No Doubt The Better Side Won

Chronicle (Levin), 15 August 1949, Page 6

No Doubt The Better Side Won

Claude

Kipg,

N.Z.P.A.

Ji*klNGBOKS BEAT ALL BLACKS

(From

representative with the All Blacks.)

? i * " Received Sunday, 7 p.m. . " JOHANNESBURG, August 13. South African Rugby came right into its own today. Before an all-time riecoEcj, erowd for Tests against New. Zealand, of 70,000, the Springboks beat the All Blacks by 12 points to six, thus ensuring that the Rugby premiership between the two countries stays w in this country^. j lr '■ / . [ *■ |r|/v,fl]he yi^tory was due to a remarkable improvement in the for*"#Wds and ''backs by the home side, compared with the first Test, 1 and. td Ihe s,peed with which the inside baeks took advantage of 5 aii'aniplfe ^upplj" of the ball. .. • Whereas the Springboks ^ere beaten iii the scriiins and lineouts in the first Test, today tKey dominated both of these. The Northern JTransvaal half combination of Du Toit and Brewis, teamed' hpf adhiirably to give their backline a flying start. In f aet, with the ekeeption of the fullback position where the polished Bob Scptt was again the chief stalwart of his side, the All Blacks were outplayed in all departments. Only in the dying stages when facing a deficit of 9 points to 3 did the tourists really rise to the occasion. In this brief period they showed flashes of brilliant Rugby but this effort came late and could not be sustained. . At the final whistle there was not the slightest doubt that a much better side gained a well merited win.

The matcli will go' down' in record' not only as a win for the Springboks but also as one of the finest and eleanest in the history of cOntests between the two countries and one whieh will do a- great deal for the prestige of Rugby, - At a dinner. to the teanis aua old Springboks after the game, Bennle . Osler, famous Spi'ingbok of past years, said: , ; "To my dying days I will remember this match as an example of how international football should be played. It was a beautiful game and I admirea nothing more than the grand manner in wbich Fred Allen and his boys acceptea their defeat." The tvpe of football and the spirit in which it was played made the recent controversy on rough play seem lud,iefous. The ma'n of today 's match was undoubtedlv Hannes Brewis, SpringbOK flyhalf. He scored a grand try when ne surprised the defence by suddenly altering his obvious intention to pot a goai and race round the short side of the scrum to cateh the Ail Blacks on the Wrong foot and fly through a gap tu seore. Right on time he potted an excefient field goal. In addition to this he was in the movement in whieh Lategan scored the Springboks' second try. , Shattered Contentions Thus today the Springboks shattereu two hitherto strong points against the possibility of them succeeding. The first was that previously the home side had not won a second Test. The secona vvas that the calibre of back play m South Africa and the New' Zealanders strong defence, suggested that the All Blacks' line would not be crossed. Bota now are just memories. • The likelihood of the All Blacks tast- ; |aigsdefeat.-baca4e eyident early todhy. They had the advantage of a strong diagonal wind but there was no con certed drive in their football and it was largely due to powerful linekicking b} ^ SScott and Ivearney that they held som« " territorial advantage. Scott opened the scoring with a hue penalty goal from 45 yards out but U-eliin' equalised shortly afterwards. it was the Springboks who appeared more dangerous. The reason for this was greater possession from the scrums and lineouts and speedy movement by the backs who were also able to move unhampered by opppsing loose forwards.

McNab was a great trier but Grant was lifeless. Further, the All Blacks : seemed to make a mistake by using. Johnstone as a defensive number eighi. forward. Whereas the Springbok number eight forward, Muller, was always in an attacking position and gave Kearney little latitude, Johnstone 's function was to double round his ovin ba,cks, tactics which do not seem well suited on the hard grounds here. It was thns a match in which one set of backs always had plenty of room in which to move while the opposition rarely found the way easy. Muller and Durand were a constant i menace for the All Blacks. Ihe Spiing , boks also had a much better service. The ball came out much swifter and I longer passes than from Savage. The, All Black half is a partieularly plucky footballer and exceis in defence and short runs but he lacks top class when it comes to setting his backline gomg, This has been one of the biggest pioblems of this tour and many a time Fred Allen has been knovvn to observe what a big difference it would be if Vmce Bevin were behind the scrum. , In the dying stages the All Blacks , staged a tremendous effort. McNab, i Johnstone and Bkinner were at the heao of loose rushes and two passing rushes revealed what the All Blacks could do I if given scope. All Came Too Late One of these rushes began in their twenty-five. Kearney had to send on a pass standing still but for once Van Schoor was not up on Allen who made the most of this opportunity to create an opening just outside the twenty-live for Elvidge and the big centre went crashing ahead past halfway. He tl^en sent on to Meates who beat the full- , back and,. was careering for the ime when the ifeferee, who was right up wxtn piav ruleS. that he had put a foot mto tou'ch just inside the Springboks' twentv-fi-YC. m Hardly^iad' "the spectators reeovered from this exciting piece of play than Scott came up into another rush and cut through but delayed his pass a fracHon too long and was bustled and Elvidge • conld not hold the low pass. Another rush saw Henderson run around Marais but Brewis came across fast to push- the flying New Zealand winger into. touch just when he looked like breaking clean away., . These :wrere the only niovements m which tlie All Blacks had much room to niovc and revealed real thrust but they . came , tob lktp- . n K^kf^y - ieducfed 'the deficit to J o when he "potted a beautiffll field, goai dhtjbirt'a-few-mohient^ later . Brewie replied ia kind and the Spring-

boks left the- field with a well-earned six-point margin. Scott 's Busy Day Scott had one of his bhsiest days of the tour and again came through with honpurs. Oceasionally he failed to fina Ihe line but he might be excused for ;this in view of the tremendous amount of work he carried out. Some of his clearances in the faee of several for;wards .were brilliant. He had four shots ,at "goai, converting one while a secona : looked like going over bnt swung at th6 ;iast minute and struck the upright. m addition he came up into passing rushes. The New Zealand three-quarter line had limited chances but Henderson and Meates both showed fine dash when the ball came their way. Elvidge 's one big brealc revealed how dangerous he can be when given the ball and some room. Allen and Kearney were solid bnt were closely marked. kearney suffered from slow service from the scrums or lineouts but appeared to add to his difiiculties by standing too shallow. However, this backline can be effective if given chances similar to tliose then opponents had, but the forwards weie not capable of mastering their livelv opponents. Statistics of the match showed that the Springboks won 22 scrums to 1S and 27 lineouts to . 15: Qrant and Harvey often took the ball.. well bnt the New Zealand packing in the lineouts was not as tight as in the first Test.^ There was great' jubilation m Johannesburg tonight but much of i.t was not so much for South Africa 's wiHj as for the grand spirit of the match ana clean, crisp Rugby. Just as in the hrst Test when the All Bl,acks threw the bah about freely when . leading 11 3 and yefrained from usin^ the touchlme so the Springboks adopted siinuar .taetics 'today when leading! 9—3. Uppermost xn the minds of bofli sides was to win by good football. Both were given l a tremendous ovation at the final whistle. Conditions were ideal except for a fairly strong breeze vvhen South Africa kicked off. Just before the game started the official figure given for the attendance was 66, 900, but a large number were known later to have gained admission without going thrpugh; the tuin stiles, by scaling a broken fence.