17-6 VICTORY AT AUCKLAND

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 3, 27 September 1937, Page 9

17-6 VICTORY AT AUCKLAND

1 -Pren Aiiociation.)

South Africa Takes World Rugby Premiership

ALL 6LACKS COMPLETELY BEATEN

(By Tolegraph-

. AUCKLAND, Last Niglit. Rugby history wu made at Eden Park yestcrday when Ihe Springboks outclassed New Zealand in the third and final Tost of their tour. The score was 17 points to six, and the All Blackft' cberished unbeaten record in Test rubbers on their home soil was shatterc^d, the great rivalry extending over 16 years between the two countries at last being decided. South Africa has now established itself conclusiyely as the leading Rugby nation of the world.

The coBLparison of fivq tries to two penalty go&ls elqquently fcold it? tale, «ad the Visitors pot only gave a mar« ralloug •xhibitian of thrijjing, ?pectacZre and open football but tfiey outclaaeed the hon*e side in alnjost every departjaent of the game. It was a njasterly lf isson jn the art pf scrummiging. paesing, handling, baeking up and * making the best use pf kicking for the line, and the Springboks conclusiyely peoved thpnisclves as being the greatest side ever to visit thqse shores. AI1 Blacks Gavp of Their Best, - The All Blacks gave of th.ei? The forwards bat'tled hard jn the tight, in which, however, they were slightly fehsded, and they maintained their superiority ln the loose, while every member followed np with zest thrpughout, Thj rearguard waa subjeeted to ft great ha"rage brilliant alaska aed the Wfiftder ig thafc more tries did not resylt, Their defence, however, was not always •f the best Ail Black standard, while the insidp back# wpre yardg tqo glpw tp cope with their epponents hoth ea ti' tack and defence. ▲ttendance of 55,000. Auckland was besieged for the matoh whieh was witnessed' by tha largeit erowd ever to attend a. fpotball mateh in the Dominion, the official attendftnee being apprpzimately § 5,000, The ground was in almost perfect eondition, while the weather was wafm and sunny after a number of showers Whlffc fali during tha previom night and on the morning. The vast crowd rose to its feet and Sheered the teams to the echo as they took the field, the springboks trotting bripkly behjnd fchejr leftder, |feh Assembling along th§ haifway line tha players were igtrqdueed to tha Goyer-aor-General, Lord Galway, just before the commencement. He was accompanied by Mr. T. Meredith, president of the Npw Zealand Kugby Union, the M&yor 0f Auckland, jSir Jlrnest Davjf, and Other efSejalf. The foxmdation of the Springboks* •vfrwhelming victory was laid by tha bnlliant hookjpg oi Lot i, who secured cleanly from 46 scrums, against 26, While 11 were indecisive. Lotz was alpo the bait all-rpupd Springbpk for? ward, aUhough Strachan plosely follpw* ed, Bastard wa? prh&pg thp ou'tstandrng loose forward on the ground. Beyg played a wonderful ganie in the back row, being on the ball throughout, while Neb played solidly in the tight p.nd was a, tower Qf strength in the iine« outs, whieh were eveniy divided, Sputl Afrian cJniming 22, Bgaingt 17, ten be' ing indecisivp. S, C, Lquw waa, thf better of the two brothers and he was effective in tha golid xucKipg work. The Springbok backs played like a weU oiled piachine and variety was the key-note to their play, Oaven did not always pasg straight out to his supports but he often gained long stretches witb

