All Blacks Win But Wilt In South African Sun

Chronicle (Levin), 13 June 1949, Page 7

All Blacks Win But Wilt In South African Sun

Received Snnday^ 7 p.m. PORT ELIZABETH, June 12. The All Blacks won their fonrth mateh of the youth African tour by six points, an unconverted try by McNab and a field goal by Kearney, to tliree points, a penalty goal by Jordaan, against Eastern Province today. Though the *margiii of success was agai'n small,' there ' were seVeral satisfying aspects from the viewpoint of the tourists -whp/f eel- they. .have ov'ercome a very difiicult. period of the tour with credit in vi ew of the spate of injuries.

The siiTe liad iiiorf time 'to acelimatise itself than ihe' .team. but with Batley, . AJlgn, E^vidge/ Thornton and Simpson out of/aetion a/ter th,e second ganie, and • kearney, SW ilipcks gnd Henderson meeting .vvith nbiior injuries, tho team faced some critical moments so' i'ar as key players were concerned. This was aggravated by the fact thar on the eve .of today 's match, -..Grant, who has been an outstanding forwar-i in recent games, contracted a severe cold, while Boggs had to drop out oi this match with a cold. Scruim Experiment Purthermoie, foliowing the mannei m which the All Blacks, in previoun matches, were outhooked, ,it was de cided today to undertake an experi ment and play Christian in the centre iront row position. This a'ppeared a dangerous experiment as Easlern Province had in Louw, a likely test hooker for South Africa. in previous matches, however, the versatile Otahuhu forwar'l rose to the occasion and though Eastern Province won 20 scrums t'o 12? bis was u better periormance thdn " the All Blacks expected. Christian 's hooking has surprisingly go.od as the. scrum wa-, uot always tightlv pgcked. This due to the faet that ■ Harvey, wlm , played magnificently ,-at tiiues, sulfered the effects of a heaVy ' blow on tiie mouth, was very dazjd and was slow up to the scrums. Kearney, though playing with a so'v ankle, heid the comparatively inexpen •nced back line together in a mastei ly stj'le. Savage gave a further improved d'.s play behind the scrum, whipping out good passes and shooting th rough oi, his ovvn with praiseworthy judgment. Black again handled faultlessly. He fed Kearney with good passes and on one occasion he elected to go through on his own. He gained a lot of ground with an astute short kick. . Gudsell was safe at centre and compared well with the possible Springbok in Mills. MillS and Gudsell watched each other closply and penetration at this point was difijcij.lt. ■ > . ; ; ; ■ Henderson outplaycd uGillmer, who'is a Springbok.. possible.- ,:• . Goddar'd ' Injttred' ' / Goddard, who'filted ,|l.6ggd ' 'jj'l'ace, -was Btil'l suffering 'h-qhi"'a kA'e6 'briiise received ^on Wednesdav aiid misf D'rtuue befel hiin in t'he final five niinutes of the match. Th endeayoring to field a rolling ball he received a kick and had a wrist fractured. _

The All Blacks played one short b^er the last few minutes, Johnstone moving from the back of the scrum to wing. Goddard has found difficultv in .striking top form and is now likely to l>e out of action for some time. ' This, latest. addition to the'ranks of t'he ' injured would be more sprious, but for -the fact that all .the oth'pjs.-are now praetieallyready to take thp field.1 Allen,,.Elvidge,' Thornton and Sinipson , wjli' prolyably play next Wednesdav. , . Catley is in steady training but may not be tested out in the scrum l'or at least another week as he is too vitai a player to risk in action before he is fullv recovered. Scott again fielded and cleared in masterly style but missed some easv kicks at goal. Of the forwards, Harvey, Crowley, Dalton and McNab accomplished a tremendous amount of good lionest Rugby. McNab was always 011 the ball and richly deserved his trv. Standard of Play Slumps The match was exciting because of the closeness of the seores but the standard slumped in the second spell. This may liave been due to the liumid weather. South Africa is undergoing one of the longest dry spells for many

years. Brilliant sunshine equal to a New Zealand summer, again greeted the teams. The All Blacks began with great dasli, Gudsell fieiding the kick-o£f and sending Henderson away for a thrilling run up the side-line. He was stopped in the opposing 25 and from the ensuing ruck Savage sent the bali to Black, to Kearney, to Gudsell who beat Mills but his pass to Goddard wa blocked. Play eontinued at a terrific 'pace and Dalton and then Goddard were haltcd just on the opposing line. Then caine a sudden change. After elearing, the Eastern Province wingoi Allen Jielded a cross-kick in full stride, ran 20 yards and kicked ahead. Tik ball rolled over the New- Zealand lim. and bounced awkwardly and the All Blacks were luckv to force. Howrever, j they had- the better of the remainder of J this spell. When Crowley kicked the ball away from Jordaan after Province had wni, a scrum, .Savage dribbled ahead and when stopped, McNab carried on to score. Scott missed a comparatively easy conversion. This was the half- [ time score though it m'ight have been t jncreasefi. S -ott missed a penalty shot , at goal from an easy angle 35 yards out. Th'e second spell saw some exciting but scrappv football. Kearney put ths j All Bltfks in a snund position when ho potted a fine goal after a line-out, when ' | thn ball camo back to Savage., to , Black. Eastern Province linidied the match more -trongiv and tlie All Blacks twice had anxious moments but lield | the line intnct and the only score was a penalty goal by Jordaan. Changes in the All Black team today iwere: Goddard reydaced Boggs and Willocks replaced Grant.