FOOTBALL.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 1977, 12 January 1907, Page 1

FOOTBALL.

lIOW THEY WIN MATCHES i af* “ How do \vc win our matches Why, by just playing tho best, fooiba wo cm, nnd as hard ns wo can from stai to iinisb,” said ono of tho loading moin bovs of tho South African Rugby fool ball loam which is at present crcnlin as big a sensation in this country as th New Zealanders did last season, it answer to a question put to him by i representative of Tit-Bits. “Tam afraid," ho addod, you don’ quite realiso in this country how ver; fcriously we take our football in Soutl Afiica, and how hard we try to improve Wo play it under very different con ditions from those found in England but play the sumo kind of game. Oi: only one or two of our grounds in Soutl Africa is there any grass. On the re maindev tlioro is nothing but dry soil and if a man is upset on this stuff wlier going at full speed ho sometimes remembers ir. Most of us out there wear elbow-guards, or wo should have no skin on our arms after a match. “ To show you liow enthusiastic wo are in Fouth Africa, I may tell you that we do a thing which is probably done nowhere else; that is, onco in every two years all tho best representative teams from all over tho whole of Fouth Africa— Capo Colony, the Transvaal, Bliodesia, nnd the rest —assemble at an appointed jilnee, and there they remain for. about three weeks, each team placing all the others, and so coming to a decision as to which team is the best nnd which shall hold the Cup given by the ruling body. “No, wo have no special system of play of our own ; we play the purely Biitish game except for a trifling difference in tho way in which our forwards pack in the srummago- But we always do our be:t to adapt our game to that which is played against us—that i 3 to say, if our opponents play a special kind of game and employ any very threatening dodges, avo take measures to upset their plans. Wc accommodate our game to the circumstances, and we gua d again t our opponents’ strength and play upon their weakness. “An example of the avay in avhieh ave adapt ourselves to the situation was provided in tho second match that wo played in til's country, avhieh was when wo ivere opposed to a side representing the Midlands at Leicester. “ I mention this incident particularly because our taoties on that occasion were misunderstood by 'almost everybody except onrselvos. We wore told beforehand that the enemy wore likely to try tho lying forward dodge, which was practised with so much success by the New Zealand team, and ave determined that if they did so we would make some sacriflco in another department of tho gnme to neutralize completely the effect of their wing forward. “ In duo course tho wing forward was set to work against us, and instantly we took a man cut of our scrum arc! played him against him, so that they quickly saw their wing forward was useless. On this occasion evirybedy s’emed to think that it was we ivbo were imitating the New Zealanders by playing seven fonvards in the serum. “ Most question! of taot'es are thoroughly discussed by our own little spleotiqn committee before each match, though on the. field tho captain, Paul Roos, has absoluto discretion. Ho is a man avbo lias studied the game deeply, and thc-ro arc not many possibilites in connection with it that he does not underst >nel. Tho liitlo eoimirttoo that I have spoken of aie Mr Rocs, MrCaro'in, and the manager of tho team, Mr Carden, ivho attends to every detail of the organisation, but dors not play, “ I am sure that wliat will prove to bo ono of the secre's of our success is tho excellent way we get on fogotlior, and tile perfect un lerstanding wo have obtained with each other, q’tbcnigh until we first met for the purposes of this tour many of us had never soon the majority of lho,<oth<rs in our lives btforc, Wc come from all over South Aftica, and we are drawn from all occupations. There arc several college students in the team, and there are. also so'icito s, articled clerks, Civ 1 servants, and mining angin/prp, Wc arc always in {raining, although we don’t let it worry us urucli. W r c arc not knocked off our smoking and wc c at pretty well anything wc like within reason. Wo have set rules which every Member of the team is supposed to afi'do ay, Qett’ingmp time in the morning is naif-past eight, and then wo breakfast naif an hour lator. “ About ten o’clock wo go for a walk, mcl come in aga'n at one o’clock for unch, There is a short rest after tho midday meal, and then if we have not ;ccn haviug quite so much play as wo nuglrt to have done there is some ba'l nrnctieein the fioid. Dinner is at half, nast six, and then in tho evening tho earn takos things very quietly, a short itroll being the utmostthat is considered idvisab'e in fine way of diversion. “ Wo get plenty of invi'ations to all finds of entertainments, but the men vlio have been chosen for a match on bo following day never attend any of hem. Everybody is in bed and lights no out at half-past ten, eo that the men tave ton'liours’ rest in front of them, L’bero is nothing like plenty of rest in ii'cumstanccs of this sort.”