SOUTH BEATS NORTH

Chronicle (Levin), 4 October 1948, Page 5

SOUTH BEATS NORTH

Press Assoclation)

Single Point 'Margin In Rugby Match

(Per

WELLINGTON, Oct. 3.^ In a mateli wliicli did irot live up to tlie usual tradition of spai'kling back movements, South heat »Noi*tli, 12 — 1) In 'the annnal intei-Island Rugby eontest at Athletic Park on Saturdav. It was largelv a forward struggle with some exeeilent rucjdng but the strain ,of still hghring for. places in the team for South Africa, was all too evidcnt. Scrum infringements were far too frequent while the backs marked each other so closely as to bring an' earlv halt to niuch proniising football. Nortli scorod three tries to oue but penalties proved costlv, South converting three. Right on time Scott had two chances from penalties to pull the game out of the fire but could not sueceed against the strong wind. On the run of .play South could be^ said to have doserved tlxeir win. Tltey went much closer to scoring than did Nortli. Earlv in the game Har/ey crossed for a try after Savage, McNab and Yleates had "handled but a scrum was ordered for an infringement. In tlie secoud spell oue almost certain, South try was lost through a bad pass by M. P. Goddard. Then Gcddard looked like crossing but a magnilicent dive taekle by P. Henderson sent him Into tlie corner flag. Later Sltinner was almost over after combining with Meates and Harvey. Statistics of the match also showeil that South had much less of tlie bdJl exeept in the rucks. North won 25 lineouts to 17 and 20 scrums to 13, South won nine rucks to fouf. The tremeudous interest taken in the fixture, associated witli which was the announcement of, the teani to touv South Africa, was reflected in the attendance whieh was estimated at 35,000, the largest since the first test against the Springbolcs in 1937. The only ehange in tlie teams was that Herman replaced- Grant in the South scrum. During the game, liowever, in juries caused a number of replacements. ^IcNab, Dalton and Ivearney (South) were replaced by Stuart, Grant and Walker, the South scrum undergoing several rearrangements. Catlcv. (North j went off near the end and was replaced bv Huglies. l-'or Soutli Botting scored a try and ■J. W. Goddaid kieked two penalty goals and Kearney oue. For North Blake, Sniith and P. Henderson scored trie», Scott converting oue. Deiamore DiSappoints" No new reputations were made. The game was more like a club championsliip final with little give and take. At the same time a few fell from grace. In particular did tliis apply to G. W. Deiamore, the speetfy Wellington fiveeighths. Little went right for him. Be dropped passes, sent out bad passes and wlienever he elected to try to beal Kearney, the- usual result was solid contaet - with motlier earth. Kearney occasionally beat Deiamore but the lattei" redeemed himself with some good tackling, once turning round and bringing Kearney down from behind. Deiamore 's erratic service after getting perfeet passes from Bevan, startled his adiuirers, particularly as he was always quick into action. He made matters difficult for Allen. Strangely enough, some of Deiamore 's bad passes led to tries. In tlie first spell Allen jumped high for a pass. missed but gathered the ball in on tlie bounce to beat Elvidge and pass infield to Christian, to Deiamore, to Smith who scored. In the second spell Deiamore sent a pass along the ground. Allen attempted to kick it, missed but Smith seooped up the ball, shook off M. P. Goddard and then gave a perfeet pass to Henderson wlio scored. Catley Criticised. Another piayer who came in for critical comment was Catley, the North Island liooker. The scrum infringements may not have been all his fault but of 14 penalties awarded against Nortn, six were for scrum breaches. Apart from this he had the better of the duel with Wilson. Scott Secnre Scott left no doubt as to his class as fullback, giving a smooth and efl'ortless dis]ilay. His line kicking was of greater length and more aceurate than^that of -T. W. Goddard. The latter, liowever, gave quite his best performance of all trials and. this was well up to All Blaclc standard. Work of Wingers In tlie tight nature of the game, none of the wingers had much chance to excel. Early the crowd had a thrill as P. Henderson showed his great pace and high lcnee action when following up a Iong ldek by Scott, but he was not favoured by the bounce of the ball. His dive taekle of M. P. Goddard to save a try later in the game, will iong be remembered. Boggs and Meates were Very com petent. Once Boggs crashed into J. W. Goddard in the manner of the late Jack Steel at his best. Goddard was shaken by the impact. Botting 's chances were limited. Neitlier .T. B. Smith nor M. P. Goddard had mucli room for manoeuvre. Sniith displayed judgnienf of the highest quality with his btii'st and well-timed pass when P. Hendei'son scored. Goddard had more opportunities and is undoubtedly niost dangerous when broaks come his way, but he laclts Sniith 's positional prowess. Considoring tli^ trying time he had outside Deiamore, F. Allen niore than ' restored himself to favour after his di.-appoiiiting form in the last two trials. He and Elvidge each beat the Jther once, tries resulting. Apart from this, neither gave the other any breaks. Oompetent Kearney Kearney 's display was one of the inest of tlie match and demonstrated ;hat. lie is one of the most competent 'ootballers produced in this country. Tis grand tackling ivas niost reassui'ing :'or tlie tour of South Africa. Bevan natched Ivearney as oue of the most :ompetent players in -the game. He is ilearly the best halfback in Neiv Zeaand, varying swift perfeet passes witli ieat dashes when an opening present#

itself. From one of these he paved the way for North 's first try. Savage concentrated on swift passing and gave very fine service to Kearney. His backiug up showed improvement but he was not as skilful in the general field of play as Bevan. However, lie appears on the up grade and may prove a stfecess on the tour. Fast Forwards Probably nd aspect of the game was more reassuring than Ihe intensive rucking and quick niovenieut on to the ball of tjie forwards. The purely loose players of the past decade appear to have been eliminated. To M. J. McHugh might well be awarded honours for all-round competence. He was North 's best lineout forward, wrorked hard in the rucks and also excelled in the loose. No piayer of such experience has made so determined and successful a comeback into All Blaek Rugby as McHugh. Frazer was notable for his powerful locking and strong work in the lineouts. Crowley and Christian were the next best two North forwards. Crowley was overkeen at times on the ofi; side of the sCrum. G. Henderson did not appear in his element in the back of the scrum or as last man in the lineout. Previousiy he had impressed as one of the best lineout forwards in the country. Consisting of seven Otago players, tlie .South pack was very competent but di?l not have any marked mastery due to North playing a similar type of game. Herman (Canterbury) did soine very fine work and appears unlucky to uiiss All Black honours. He was one of the few forwards Who indicated capacitv for breaking through the lineouts. It was a fine piece of rucking by him that gave South possession when Botting scored *after Elvidge had broken through. Herman 's only weakness was over lceenness which brought penalties. Johnstone left iio doubt as to his qualifications in rucking, cover defending and quick movement on to the bait/ Skinner was a grand toilel'. He was unlucky in not scoring after oue tori'id South l'ush. Willocks, Harvey and Dalton were a great trio in the lineouts. Harvey was more prominent in the loose than usual.