ALL BLACKS ALL FIT

Chronicle (Levin), 13 August 1949, Page 5

ALL BLACKS ALL FIT

(N.Z.P.A.-

—Reuter.

Crowd Of 70,000 Expected At Johannesburg

Copyright)

(From the N.Z.P.A. corresponaenx; with the All Blacks). Received Friday 10.53 p.m. JOHANNESBURG, August 12. Allen and Elvidge have "been reported fully recovered from the recurrence of their inju-ies and the All Blacks will take the fild on Saturday for the second Test 100 per cent. fit. The ground -will he very firm following the long dry spell. The weather is expected to remain fine and the latest estimates r.re that the crowd may reach 70,000. During this week the statement hy the president of the Transvaal Union that foul play at Ellis Park would "be punished has astounded_ many people. II is concluiling pnragraph stated: "This union will take whatever steps there are in their power to have pun ishment nieted out to anv players who may be found guilty of anv offeuce or attenipted oll'ence on the field of play during the ihternational niatcli next Haturday whether they are punished by the referee or 1101." This statement appears to have been inspired by oue newspaper's eonstanl reference to "rought football, " and "uupleasant inatches" which have found little support elsewhere, and lengthy muvspaper correspondence 011 liow to iniprove the standard of Kugby. In the latter eategorv came a lettcr by Jlr J. D. de Villiers, a leading ouieial, that weak refereeing was a eontributory faetor. He alleged that referees wero reluctant to seiul players olf the field due to lack of support by unions and by the South African Kugby Board. The only regrettable ineideut on the tour, however, was the bottle-fhrow-ing ineident by an excited section of ihe publie in the second Transvaal ganie. There is 110 w a feeling that an uahappy atmospliere has been created bv the Transvaal I'nion president 's statement which has placed the referee for SaturdayV Test -In an invidious po.-u-tion. Oue writer has stated. "The referee is in charge of the game. What is going to happen if the Transvaal L'nion wants to puiiish a player for something the referee did not see, and on what authority ean it act ? ' ' Fred Allen gave a statement to oue Johannesburg newspaper which may help to ease any possible misunderstanding. "I must say that I feel we ha\e had notliing but good hard clean games, and 1 ean see 110 reason to e.\I>eet anything dill'erent in the Test mn'eh on Haturday. 1 fiave seen a lot of international football, and there is nothing in the games we have had here that suggests there is likely to be anything to which followers of the game e;in take exeeption. "