Australians Too Good In First Test

Chronicle (Levin), 5 September 1949, Page 6

Australians Too Good In First Test

WELLINGTON, Sept. 4. Flashes of individual and opportunist brilliance did not entirely compensate for the conspicuous absence of a cohesive match winning effort by two sets of potentially brilliant backs, in the Rugby international Australia-New Zefiland at Athletic Park on Saturday. Australia's 11—6 victory was fully deserved and was the result of more enterprisijig and intelligent Rugby. New Zealand were beaten where it mattered most — in the forwards. It^ was in this department that Australia really exhibited work of superior intelligence and frequently the New Zealand eigbt were forced to dance to the lively tune playe.d by the Australians. It must not be assumed, however, that the New Zealand forwards were always the underdogs. They conducted some slasliing forays into Australian territory that had the defenee quite bewildered but these were neither frequent enough nor had the finish to bear, fruit. In defensive play the New Zealanders were decisively overshadowed by their opposites. It was far more coinmon to see a green jersied figure slipping th rough Avould-be defenders than it was to see a black one, . The Australian experiment of playing the lialf back Cawsey in th? eustodian's bertli,- was successful. He gave notliing away aiul on one occasion he brought Australia a respite from a hot New Zealand . attack with a brilliant break. His positional play, too, was sound— Bmxiidor tlign ^Jiut oi; Now 2oalaud 's

emergency selection, Orr. It was not a good game for Orr till the last stages of the match when he came up to maka an extra back in au .effort to pull tlie game out ot' the lire. On these oceasions he handled well and looked a better footballer than at any other stage of the match- , It was probably never really brought home how unfortunate the New Zea-' landers were to lose the services oi both selected wingers, McLean and Argus, till the Australian three-quar-ters went into action. Gamer, who collected two tries, v looked dangerous every time he laid hands on the ball. He was yards faster than Kelly and used his speed to devastating effect. Neither Kelly nor Moore could do mucli wjth the infrequent opportunities- which came their way. They just did not have enough pace. The Australian captaiu and centre, Allan, had Ihe unenviable task of keej)ing a tag 011 ,1. B. Gmit.li. This he accomplislied to such a degree • that Hmith's wonderful® attacking powers were largel.v negatived. Tlie New Zealand captain did make a couple of mercurial clashes that smacked of class but tlie tiglitness of the defenee ga\-e him little leeway. The five-eighths were an §ven Jot with probably Couch and Bloinley 011 their ga'me to a greater extent than Dobson and Einery. Both tlie fornier pair made penetrative efforts in the fiveeigl|ths line that did not impress as of iuternational standard. However, tlie task oi tlie iiisido backs was made rnQr

diffieult by the attention received from fiankers from both scrums. Blake and Lunn for New Zealand and Windon and Brockhoff for the Wallabies, were round like lightning. Probably the most impressive in this respect was Brockhoff who hounded Couch mercilessly. Of the halves Bevan was more impressive.v He.slipp.ed through on his own. judiciously and his passes were for the most.part long and aecmrate. Burke started badly. His passing was aiternately over Emery's head and about. his ankles-. However, as play warmed up he settled down to give a sound service to' his outsides. 'Windon played a magnificent game for Australia in the forwards. Besides ■scoring the first try, he initiated the •second, I11 the loose with Brockhoff, .Cross and Mossop, he was a tower of strength. Mossop, too, played the game of his life in the- tight where he and Ghehadie toiled mightily. Eunn was the outstanding forward for New Zealand, proGng he is one plaver with the ability to find a berth in the best New Zealand teams • on future occasions. The Buller prop, Mumin, played a dashing game in the . loose and was supported in these forays by Blake and Etuart. White made a promising debut to big Rugby and is a distinct iirosxiect. The rake, Hughes, was a toiler as were Bryers and Wilson. There was left, however, the impression that greater fitness and a finer appreciation of the open style of play is needed. There is no doubt that the Australian forwards lasted the pace better. The New Zealand pack, as a whole, was not of good All Black standard. The scrum and lineout statistics rather flattered the New Zealand forwards. The final analysis showed that the two sets broke even in the scrums. The Australian hooking was, however, eleaner. There was, on the other hand, j speculation over where the ball had[ gone before it reached the receptive, hands of B(evan. Australia, on paper, came out with oiily a slight advantage in the lineouts but here again possession was more quickly decided by them. Often the ball was liurled in from the sideline and flicked to Burke with 110 more than au apparent turn of the wrist. The winners were not relying on g lone specialist for N. Ghehadie had other competent men with him. Height and reacli were not used to mucli advantage by New Zealand in the lineouts. Blake had some suecess as ' occasionally did White who about qualified for the highest jumping lionours but the ball had the liabit of going between his upstretched arms. How the Points Came. Australia drew first blood when Wiiulon forc'ed his way across following a lineout. Cawsey missed the kick. Only a few niinutes later Windon gatliered in the ball after a lineout, drew a defender and lianded 011 to Garuer for the winger to outpace everything in sight to go over in the corner. When a weak.relieving kiclc by Cawsey failed tc find touch, Garner1 agaiq flashed, into ttie .picture as-.-the'l ball went through Orr's arms. The flyl mg winger collected the ball to flash away again, this time to plant the ball between the posts. Cawsey converted | and Australia led II — 0. Kelly opened the New Zealand account with a good penalty goal early in the second spell and there was no further scoring till the last few minutes. Play deteriorated noticeably as the spell wore on. Then with two minutes to go, New Zealand racked from a ruck near the Australian line. The ball sped to Moore 's wing for the Otagocaptain to dive across with inches to spare. Kelly 's attempt to convert missed. The Australians left the field having broken the Athletic Park record of never having been the venue of a New Zealand Rugby international defeat.