THROUGH AFRICAN EYES

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 26, 23 October 1937, Page 17

THROUGH AFRICAN EYES

IHE SPRINGBOKS ON TOUR aorriNGs from accompanying wr1ter IwoMfig baek dn the toiir of the South Airic&n Rugby team. through New ^eal&,nd it is ihterestitLg .to fitudy tho eommeiits of a writer from the staff of the Hand D&iiy Mai!, J dhafiftesburg (Mr J. Sacks, sports editOr of th&fc journal), .fvho aceompaHied the team on tbuf. Below appear the faore interestiiig itehis ciilled ffdift. the pa|>ef io. ofder of date.

Jragnst 8. Ihe Springfeoks eensicierably enhenced thbif Test prospects in consequence of their magnificeiit victory against Wellington,1 though it must be femembered thafc nothing can be taken for granted. They need dry weather conditions like Saturday's in dpder td produce their best pidy. JCeverthelCss, the New Zeaianders generally consider that the Springbok forwards will b# difficUlt td ihaStfir in the tight and loose, While the All Blhcks do hot possesS Bcofing versatile Wihgi eomparable witii TUrnCt aftd SVilliamfe. t Mfr V. R, Meredith, pfesident of the Kew Zeal&M RUgby Uxiictti told M§ th&t the present sidb is far Superidr to the 1921 side. He said: ^Tftey play fcfightet footbali and the hicks fcre a bettfer line tlian sikteen 'jpSti ago. I Mark Nicholli, M Bkck seleCtor pldt 'They played the best fdotbali i

nO&S Hrvet ieen displayed by a Springbtefc teafti. The 192Lside was not Cap- ; able of the £&Me efficiency all rOUnd." p- Nel declared: "If w§ beht mwZek- , land playing s similar type of opOft , fdotbali as dn Saturday, our boys Will ) revoiutionise South African Rugby ■ jthen they retum for next year. . These players will demonstrate ibfccking Up and aggressivd packing lagalftst the Bfitishers, the like of Kvhich South Africaft Crowds have [never before ieen." Y The South AfricanS oUtplfiyed WeliHbgtSff in alinost every department, [tickliftg devastatingly, hhd, the forfW»rd«' linking with Ihe backs, con- . siiiclatea every attacking movement. *■' It Wai an aihuSing iiote thkt the » VfTellingtodians todk scruhls ihttead 'oi iineduts, flushed by darly succeSs in thi adfUhuhages. Thefeaitef Ij&tz settied down, coiisiderabiy dkftiagihg Ihe aelection prdspeets bf Lamboliffle, liitherto regafded as the flCxt AU Jlack hooker, the tourists- coihpletely "Jeiting the Wellingtonians for the Tiall ih the scrumS and iineouts. Wellington crowds who came M jWei1 t6 ericourage the homesters sportingly remained td cheer the ^fihgbdki ih consequencC of the oansationally brilliant first half, When ihi tourists' forwards aettidiistfated ai remarkable scoring strength. * Th® Springbokg will pfoceed to Mascerton, wjhich is an "all-Qry" or liquoi? .Srohibitidn area, to-mofifdw mofniirtg -br an intensifled perio'd to trainihg. It is what-the New Zeaianders call go.iig Ihto eamp. Certain test players ara Williams, White, Babrow, and Jturner and Barris is a cert&hity for vhe fly-half position.

AugHSt 11; A wave of ftUgby pessittiism has iWept New Zealand in consequeiice of jat'urday's inagnifieeiit display by the Ipringboks. The majority of Wellington critics confess the same pesst.iiism, declaring that if it is dry the oniy question is by how much of a Liiargin the Sprlngboks will wiri. They jay the All Blacks' only hope is to _|ray for rain. ; A letter pUbliShed in a Kew Zea- , and newspaper deplores this prevajlent.State Of doldrums airiong Kew iiiealand suppbrterSi y The biggest Crowd in the history Of [ thd gkme ih New Zeklaftd ite antiei- ; mted to pack the ground where the I Jhll TeSt Was played ih 1921, when ! -h# ground fiiied at 9 and the ended in a draw dn a rttudagged piteh, The general gloom has -fesn heightened by an ihjury to ioOpir, considered thO fivS-elghtlis Hsoovefy d£ this year's trlais, while the twaive stone lanky Rankin, fedarded as the greatest wittg fofward ^eiiius since *tho days of Barker and Portef, is sufiefing ffotti a Cdld aiid not joihing the rest of the playOrs Uhtil to-morrdw. r Meanwhile the spHhgboks are _eaftting that the ekperience of ' gohg inte e&rrip" at Masterton is hot ,ihe niyStefiouS fitual they anticigatad. They have captured the imagina-, iion of all New Zealand schoolchiljiren, who ohtained special leave frohl plasses and lining up in hundfOdS pheered all along the motor route ^rom Wellington to Masterton. i The players are reeeiving daily tt uhoai of "fan" mail, schoolgirlS Sddhessing them like favourite film* stars, while autograph bookg are piled jV scores at the hotel awaitiftg signa".BreS. , Jm a special intervlew to-day, Nel aid: "We are not making the mistake C taking the New: Zeaianders too aettla. . W.e fullv. resoect the All

