SPRINGBOKS' TACTICS IN 1921

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 30, 19 February 1937, Page 15

SPRINGBOKS' TACTICS IN 1921

'MAGrNTE.") .

Will They Show All Blacks Another New Trick? battle of styles promised

(By 4

The 1921 Springtaoks were e. pfted comhlaatio» in the respeot that their forw&rds, men, of immense stature, never appeared to tire of hearty scrummaging, rucldng and puttin^ all their weight into the lme-out. Added to this they were backed up by a rearguard th&t in defensive methods ha? never heen equalled in this country. The surprising . part is that. their worth was never fully realised here nntil after they had left the country. They had no Eenny Osler then, but they had a great man at full back in Gerliard Morkel, who, in fielding the ball, exhibited ihe quickness of a cat, and this gift made him appear always to have plenty v of tiroe to get in a clearing kiek of great length and accuracy as regards line-flnding. Equallv safe was centre three•quarter 0. du P. Meyer, who, although never spectacular, was always to be found in the right place at tbe right time.

The tactics of the Springboks of that year wa$ for the . f orwurds to pbtain possessiori, ond this 'they did ' ht' wjtll by sheer strength in most of their matches. Having gained possession thq ball would sometimes be yetained in • the midst of this mass of hnmanity for a periocl and then suddenly released to the waiting half, who would fi«d the touch line. This procedure would be repeated unfil the side vyere in a good attacking position, and then the ball would be passed swiftly along the line of backs tQ the fleet wiugers, Van H,eerden or Zeller, in the hope that they would have sufficient room to outspoed the opposition and score. Complete 'success did npt cqmo very often but even less pcoring success generally came the way of the opposition. A common trick of the South Afrjcan forvvards, when they caught an opposing back in possession, was to tear the ball from his grasp and then, with all heads downs, they would slip the ball back one to another until it reached'the waiting half, and he was more often than not clear away before the . opposition was aware of the f act. The point to admire in those Springbok forwards was that their business was scrummaging, and in this the whole eight made it a fuU-time job. ' Now this trick that I have mentioned above was worked in every match, and never once was it frowned on by ihe referee in charge, yet in aotnal fact it was illegql, amounting in tho first place verj often to an infringement of the tackle rule, and then snbsequently the law of obstruction came in Two years later ihe Hnwko's Bay side tried th'n move with wonde.uu'j results, until one day Mr L. Simpson, Wellington, refereed one of the sh flo matches and quiekly penalisod the n ove into ur.elessness. At lea«t one referee had woke up to the move, evon ib >ugh two years late. International football is full of cheating, and I wonder what new form will be presented jn this coming winter. Certainly our referees, with a woyking knowledge of the three-man front row, should be better prepared to sit on the serum tricks that have been perpetrated by English and Australian sides in rocent years.® The great mlstake made by provineial sides in 1921 was that of trying to. play the Springboks at the latters' own game. It is really rcmarkable the fascination that overseas teams exercise over our provincial fifteens. Now we turn to the coming tour, and if there is anything accurate in the

forebodings of our cousins acroes the Tasman, tlien New Zealand is in for a hot time commencing from the end of July to the middle of September. Pergonally, I take the prophqsies of Bill Oeriitti, Aubrey Hodgson and Syd Malcolin with the proverbial grain of galt. O.nly last winter we. were fed with oharming stories, manufactured in Ans» tralia of the greatness of the 1936 Wallabies. "The best side ever to leave Anstralia" was the general opinion, but in aetual faet they were one oi the most indifferent international sides to coma here. I use the term indifferent beear se th iy wero too susceptible to a concerted opposit'on. Messrs Cerutti, Malcolm, and Hodgson base thqir opinions of South African football on their experienees of 1933. That is four years ago, and truth to tell the Australian . side that visited South Africa in that year was not a great ono, They mention to-day the greatness of full-back Jerry Brand, half-baek Danie Craven, and forwards M. Louw, Fanie Louw, and Ferdie Bergh, men who made their names in 1928 and 1931. Peter Pan was a great racehorsa a year or two back, but not to-day, and so it is with footballers, they cannot last for ever, In my experience forwards do npt retain their peak for more than four seasons, and backs two seasons longer at most. If the 1937 South African side is going to bs full of men of reputation thon it is going to a good sign from our point of "iew, We would be foolish to attempt to play the Springboks at the typo of game of which they know no other j for a change try them with our ideas. It will be a battle of styles, but ours has stood the tost of time. From indications given by t.he N.Z.R.U. it is clear that the New Zealand fifteen is going to be kept togethcr to gain combination. It is necessary and proof of this is found in the results of last year's tests against Australia. The first, when the AH Biacks were thrown together on the field, produced a narrow victory, but in the second, after a week together, the rcvsult was a cricket score in our favour. The 1937 Springboks may be world beaters, but at thia distanco there. is no aetual proof that they are; rather the contrary in fact. One thing is certain, though, and that is the earnestness with which the provinces and the N.Z.R.U. are approaching the coming invasion, and that is a very good sign from our point of view.