Mr Pearce On Tour Problems In South Africa

Press, Volume C, Issue 29498, 27 April 1961, Page 13

Mr Pearce On Tour Problems In South Africa

AIR T. PEARCE, the ma«* ager of the 1960 AU Blacks, had much to say at the annual meeting of the New Zealand Rugby Football Union last week, but most of it was worth listening to. H;s report to the meeting on the All Blacks in South Africa was very well received. for he covered almost every topic that arose during the tour. In addition to the remarks contained in his report, Mr Pearce spoke for more than an hour on such aspects as the possibility of Maoris playing in South Africa, the language problem, the difficulties with the press, and so on.

In his report Mr Pearce dealt at some length with the problems of climate and altitude, which he maintained had a definite bearing on team effort. He emphasised that care must be taken in future when planning the itinerary.

"Our tour embraced certain variations of climate and altitude." Mr Pearce said. “Cape Town, the furthest south, is at latitude approximately 36 degrees south, and Kit we. in Northern Rhodesia, is approximately 10 degrees south. It win be seen from this latest latitude that Kitwe is approximately 700 miles from the equator. It is extremely hot here, although the altitude at 5500 feet is a cooling factor. One of the main impressions gained was the lack of rain, extremely good weather, and the heat Fine Weather

“In South-west Africa no rain of any consequence had fallen for three years. The weather was brilliantly fine end hot. In Durban the climate is sub-tropical, and it is possible to bathe there comfortably all the year round.

“In . July. mid-winter, u hile we were there, the temperature of the sea water was 74 degrees, hotter than our mid-summer sea water here. Humidity is very severe at Durban. In spite of heat and humidity we generally played well at sea level.

“After the coastal areas, the altitudes of the hinterland gradually rise until the maximum of 6000 feet at Johannesburg is reached. “We found that up to about 4500 feet we were not affected by the altitude unduly. but from that point up to 6000 feet, certain reactions took place. After extreme effort there was a severe shortage of breath, slight giddiness. lassitude and nausea. Even those of us who were not playing experienced all these symptoms at various stages. Lt takes about one week at least to become adjusted. We found that by living at the highest point of Johannesburg and going down to lower altitude, no ill effects were experienced. By coming up, as previously reported, the opposite w r as the case. Few AHemp+s "Much has been written about the desire of the South Africans to play open and entertaining Rugby. Except for one or two occasions, we did not see any attempts to play this game on the whole tour. The ball rarely went past the first five-eighths, who would kick for touch. If it went along the back line at all. somebody would almost certainly kick the ball into touch. Only very infrequently did the ball reach the wing-three-quarters. ‘ On the other hand, their forward play was energetic and in the hands of men of outstanding physique. Because rucking was checked quickly, the emphasis was largely on set scrums and line-outs, and the South Africans were extremely efficient in this direction.

"Owing to the application of the latest International Board Ruling requiring the ball to be put in the scrums slowly, the scrums during the tour were a shambles. If. say, 50 scrums were ordered during a game, the players would have to submit to

at least 150, as each scrum was formed and reformed on the average at least three times. In the interests of the game, these scrums must be tidied Up. as spectators and players are becoming exasperated over the needless delays with this ponderous phase of play. "We had no difficulty hi coping with the South African scrummaging methods. Our front row men were of reasonable but not huge physique, yet never at any

stage were we outplayed in this department. On the contrary, we took more tight heads than any other touring team through the Union. “Considerable latitude was given to flanker forwards in playing on the offside edge and many referees would give offside players the opportunity to retire if in front of the ball. Consequently our inside backs and halfbacks were subjected to severe and sustained pressure in every game. This caused many vital injuries. "In the-line-outs the position was very different from our own country. The two lines of forwards would line up about six feet apart so that a car could have been driven between the two sets of players. The referees were very strict on offside or questionable tactics in the line-outs, yet they permitted barging as a standard method of jumping for the ball.

Conferences ‘Tn two conferences which we held with Dr. Craven over interpretations of laws, we alleged that the general South African line-out tactics were illegal for barging, but they would not agree. It has been most interesting to read

that in England complaints have been made over the barging tactics of the South African line-out play. “At the outset of the tour, we were quite pleased to see that reasonable loose ‘rucking* was permitted. About the time of the first test, this rucking was. ruthlessly eliminated, and the whistle was blown very smartly as soon as a loose scrum formed. “At Salisbury we bad a conference with Dr. Craven, Mr De Kock and Mr Serfontein, concerning this matter, wherein we asked why a changed interpretation had taken place during the tour. “After this meeting the position improved and rucking was comparable with New Zealand’s standards as the tour progressed. The standard of South African back play was high, but no better than our own. Tackling, however, was deadly and efficient. “For our part the forwards played extremely well and for most of the tour were aggressive and active. “Our line-out play was very good although, as previously mentioned, we had most times to play three line-out men.

"Our backs were efficient s without being brilliant. They tackled well and courageously, they were active on attack and cover defended ’ very well. We were extremely well served at full- ; back, “One of the worst features of our play was the handling. ' In spite of impressive per--1 formances at training and ' considerable training in this i department, our handling at . times was not good. We lost ■ many tries through fumbles, i over-eagemess, and just I plain bad handling. The fact i that we were using an eight I panel ball had no bearing on the matter because most of ■ the players liked this type of ball. ■ Slight Fumble “It is interesting to note > here that the slight fumble is not recognised in South African Rugby. Unless the ball was clearly taken, a i knock-on was invariably ruled. Knock-ons were even ■ ruled when the ball was knocked towards a players ■ own goal line. It was the same for both sides however, : but this matter must be : cleared up at international level.” Mr Pearce said.