Ciever punts fpr the line. However, hit rengwned divo pasges were a feature oi fhe matcfe and they gave his yearguard that invalijablvj ' ' split second'' adyantagp which the Kew Zealand defence found very h.-.rd to oepe with, Cravcq, in his verv best forjn, proved a wpnderful general. Harris the Ontstanding Star. Harris undpubtedjy was the star of the match and quite the bept five-eighth seen in the Dominion. sinse the visit of Spong and 3obpy with the 1930 British side. Ep Was brilliant in every phs&e pf the game, worryipg the defence with spectacular cuts in, grubher kicks and gtftb punts just ghort of Tayior, while his handling and passing were beyond reproach. Lochner, one of the fastest backs on the field, proved g, real "surprlaj paeket,| pn attack. He engineered the first score with a brilliant opening and he was always dangorous. Babrow gavp j another polished exhibition, scOring twP ! finp t?ics, He is.ft great centre. Williams was the hps| winger on thq ground, while Turner was always danf gprqus in his fewer opportunities. Thp former is one of thp finest players in, this position ever to have visited Hew Zealand. Brand was safety personified at iull'back but he had perhaps thp lpast to dq of any player og the field, His goal kicking was not up to hi§ usual high standard. rallure of New Zealand's Key . Tosmps , It is easy to criticise a team in de., feat but the outstanding features of! the All Blacks' exhibition was thp failure of the five-eighths, Trevathan and Hooppr, and of Mitchell, wno was tfans- ; ferjpd to Gaaghey'g placg on the wing; just before thpl iptervaL Mitchell waa' badly beaten by Williams on many occasions, and he showed poor defence, Trp-! vathan was obviously too show anfi uncertain/ while Hooper was unable tQ cope with Lochner. Hp shpwed little pene* tralnon on attack. Gaughey twas easily the best Hew Zealand bftek, and he thoroughly justified his inclusion, whU^ Sullivan's abilities wero wasted on the wing where he received practically no chancee at all, Taylqr played spiendidly at fiillrhapk, digoharging a heavy day'a work with credit. Beid, McHenxia and Ward Were Best Torwards, Beid, MelCenzie and Ward "vrere the best All Black forwardg, with Parkhill outstanding in the loose. Jackson and King were wonderful grafters in thp tight, the latter aetting his men a finp erample in great hearted play throughopt, Dalton brpke qulckly from the scrums and foljpwed np wpll but he was not as pffective as in previpps Tests, The Game. South Africa won the tosp and de> fended the southern goal, Trevathan kicking off into a very slight breos'g, The teams opened cautiously, Bjrand being content to return Trevathan 'p

