ALL BLACKS

Hokitika Guardian, 18 July 1928, Page 3

ALL BLACKS

THE TRANSVAAL DEFEAT

WELLINGTON, July 16

The South African mail which arrived at Wellington to-day brings more detailed accounts of the match played between New Zealand and Transvaal, in which our men suffered defeat by six points to nil. Mr Graham Beamish, writing from Johannesburg, on June 10th., said:— Nearly d 0,000 Rugby enthusiasts from all parts of South Africa walked away

from Ellis Park after the meeting of the All Backs and Transvaal yester-

day plainly depressed. Hard and aimless just about sums up the match. In all the eighty minutes of play there was no real football, as New Zealand knows the game. From start to finish it was dull, drab and monotonous. ALL BLACKS DISORGANISED.

Individually the All Blacks worked themselves to a standstill, but somehow they appeared to ho a disorganised side, fighting hard and hopelessly against a problem they could not solve. It was a gloomy panorama. There was no quick, concise plan of harmony from rear to- front. For the .most part the New Zealand hacks were units only.

Again the All Blacks were beaten for the ball in the scrums. Obviously a team cannot win unless it gets possession. When the opponents are getting a five to two- possession from +’■' scrums they are on the attack for the greater part of the game.

A remarkable feature of the match was the fact that, although the All Blacks got possession from the lineouts, they were even then beaten for the hall, for the Trnnsvnalers heeled and the half-back was quick to kick for touch. NEARLY TWO HUNDRED STOPPAGES.

No better idea of the typo of game it was could he gathered from the fact that in eighty minutes’ play there were 94 scrums, 75 line-outs and 22 penalties. In scrum work Transvaal had us easily benton. New Zealand got the ball sixteen times against o-ur opponents’ forty. Twonty-six linos-out were won l>y the. All Blacks and sixteen by Transvaal but, although we actually got posession, when tho ball was put on the ground the South Africans far too often - beat us. With Transvaal winning such a big percentage of the scrums it is obvious that New Zealand was hard on tho defence for the best part of tlie game, and that is the fact.

It is all very well for critics in New Zealand, thousands of miles away, to say that the All Black back play must lie poor. It is absurd to criticise without having a knowledge of South African conditions, South African tactics, and the excellent South African scrummaging. In three of the four matches the 'All Blacks have played it has been practically the same story. < It boils itself down to fundamental • principles. Possession is ‘nine-tenths of the gnme, and as long as South Africa beats us so drastically in scrum work New Zealand will be “hard up against things. SCRUM EXPERIMENTS.

All sorts of sc-rum formations and tactics have been tried by the All Blacks. They have tried the 3-4 packing, and whereas they got bettor results against the Criquas (a comparatively inferior team), they wore beaten yesterday.

After a time Stewart went front rover into the pack, the forwards scrumming 2-4-1. They found that that system would not work, and so in the second half they went back to- the old 2-3-2 packing, only to he beaten for most of the .scrums. TS SOUTH AFRICAN ITOOKTNG LEGAL ? The question arises: Is the South African style of hooking legal ? They have throe men .in the front row against our two. If the scrum is worked strictly according to rules then the ball cannot be hooked until it has reached the centre, which is the South African man. If there is no blocking on the part of the South African outside front row men, we should get possession nine times out of ten, because our two hookers have to beat only one South African.

Afany strange things happen in the scrum in South -Africa. When the ball is hooked it is certainly heeled by the South African middle man, but it appears in many cases, flagrantly, that the two outside men shoot their foot across, blocking our men from hooking. In that fact, as far as I can see, lies the failure of the All Blacks to get possession from the scrums.