CONDITION WINS DAY

NZ Truth, Issue 1182, 26 July 1928, Page 14

CONDITION WINS DAY

niiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiniiiiiiniiiiiiiiitiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiniiii! scoot m and. pull the troops out of trouble. There was really no need for him being starved, as m the first . spell Pirates won the ball four to one. Shortly after the opening, Pirates swarmed, into the Kaikorai 25, and from :• a shifting attack which swung across the goal . mouth, Giles potted a goal: Gheyne, played safely as last line for the blacks, .giving- a solid exhibition of defensive football. His kicking also was well, directed, and several times he placed his side m promising positions.' 'y y'' Excepting two. narrow squeaks, from which they were extracted by Grahana and Fraser, Pirates held the territorial advantage m the first. spelL The Kaikorai backs, excepting Bottlng, who played a lone hand game behind the scrum, .were all at sixes and sevens, with- Laing still running into trouble,, and Ross unable to move for the attention paid him by. the Pirates forwards. Ron. Callander did not last long, but /before he retired with an injured leg; he opened Kaikorai's account with a penalty goal. At, the of the second spell, Kaikorai niissedain opportunity of adding /to their score when a movement by Bptting, Brown, Perry and Stevens broke down, through Founta.ine, when unopposed; ;f ailing to take Stevens' pass right' on the Pirates line. Half^way; through the. second spell the' hill'siders ive,re awarded a penalty for an infringement- by Faulks which raised the. Ire of a portion of the crowd. Monk kicked a' great gbal from about ten yards • inside' half -^iray, and this proved ?to be the winning score. ■ Had it 'not 'gone over, Kaikbrai would have been' runners-up m the' 1928 competition;: - '_■;■' f- Fountairie. took the ball on the full and was immediately, . tackled :by Faiil'ks , who iheld ball arid man. The .Pirates centre, without-gjv-ing Fountaine atchance to put the bali down, as is.V required by the tackle rule, endeavored ,to wrench .it;away ifrbm .Fountairie and /was accordingly penalized. 3?his reverse seemed to knock Pirates a bit; • ;arid ■ Kaikorai,:; taking full ad - vantage of it, put moire dash into their vrbrk. . .•' ■ j , .; -, .. " . Had the Pirates backs' not kicked so deep from midfield, thereby giving Wilson, plenty ;of. time and rqoiri to' work, there might have been a, differ-; erit story; -'"'.•'• -yy J-,y;-;f\ ■■■■Jr. .: Varsity- A romped ;.all over Dunedin at- Tahuna, -the students -winning by 24 to s.\. ffyf ... : .v.. •■-.'■.•'■' ,'.'. ■'•' IriVa very poor exhibition, Alhambra, defeated Taieri by-14 tb 6., The .country sjdb;; 1 Jiad m fielding a team .andy /start edy off ' . thet. gajme.^with ytwb' : __aeii:,'slj.o_^'--'- : :'-;v-.' ; :' : '' ; r' J ! - Jf '■'■■■■'

Forwards and Backs Present Rock -Like Defence BOTH LINES KEPT INTACT (By Cable.— From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Representative touring with the | All Blacks.) ■ . ONE minute after the final whistle' had been blown, leaving the All Blacks victors m the second Test by seven points to six, Phil. Mos.tert, the v Springbox' captain, correctly summed up the play when he said: "The New Zealanders deserved their' win because their defence was better than ours was. The use of the loose head m the scrum enabled them to secure the ball more frequently than. in the first Test. "The All Black forwards played much better than they did m the first Test at Durban. And their success was deserved.!' ( The success of the team must be regarded as a vindication of the selectors, who have been warmly criticized here m, employing backs whose chief quality was powerful defence,, instead of utilizing the more clever attacking players. Throughout the first Test the New Zealanders stood up against some terrible buffeting from the South African three-quarter attacks. It was only superb defence that held that day. ; . Again on Saturday it was only the impregnable wall which checked several brilliant three-quarter movements that frequently threatened the visitors' citadel. The All Black forwards shared with the backs the honors of the game. They displayed fine cohesion, a far greater measure of understanding, and persistently followed up." . . — ' ■ ' ' ' \ They scrummaged with much more determination than hitherto, obtaining far superior territorial advantage than m any other important match on: the tour. The rumors that the tourists, were preparing a surprise — a result ofsecret practices from which the spectators were barred admission — were confirmed m the employment of Stewart as third'' man m the front row. Thus the loose head was secured, and the .inside hooker was permitted to do his job. This clever plan was highly successful, and resulted m both teams frequently packing the three -three- two traditional formation of the Springboks. Nevertheless, the South African pack had the bigger share of the ball, but Devine, who had not. played since the injury he received prior to the first Test, failed to display his usual form. This, coupled with slovenly heeling by his forwards, contributed to his' inability to clear effectively, and. movements were frequently smothered near the scrum by Dalley and Stewart. The home team had all the better of the early part of the play. A cross kick by Brand put the ball m front of the' following-up forwards under the All Black goal, but the ball "kicking" badly was responsible for Pretorius knocking on when attempting to gather it m. After Mostert scored from a mark from a yard inside the half-way line, per medium of a drop-kick, Brand struck the upright with a penalty placer from exactly on the half-way line. ' Then van der Westhuizen effected two beautiful breaks. The first time he passed out to the wing, Tod, who was thrown into touch. The next occasion he essayed to go through himself, and all but succeeded, being downed^by a magnificent tackle by Lindsay, who again proved a tower of strength. -'■ From this stage on, superb play by the All Black forwards enabled them tb hold their own territorially and engage m attractive passing bouts. Dalley, Johnson and Strang were all handling accurately, but they were unable to penetrate the smothering defence of the: Springboks, and after reaching the wing the ball was invariably passed infield. There the movements petered out. A mulled pass by Doble m a three-quarter movement enabled Strang to itiiiiiiiitjfitiiitTitiiiiiiiiiiiiiit[iiiiTiiiiiiiiiiiTitiiiiiiiiiiiriiiiitiiirii.iiiiiiti(iiii[iiiiiiii_titiiiiiiiiitt[iiti.iiiitiiiiiiTiiiiiitiiiii]tiiiiitititiii]tiiiiitiiiiiMiiriitiiififiiiiiiii]iiiiiitfiiiiiitii