kick to halfway. A strong attack by the AU Bl.ack forwards resulted in a penalty against the Springboks, Taylor Sading the linp weU from his pwn side of haifway. South 'Africa was soon on the attack, however, winning the first three scrums cleanly- from which the bucks were spt in motioh by the long ^dlve'^ passea of C?av§n, the halfback. A penalty against Lambouriie for lif ting in the scrum gaw Brand fail narrowly from the haifway mark and plny seftled in the AU Black territory. The Opening Score. A passing rush by the Now Zealand backs broke down on their own twenty-, five and frqm tho resultant scrum thp Springbok rearguard raced away, Lochner cuttiug in pasf Hooper brilliantly tp make a pprfect opeping for Babrow, who opened the scQring six minutes aftpr the beginning, with Williams in support. Brand missed from well qut. South Africa 3 New Zealand .......... 0 New Zealand retaliated strongly, the forwards bustling the play into Springbok territory. The South African forwards were winning practically all the scrums, however, and their backs were staging passipg rush after Tush. These broke dpwn as the result of splendid defence. Ten minutes after the beginning Trevathan made a great attempt at a. potted gpal just inside haifway, Trevathan had his first place kick almpst immediately afterwards, attempting a penalty goal from one foot outside haifway. This failed, as did another from almost the game spot a momept latcr. Thesp infringemeuts were for lifting in thp serum by Lotz. The Springboks' policy' to maka the game as open as pOBsible was made clparly evident when they ins(ituttd a brilliant passipg rush from their own goal-linp, which caryied play to New Zealand territory. Oraven was in great form at ' half-back, sending put his passes with speed and precisjon, and the plpy wps now almost wholly in the AJ1 Blacks' twentyrfive with South Afriqa dominatipg the play with their brilliant back play.. A gasp went up from the erpwd when the Springboks were awarded an easy penalty almost in fropt of the posts bpt Brand missed. A minute.later Cravcn signalled .his bgcks to stppd deep. He sgcured from a scrum apd the rearguard went away in another beautiful ruph in which Mitchell mjsged Hftbrow badly. King went down on the ball herpicaHy but from the result&nf aerambie Bprg scored near the posts, Hrand easily convcrted. South Afviea s New Zealand , , 0 The Springbpks coptipued tp pen Ne.w Zpaland in its own terrjtory as a result of the briiiiaut work by Craven and Harris, who, with Loehner, was a constant menace. tQ the All BTpck defppce. N§w Zealand pn Top. The New Zealand forwards, ^en min--ptes befor§ thp interval, hegan to show . their best fprpi in the lopso and they carried the play to the opposing liplf in a great msh Imaded by Kipg, Epid apd Parkhill. At this stagp Caughey replaeed Mitghell at cpptre. New Zpplpnd was now in the ascepdancy. Trevathpn had two unsucpessful attompts at peualties, ope of which fell just heneath the bgr, Penalties were now very irpqpent, moqtly from scrum iufringm ments, and three miputes before halftiipe Cravep put the ba]l in three tipios before the Springboks were penpjispd, and frppi fivg yards jpside haifway and 15 yards from the tpuchline Trevathe? kicked a magnificent gpal. South Africa .......... 8 New Zealpnd .. , . ., 3 The homp team poptinued to attack hotly until the interval at which boih fifteens stayed. on the field. Springboks Increase Their Score. The Spripgboks scorpd thpir third Iry from thp kiek-off, Harris leaving Trevathan ptanding tp trangfer tP Babrow who dived over in the corner. Brand misspd a difficult kick. South Africa .......... 11 New Zcqlpnd ........ 3 Defence Again Pierced. Two minutps later the fmeet try pf the match was scored by Williams, The ball travelled with great speed from Craven to Harris, to LQchner, to Babrow and on to Williams, who beat fonr men in a magnificent burst from tho twpnty-five. Brapd again missed. South Africa .. .. , . .. .. 14 New Zealand ........ 5 Securiug regulariy from the scrums thq Springbpks were giving thp spectatorp a wonderful exhibition of fast, ppectacular pnd open back play and they had the New Zealand defepee badly harassed* Caughey wa§ by #ur the best All Blaek back, his fine tackJing breaking down inpumerablp attacks. The qujck breaking of Strachan and Bastprfi waa also pdding to the New Zealand backs' difficulties, while Brpnd wps saving hig forwards well with tremendous puni#. The crpwd vpiced its disapprpyal pt the incessapt stoppages for infringoipeptp apd the game fell below standard for a ahort period. South Africa, however, was clearly superior in aU depart" mepts, except the loose forward. play, and the AU Hlacks r&rely reached the Springbok twentyrfive. Pp.llOwing a spoctacplar break by Parkhill, whp was one" of the best AU Black forwards, WilUamg badly beat MitcheU, and from the resultant ]opse play Babrow secured and passed to Strachan, wfeP tferew 9, long pass to Turner on the wing, who scored the Spripgbaks' final try, Brahd misged. South Afriqa . e u * . . • • . 17 Npw Zealand 3 Lochper shoWed his brilliant pacc a inqiuent later when he appearod almost from nowhere to gaiu 50 yards with following up. New Zealand was now ! gettiug a bbtter share of the ball but ' the backs soomed incappbje of .mpk.ing effective use of their chances. The pidq was clonrly guTclasged. Trevpthan W&P Vpry wqak at fiv0:qighths pnd the outgidq backs received few opportunities. Howevop, five miputes beforp the final whistle, he kicked his second pen1

(ilty goal to make the score: South Africa 17 New Zealapd 6 Tbe New Zealand All Blacks then ,uade a last minute effort, Hooper makl»g a speetacular dash al'ter an iuterceptlou, but the Spripgbok defence was poo sound and the game ended without further score. Mr. J. S. King, of Wellington was $he jrefereo. - — '