SPRINGBOKS OF 1921

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 25, 13 February 1937, Page 17

SPRINGBOKS OF 1921

MAGPIE.?,> ...

Benefits Derived by Hawke's Bay Union • • SOME FEATURES OF THE TOUR

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The 1921 Sprmgboks came to Hew seaiaiia via au*tralia where they played half-a-dozen games as a preparation for the more difllcult part of the tour ahead. To me 1 it seems that It was tmt yesterday, yet practicaUy 16 yeaTs Mve passed, and I am remihded of the liight of time for the reason that only last Snnday, in conversation with one of last year 's Bajr r^presentatives, of course on foothall, and the coming of the Springboks, I asked him if he recalled the previous side from South Africa. To my swprise he ; said. he did not evea rememher them as at that time he was but four years of age, And looking over all of last year s Bay team I suppose that very few of them have more than. ahazy reeollection of the 1921 Springboks.

As a team ttey were something; that we in New Zealand were quite uUused to, for included in the forwaxda were ■ two- men, Boyal Mcrkel and' «F . M. Michan, who bumped the scales at : 17st. 21b- and 17&t.. respeetively. New : h.ere was something entirely new as, to our mind, men of snch ponndage must be slow and cumbersome and fairly nseless, Then again, the ages of the players, particularly the forwards, were thirtyish^ in fact, they rau from. 35- down to 24 and the shortest, man s wa®. 5ft- IQiin- The New Zealand' ex- ; perts shook their heads and predicted that they would be run off their .feet; but then we did not know the South ; African idea of Eugby- That was the ! great - mistake of 3921 — ignorance of the methods of the opposition — and .now that we have that knowledge I wonder if in I93T we are better equipped to meet these methods? f. The Tearguafd consisted of ,two full- ! backs, six three-quarters and: six half - : baeks. The oldest. of these was fullback Gerhard Morkell (33) . ahd the youngest, scrum-half J. P. Michan (29 ' years). The star. half-baek, J. S. de .-.Kock, was injured early in the - tour, and thereafter was an onlookex until | the final Test. t History of Tour. The Springboks opened their tour : against Wanganui ott July 13 and won by 11 to 6. It was not an impressive : victory, and at once misgivihgs eon- • cerning the ultimate success financially of the tour arose. Otir Bugby headte forecasted several defeats, and with them lo§s of public interesfc in the tour. Going On to NeW Plyittouth, Taranaki, who tho previous year had been ! twice defeated ,by Hawke 's Bay, held the visitors to a scoreless draw- The early foreboding* now became definite, but as I have previously wriften we did not understand the Springbbk or his methods regarding Bugby. Wairarapa wero nest defeated, and then a strong Wellington side. went under by 8 to 3. Mr. E. McKqnzie, present ' chairman of the, New Zealand selection committee, refereed this game, and the Springboks acelaimed him as a splen- , did eontroller. A week later Canterbury defeated the visitors by 6 to 4, but South Canterbury, Southland and Otago were eomfortably beatenThen came the first Test at Dunedin, and as ©verybody expected, New Zealand won eomfortably by 13 to 5. Mr. E. McKenzie was referee again, and after the match some of the visitors expiossfcd views concexning his ability, entirely the xeverse to those broad-

casted earlier in Wellington. Kelerees who ©fficiate in the games In which the South Africans are concerned this winter will find them as critical an they were in 1921. The Dunedin Test was the last match lost by the Springboks, as, retuming to the North Island, they went from one victory to anothet. New Zealand was defeated at Auckland in the second) Test by 9 to 5, a : tnagnificent dropped goal by Gerhard Morkel being . the deciding factor. Auckland, Waikato and Northland combined were trounced by 24 to 8 and Bay of Plenty by 17 to 9.

Hawke's Bay Matehes. Cbming to Hawke's. Bay, wnere the two Bays fielded a combined. flfteoa, r the visitors won by 14 to 8- There have been ' many infpirios in recont years conceming the personnel of the Eaat Coast side that day, and it is ;• interesting to- recall the namest Pnllback, W. Langlands; threeKpiarters, B. S Gxenside, J- Blake, J- Eirwnn; fivoi eighths, -Tureia (captain)-, N. Kivellj ; half-baek, J. Miii; wing:f orward, H. : Batchelorj fronfc row, A. Kirkpatrick, ■'W. Torreyf second row, M. Brownlie, Tom Heeney and J. Te Whaata; back row, J. McNab and S. Gemmell. Tho • combined side was very strong in th© forwards and gave a good account of ! theniselves in the actual play. The ! (Sl)ringbQkft stayed "on" in Napier, and the following Wednesday met and do- . f eated a New Zealand Maori fifteen by 9 to 8- Included in the. Maori team ; were Teddy Kuri^ W-~Barclay, J. Mif, Sam Peina, Jack Blake, Arthur Grace and Ben Gemmell, aH qf Hawke's Bay. ; The happenings in tMs match were at times dramatic, and • when the fiying winger Wan Heerden -was carriecE offi it appeared as if the Maoris, who- were playing an inspired game,' would wtn. The Africans thought' so too, for after a lapse of 29 mmtttes' Van Heerden^ although far from well, was brought on . again. On that tour ho repls.ceiuent : of players was allowed,, and a similaf restrietion will apply again. on th© ; coming tour. ; ' The third Test was played in WelKngton ih continuous rain and ended i in a scoreless draw. It was a terrifia struggle, and memories of it that cling were the geneial ineffieiency of tho ! New Zealand rearguard and the magnificence of Moke Bellis and J » Van Booyen, opposing forwards. ; Comparison of Players. I met the Springboks many times on ! that tour, and in talks on the game it was always interesting to hear their i views* From them I learned that- they i met many provincial packs the equol ; of the All Blacka of the day and : many individual forwards who should have- been wearing the All Black jetsey that winter. Be that as it may,, it can be said that the Springboks did much for Bugby in Hawke *s Bay. Financially, they assisted the local Bugby union to a healthy nest egg. ' At that time there was only an open 1 stand along the site of the present new stand, and it held about 2000 people. The New Zealand Bugby Union would not erect temporary stands on the op-po-site side, but allowed *the loeal union to do so. Fine weather greeted both matches in Napier, and the local union pocketed the revenne from the temporary stands and the sum amounted to over £200. The Bay forwards learned much from the Springboks and the revenne derived made possible the southern tour the following year. and with it the annexing of the Ranfurly Shield from Wellington. The methods of the 1921 Springboks wero simple when applied b'y men. snch as they were and extremely difficult to combat by the opposition. In a few words they conisisted of obtaining possession in scrums, Tucka and line-onts, and having obtained possession, to retain