys will be catered for by a ; special Saturday afternoon competition organised by the Hamilton Rugby Hnion. This year the scheme will be concentrated on a junior grade for schoolboys but next season it is hoped to institute a senior division also. A ; further project, at present in the | stages of consideration, is to have a number of Waikato inter-school matches for primary school Rugby teams. Schools from various towns in the Waikato would meet, the object

Whose brilliant play was greatly assisted by the old 2—3—2 scrum formation. through the fact that the push on the 3-4-1 formation is scientifically unbound. With the spirit of the national sport in their blood New Zealanders will always flock to international encounters in this country but. that those very people who are Rugby-minded should be losing interest in the ordinary football matches in the Dominion, even representative matches, must be causing the authorities concern. Up to 1930 dense crowds flocked to games. After that the 2-3-2 scrummage was i abandoned. Happily a revival in Rugby . crowds is being experienced in the Waikato hut. that it. is/iot so throughout the Dominion. Too often the cause is attributed to counter attractions, especially golf. Stopping to think, the controllers of Rugby may discover that the real cause of depleted crowds lies in the fact that the game has deteriorated since the abandonment of the old scrum scheme. New Zealand, for many years, offered a system which made the game far brighter than it is generally to-day. There seems no doubt now that all known Rugby scrum formations have been tried by the All Blacks and that the two men in the front row showed the right way to eliminate the illegalities which constantly arise in having three men in the front row. Specialised forward play and highly-efficient hooking were features of the 2-3-2 Rugby game. fine of the most degrading features of the eight-men scrum is the fact that the hall reaches the backs slowly. The hacks nro therefore prevented from speedy and bright initiative play and the risk of injuries naturally increases. Further, slow hooking allows the opposition to move up too quickly on the inside backs, bringing about spoiling tactics which, even the speed of the Springbok hookers, did not. seem to be able to beat. Despite the South African scrum efficiency the Springbok backs did not seem to have the perfection of the Nichols —Cooke machine that was behind a 2-3-2 pack. A proposal comes from Mr Pearce, the Englishman who favours the revival of the 2-3-2 scrum, that the Rugby team he reduced to 13. That would mean a 2-3-2 scrum, no rover and the elimination of one fiveeighth. Tt. does not seem necessary tc reduce the hark line. The smaller | serum would brighten plnv sufficiently i without fielding a “League” team ol 13 men. One. eould not. say thal bright, brilliant football is not possible with a 3-4-1 serum and 13 players or the field for many games in New Zealand are still gloriously spectacular hut the point is there is too much dull play and too rapid a deterioration generally. Fourleen men in a team could certainly not do any harm. The three main defects of Rugby—slow scrum work, dull forward clashes and move-destroying tackling of breakaways—might he destroyed. Long forward clashes are not so tedious to New Zealanders who are accustomed to Like a pride in their burly forward olay but a great deal of undue stalemate might be eliminated if the suggestions were adopted. When Rugby was fi’*st originated several hundred M'oplr eomprised a team. History oi •ho game has shown a general whitling down of the number. Just be'ore the present century opened 1? men comprised the Rugby team anc then it became In. Perhaps the t>mf is opportune for another change. Why not. let it he repeated, a 14-a-sidE Rugby team ? An advocate of a 2-3-2 revival naturally touches on tender ground for inevitably, the question of the wingforward must arise. New Zealanders have no real objections to playing c wing-forward, in fact some of thi greatest All Blacks of all lime have been rovers. The wing-forward, however. is probably responsible for thr international authorities barring th< 2-3-2 formation. If New Zealand i; to be barred "or all time from having a rover it cannot, with justice, hi barred from reverting to t-he 2-3-1 scrum formation. There is a solutioi even though it may be revolutionary Law 12 of the Rugby code definitely states that a match shall be playet by not more than 13 players in eoci team. The words “not more” are im portant. Why not play 14 men aside' It may be revolutionary but for thi sake of getting the old scrum inti action again with a resultant speeding

Whose fast service in his hacks was helped by rapid, clean hooking from the old scrum.

Who made his name as an All Black hooker in the 1928 team using the 2223 —2 scrum formation.

being to improve schoolboy Rugby 1 throughout the entire district and also to select a Waikato representative schoolboy team to compete in the Northern Roller Mills Shield competition which is likely to be held in Hamilton this year. Hitherto a Hamilton team was entered but this was considered not strong enough to meet the competition at the tournament. The I Hamilton Rugby Union has promised to give consideration to assisting the I Hamilton primary school teams in travelling expenses if the inter-school games throughout the Waikato are played. Enthusiasm of Players The enthusiasm of some golfers knows no bounds. Last Sat/urday night at the dance at the Ngamotu clubhouse, New Plymouth, two players early in the evening decided that they would play the first hole at midnight, and punctual to the minute they sallied forth. In the dim moonlight the first hit his hall too far. He eventually found it. but his second set off to a destination not yet located. The other player was a little wiser. He proceeded in hockey fashion with short shots, and eventually holed out to win the hole when his opponent’s ball could not be found. Fast Scoring To have made four-fifths of his total score by brvundnry shots was the record established by it. Appleton, a North Canterbury cricketer, in a friendly match between a North Canterbury team and .■ West Christchurch team at Hagley Park on Saturday, j Appleton, who retired at 1 *~»0. scored 80 in boundaries, having hit six sixes and eleven fours. At one stage he hit two sixes, two braces, and then three more sixes, his display of hard-hitting attracting considerable attention. Shortage of Golf Balls j Waikato golfers will have to spend jmore of their time in the ••rough" this 'season when by had luck or had judgment they •pup" or ‘-slice" a shot. The reason involves the serious shortage of grdf balls predicted this winter by Hamilton sports dealers as one effort r,f the import regulations. • We are go ng to be placed in a very serious position as far as golf balls are concerned." said a prominent sports goods dealer when asked just what effect the import regulations were likely to have on the sap piles of j winter sports equipment. The agents for two of the most popular first grade golf'balls had already advised that they could supply no balls whatever | during .Tune, July and August. Will Hockey Supplant Rugby ? “It will only he a matter of time | before you get as many playing hockey las von' get playing football." said Mr ;11. Lidcard. of Wellington College, at a meeting of the Wellington Hockey Association, referring to the rapid progress made by hockey among pupils o] the college. Already, he said, there ! were 100 boys playing hm-k.-y and 30i playing Rugby. Mr Lidgard referre to the difficulty in obtaining men b coach t.ho boys at hockey practice, ami it was decided to endeavour to obtair

the services of Training College students for this purpose. General satisfaction was expressed at the flourishing state of the game, and thanks were accorded Mr Lidgard for his valuable work, and appreciation expressed to him for the fine progress the game had made in the college.

Who has gained a third firstround victory in the world’s championship heavyweight boxing title. The Lower Court at Ncubranden bung has ruled that a portrait of Field Marshal flooring cannot he attache bv the sheriff with the rest of debtor's property, since it is a noces sity “for the maintenance of a-prope and modest household.”