THE SPRINGBOKS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 76, 16 April 1937, Page 10

THE SPRINGBOKS

: ' Magpie ' ')

Coming Visit to New . Zealand Sfaores STRONG COMBINATION

(By -

The South African tonring sida has at last been selected, and on May 14 they wiia set sail from Capetown on the great adventure. In aia there will be a party of 45, composed of 29 players, two managers and 13 enthnsiasts, including a baggage inan. On June 19 they will open their tour with a match against Victoria, at Melbourne, and on the following Satufday will meet New South Wales at Sydney. In all eight matches will he played In, Atistralia, and the tourists will then sail the Tasman to open their New Zealand programme at Auckland on tTuly 24. This will be by no mean® an easy match for the visitors, and o*. its result we should be able to judge just UOav good they. are. Taking the previowa of South African cTities as a piide, it would appear that the selection contains few surprises; indeed, the backs, about whom doubts have been expressed, appear to have been selected witb great care. Most of them can play equally well in more than one position, and in a touring side- this is a safeguard that precludes the po'ssibility of failurei Eor that reason I have an idea that ,by the time the side reaches this country they will be able to iiold a splendid rearguard. Reading the names of the chosen, the. presence therein of Philip Nel, tho 54-year-old war horse, indicaflfes that he will be the team captain. Te.aJn captains" of South African and Briti'sh sides do not nsually play in the important matches, and the South African critics have been saying that Philip has seen his best years as a forward. He played in the first Test against the All Blaeks in 1928, and sinee then has toured England and played in the.Tests against Australia in 1933. Philip Nel is a son of the soil, and a wealthy one, too, and should he be appointed captain it would prove satisf ying to his province, Natal, and immensely popular with the tourists. Ages of the Players* Looking over the forwards oue is strucli with their maturity. Eor instance, Nel is 34, M. M. Louw 32, P. Louw 31, L. C. Strachan 39, F. Bergh 28, and all toured to England in 1931 and Nel and the two Louws played against the All Blacks in South Africa in 1928^ Punsuing the age problem among the chosen back, I find that Pierre de Villiers tops the list at -34. He was the Test half in three of the 1928 matches with the All Blacks. Only 9 st. 4 lbs., he featuTes the dive pasft from the base of the scrum. Gerhard Brand is 32, and he, too, played against the All Blacks in the Tests of 1928, but as a wing three-quarter. He is also a veTy fair centre and a great place kick. A. D. Lawton is 27, and James White is 29. Half -back Craven is 14 stone in weight and 28 years of age. A few months back South African critics c3e~ lighted to inform all and sundry that Craven was the finest half -back in the world, but Danie, towards the end of last winter, did not act np to his reputation, and now there its a tendency to suggest de Villiers as the No. 1 halfback. but Craven should at least be

handy on heavy gronnds. F. Turner, the other full back chosen, was one of the early picks as a wing three-quarter. He isi at home also at centne or fly-half. He is the most ver- , satile back in the side. L. Babrow and > S. Hopmeyr, two of the chosen centres, ; belong to Western Province, and are 23 and 24 years old respectively." Bester, another of the centres chosen, is not yet 21. He plays for the Gardens Club, and last winter was his iirst in first grade Rugby. Last October, in - a' letter from South Africa, a friend mentioned to me that Bester was a coming champion and would prove an excellent partner for White, who is over 13 stone and faist. Holmes, one of the fly-halves, can also fill the scrum half position. Very Fast Three-quarter. D. Williams, one of the wing threequarters, is said to be the betst in the position to-day. In 1931 at the age of 18 he was sent to England half way throngh the tour as a reinforcement, but bioke his collarbone in his first appearance. To-day he measures over 6 feet, weigbs 14 stone and is very fast. From this distance it appears that the backs will prove like their predecessors of 1921, an excellent combination and not as weak as reports would have us believe. Retnrning to the forwards, my South African eorrespondent has a kigh opipion of Ben der Toit, who he describes as the best open forward in South Africa. R. Lotz, the expert hooker, is 15 stone and also a good man in the open, while George van Reenen is described as a forward of vigorous style, despite his 27 years. From a weight aspect Ferdie Bergh is. the only forward who approaches the 17 stone of Michan and Royal Morkel o'f "the 1921 side, and ■ I doubt if the present side averages as heavy as their predecessors Avho toured here. There is no doubt that the visitors will prove a great draw card in this Dominion. Those readers who recall Pieaaar's side in 192.1 will remembpr the immemso public intereat e,xhibitod in them, this despite the faet that tliey did not play attractive football It Avas dreadfully hard,- and it is clear that this winter 7s games with them will be very much the same.