SOME RUGBY RAMBLINGS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 141, 1 July 1937, Page 15

SOME RUGBY RAMBLINGS

"Magpie.")

Language of Springboks Useful In Tactics

(By

The Springboks remain the principal topie of conversation with football enthusiasts, and their victory in the first Test with Australia served to show that their forwards can dominate play at least on a muddy field. In their victory last Saturday it was apparent that they relied on the tactics that were familiar here with them in their 1921 tour. However, interest in New Zealand's prospects will be heightened with the publication today of the 65 or 70 players from which the first New Zealand fifteen will be selected.

In this conuection it is (interesting to not© that among tho late provincial nominations forwarded to the New Zealand Kugby Union are B, Killeen, of Auckland, who has now recovered from an injury reeeived last month, aud J. Griiiiths, C. Le Quesne, J. Flemiug and A. Ongley, of 'Wellington. This brings the Wellington quota up to 13, but the tardy recognition of the ability of the latter four wiil no doubt have a detrimental effect on their ultimato fern-leaf prospects. Injury has prevented consideration for the present of Lockington, who has a broken wrist, and McLean^ a broken thumb, both of Auckland, and Sadler, Wellington, who last Haturday suifered a wrenched knee and ia at present in hospital. The defeet/ion of Sadler will act as a spur to the four half-baeks chosen for the trials. R. White, the Hawke 's Bay wing-threequarter, is another player oompelled by injury to withdraw from present selectorial consideration. Reverting to the Springboks again, it ia well known that all of these players can speak at least two lauguages, English and Afrikaans, and there are some of the side whose knowledge of languages extend even further. On the field of play tho Springboks converse among themselves in Africaans, and so the New. Zealand fifteen 's provincial and otherwise will not know what the visitors think of them, which rnay be just as well if there is t(i be any hot work dn the scrums. Afrikaan's language is built on a Dutch foundation with. an injection of French influence. Tactically it is very usefal against English-speaking sides, and it may be advisable for our men to brush up on their Maori by way of reprieal. If players and spectators hear a Springbok shout "Steel kant," they ar^ warned that it means "blind side," and when "stoot kerels" is heard from the front-rankers it means that the players at the back are to give that t'amous Springbok heave. "lJush, you fellows ' ' is the translation. Another wprd for push is "druk. " The player who tries to go too far on his- own liears "Gee aan"— the "g" is a deep guttaral — and he passcs the ball, or if an opponent is coming fast behind him lie heeds a team-mato's warning cry of "pas op" and accordingly look out for troublc. By swotting up thcse tcrms wo may be able to follow the more Lntelligently the play of our comiug visitors. The players in the Springbok side number 29 and their jerseys are numbered 1 to 3.0; there is no number 13. In this they are following a custoin fourteen years oid in Hawke 's Bay. The absence of what is popularly known as the "devil's number" was once quite a topic when Hawke 's Bay fifteens took the field, but constant use of this practice has long since eeased to rouse comment. Actually it was

early in 1923 that one of the Bay players, later to become an Ali Black, suggestod the elim'ination of number 13 from a Hawke 's Bay jersey and the selector, somewhat superstitious iu other direetions, followed the idea immediately. Superstition is of course a fad, but it is surprising tho number oi people who are so inclined. Danie Craven aud Pierre de Villiers, Ihe Springbok half -backs, are exponontB of the dive pase from the base of the serum. It is said that by this means they can pass the ball a greater distance than by the ord'inary standing pass. Such a method, although speetacular, has never found favour in New Zealand for the reason that by falling ilat ou the ground after passing the ball the half-baek is out of the gaine according to our standards. It can be expected, however, that the fashion of Craven and de Villiers will be followed by some of our half -backs next winter. iferdy Bergh, reputedly the heaviest member of the Springuok side, is a Government expert in andmal husbaudry and has been commissioned to look into various methods in operation over here. He should be able to fill iu well any spnre hours he may have when he comes to Hawke 's Bay, but il the itinerary of the Springboks is carried out as it is set down at present there will be no leisuro time. The visitors play at Dunedin on September II, and travelling by train and steamer cannot reach, Napier before 5 p.m. on September 14. Hawke 's Bay are to be met the. next day, and on the following morning the tourists depart for Gis- • borne. It has been .suggested as an altcrnative that the team travel by air from Dunedin and so reach Hawke 's Bay on the Monday evening at latest, and that eeventeen players fly to Gisborne for the match there and retum to Napier on the Sunday. By this means many weary hours of train and road travel would. be saved. On the other hand, with many there may be an entire absence of "air-mindedness." If they do come by air from Dunedin, with ten of them to the ton, every available passenger plane dn tho Dominion will be required for their transport. Before concluding and for the beuefit of those Hawke 's Bay players who may meet the Springboks on a Bugby field in this Dominion the lessons to be learned so far in regard to their Australian tour is the need for backs to practice accurate line-kicking. By that I mean that if a back kieks for the line, he should be reasonably -sure of finding it. All should practice the art of tackling.. The Springboks are big fellows, and grabbing them about the neck is apt to have disastrous consequences to the grabber. - A Springbok on the ground is for the moment out of the game, and the easiest way to put them there is to go low.