i;iiiiimnniiiimniiimiiinuiminnminiNHiiniiiinnmiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiinn boot free, and, joined by Stewart and Johnson, play was transferred to tha South African twenty-five. Here Tindall, under pressure, mis-kicked into touch near his own corner. From the line-out the All Blacks made Titanic efforts to press home tho advantage, Dalley and Finlayson grimly endeavoring to thrust .through. The Springbok forwards gradually obtained the ascendancy and forced the tourists back to thirty yards out, where, penalised for offside, Lindsay scored _with a penalty goal from near the touch line. This br.ought his tally of points through kicking m the last six matches to the half-century mark. In the second half the All Black forwards not. only held the Springbok vanguard, but achieved a slight ascendancy, except m set scrums. The South African backs persisted m kicking into touch instead of indulging m passing movements, which had given them, the advantage m the early stages of the game. A penalty against the All Blacks for an illegal tackle enabled Osier to score, but from this stage on the All Blacks were lasting out the pace better. They were playing a winning game, and their sterling, forward play was pinning; the Springboks m their own half. And the Springbok defensive kicking had deteriorated. From, . a movement near the Springboks' twenty-five, the New Zealanders opened up on the blind side. Robilliard, checked on the touch line, reversed the direction of the attack and swung the ball infield to Strang. Hemmed m, Strang steadied himself, and then let fly with a magnificent dropkick from ah acute angle. It sailed truly to its intended destination. This reverse 'stirred the Springboks to an inspiring rally, and they launched a succession of back movements that beat themselves against the rock-like defence of the visitors. Fighting a desperate rearguard action over the last ten minutes, the All Blacks maintained their slender lead until the end. The result amazed South Africa, where it .was confidently expected the home team .would win by a considerable margin of points.However, despite; the superiority of the Springboks m the first half, the finalscore fairly represented the merits of the two teams. : ' The All Blacks owed their success to their superior fitness" and their unshakeable determination to pull off the victory. Every member of the side justified his inclusion. Dalley. was brilliant and frequently- threatened to break through round the scrum, while he maintained a fine service to the backs. '„ . Johnson made some bull-like rushes to pierce the defence.; Strang was the outstanding figure m, the back division. Snapping up opportunities, he was always exercising ingepuity/ ' ' * ■' y Neither wing had many opportunities, but both , played well, while Carleton displayed a defence was impregnable. This, together with Lindsay's sureness and lengthy touch kicking, played a large part m. the triumph of the visitors. - \ Every one of the forwards playe r d unsparingly, with Stewart, -Finlayson, McWilliams, Brownlie ahd Hazlett all attracting > notice for clever Work. "'-. With honors for the Tests easy, the Xll Blacks now have a sporting chance of winning the rubber. "f ■J It is apparent that the forwards are striking better form, while the backs, coached by Mark Nicholls for a week prior to the match, gave a more •finished .(display. . ' ■ "■'■■■_, : ! .. This augurs well, and the second half of the tour should' be much more isuccessful than the first. Jjfl&J' :

iiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiinii Wise brought the total to six by placing a penalty goal. The change-over witnessed an improvement m the work of the home pack, whose shock tactics held the greens on the defence. Both packs hoed into it and a merry pace was maintained right through the session. An unconverted try apiece was registered' before the conclusion' of ;! a hardfought game that was brimful of incident. _''■_'■ Behind the green scrum Roper played a heady game and fed his backs m faultless fashion from scrums and lineouts. He never sent out a poor pass and varied his play nicely. ' Scott was the best ; back -on the ground and his two tries were beauties. Physically, he is the ideal stamp of wing three-quarter,, and, apart, from beingy able to gallop, determination is his first name arid 'he is very hard, to bring ydow'n.y'"'. A great pivot was Neutzei He has plenty of pace and - is a quick thinkerHe repeatedly showed.innatey. skill, m drawing the' defence and' was quick to profit by the other fellow's mistakes. ; Trotter, ' on the other- wing/ -was 1 very sound. _ ; A series of tragic errors must : be laid at the: backdoor • of the maroon rearguard, and -Saturday ; gave the answer direct to theas- , sertion that .the district is weak m backs this year. . V