' Black trddition, while the very fact that Our oppoflents are representihg their dountry Is likely to result in keying theni up to play far above themseives. We thferefore are prfeparing for a hard stiliggle and hope td do our best. We are not undefgoing secret training and are not worried by the likely All Black tacties; we are preparing along our own llnes and hope • to improve our own styld of play.- Our great Strength is teaiiiwork: We hope tO play ari attacking gaftie if it is. Augiist 15 (Final Test).. New Zealand is still trying to recover from their amazement at seeing the All Blacks rise corpse-like from the grave—where they had been prematureiy buried by their own critics-^and deiiver a lively blOW oh behalf of New Zealand Rttgby, thus completely shattering the illusiOtt that there is anythlng wrong with the stanaard of the game there at present. It is generally admitted that the Test team's forwards provided the greatest forward display by an Aii Black pack for neariy two decades. They went through the Sprlngboks in the loose purposefuily, iike an infantry bayonet ehqrge, giving a fiery, determined, rugged display, the giant SpNngbdk forwards appearihg to be woodeii by comparison. Behind this padk the ihexperienced New Zeaiana backs received a great chanee to tnake a nanie for themseives. They made most Of the op* portunity. Trevathan sdored ten of the All Blacks® 13 points and Hooper repeatedly shbwed fiashes Of brilliance. The SpCedy Sullivaa bottled Babrdw COmpletely. There is all the more glory for New Zealand's feat beCaUse it w&S achieved With 14 inen. Cobden was obiiged. to leave the field in^consequence of A taekie by Williams. which lifted hirn into the air.

dobdeii was replaced by the forward Ward. Consequently the ihability of the gpringbok Oight to secure the upper hand is all the more humiliatirig. They lacked Cohe&ion in the Scrummages and were without leadership in the lOose. When thifi|s were going against thefti, strangely enoligh, it was the midget Of the Side, Pierre de Viliiers, WhO tried to urge them 6n, appealing td each One in tUrnt "Come 6n, fellbWS, pull yourselveS togdther.'' Despite failing to make the fuli use of roughiy & stone advantage per man in the scrummages, the sprilftgbok forwards battled desperately several times,. hammering to'within a feW feet of the All Black litte. The Sprlngboks might haVe pulled the game from ihe fire had the backs bees, able fo make use of their oppottunities. The trouble here was the failure or Craven at fiVe-eighth§. All New Zealand is laughing at the Spifigbok seiectofS for omitting Harris, the best attacking fiy-half. Craven was t66 Slow and played With lOaden feet, making his three-quarters t&rgets in a tacklirtg praotice for the All Blacks by delivering ftlow or statiding paSSeS. Consequently, the Springbok backs heVer had room to get clear from the SWlft rUshes of their opponents. jfust as "Boy" Louw and Nel left the eommittee room eariier in the Week when their seiections were unaer eonsideration so did Craven be-

come an absentee when the selectors on saturday moming blundered by omitting Harris wbose prescnce wouid bave made up for a lot. Brand's absence proved a big fdGtor, Lyster lacking Turner's left wing brliiiance, wbile Turner was without Brand's polish and reliabllity at fullbhck. Thus two positions were weakehed by a single injury. Though the game was generally hard and gruelling, it was not unduly rdugh. "Fanie" LoUw Was felled by a blow to the stomach, but there were nO repereussiohs. The All Blacks displayed wonderfui teamwork and are Wofthy of every pfaise. The reSUlt, however, is likely tO have a most beneficiai aftermath amoiig the Springboks. They are nOt likely to be held to the same extent at forward in the future. I predict the tourists will Win the second Test. Their difeplay this tline was too bad for a side with such proved and remarkable footballine aualities. - n* . .