Pot Pourri SPRINGBOKS' VIEWS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 77, 23 December 1937, Page 11

Pot Pourri SPRINGBOKS' VIEWS

"Omni.") .

Should Be Taken with Grain oi Salt THE H.B. MATCH

(By

South African papers to hand describe at length the tumultuous reception tendered the viQtorious Springboks on their arrival at Durban on board the Nestor. Players were interviewed by energetpc Pressmen and the views of the players were given the greatest publicity. The published views of Philip Nel and L. Babrow make interesting readiug, at the sapae timo some of their rexnarks, if they have been reporbed correctly, need ta be taken with the proverbial grain of salt. Nel, in the course of a long interview, said that he kept his trump card for the last Test, but he was porely tempted to produce it against Hawae's Bay, a match that he described as bath rough and tough. According to the Springbok captain, the might of his scrum would have curbed the vigour of the Hawke's Bay pack. Such an opinion would no doubt read well in South Africa, but in actual truth Hawke's Bay lost one forward with a broken leg .15 minutes after the commencenient of the game and another suffered a sprained ankle before halftime and for the reniainder of the game just hobbled about the field, Mr. Nel( by his utterances, has paid a great corapliment to the remainihg six Bay forwards who, in the concluding stages of ihe game, more than held the giant Springbak pack. The vigour previoualy mentioned was originally applied by a Springbok forward early in the prqceedings. He was detected by the referee in a foul act that brought threat to order him from thq field. L. Babrow was critical of New Zea.land referees who, according to him, allowed too much offi-side play by tne Springboks' oppopents. The criticism of our referees conld have been carried further. If they missed off-side play they were at least consistent, for the systematic obstruction practis'ed by the Springboks in every game was never checked either. Empire Games Swimming'. Those who attend the British Empire Games swimming gection will note that the North Sydney Olympic pool, where the events will be contested, has been eonverted from salt to fresh water. Tho change-over took place this week and over half a million gallons of fresh water were required for the purpose. It is anticipated that there will be a daily loss of 5000 gallons due to evaporation and the cost of maintaining the (service will be £25 a day, Sydney swimmers, it is anticipated, will have diffioulty in mastering tho new conditions. Earr and Hifiiself. Tommy Earr the Welsh boxer wno stayed the full distance with Joe Louls in a title flght, is a talkative chap. Speaking of himself he said: "I am quite sure that no heavyweight in j3ritain would stand a chance against mo. Some people may think I'm conceited, but these aTe my honest opinions, For instance, Mrs. Cook has challenged me on behalf of hei' husband. Doesn't she love him any more? "Gains wants to fight me. T^ell, you can tell Larry from me that attempted suicide is a serious offence in this country. "As for McAvoy and Harvey, I'm willing to ( be locked in a gymnasium with either of t.hem. Other heavyweights I '11 fight" for nothing." A Snooker Break, Those snooker playexis who mako an occasional break of 16, read the following; Horace Lindrum, nephew pf the champion billiardist, Ered Lindrum, lpst week at snooker made a break of 131 in England against Sidney Smith. The worlfi's record of J35 is hold by Joe Davis, of England. League Losses. The Au^tralian League football team is now losing matches with monotonous regqlarity on its tour of the north of England. Up to December 4 they had lost 10 out of 23 games played, quite thq worst record of any Kangaroo League side in England, Most perturbing of all is the consequent f'alling off in gate takiflgs. The Australian ghare of the St, Helens match amounted only to £68 and in three matches the Australian share fell £350 compared With the previous tour. When they sot out pn their travels ifc was intenc}ed that the team would return via Amoriea, playing exhihition matches there with a Frenqh side. All that paft of the programme has now been knocked on the head and the tourists will return to Australia via Suez. A Jockey's "Whip. A jockey at a recent South Australian meeting was hooted because he fpiled to land the fayourite hgme first. One punter pressed close against the bird cage rails passed a vile remark about the jockey and the latter iseram* bled off his mount and W^h his whip hit the spectator much to the latter 's surprise and paifi, A wag suggested tbat if thq jockey had belted his horse in the race as enthusiastica% as he did the punter afterwardg everything might have been all right.