THEIR FORM WAS UNINSPIRING

NZ Truth, Issue 1187, 30 August 1928, Page 14

THEIR FORM WAS UNINSPIRING

Allegations Resented By South Africans (By Cable. — From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Representative touring with the All Blacks.) ■ ' , THE All Blacks gave their drabbest and most' uninspiring display of the tour against South-western Districts, which is recognized as. the weakest centre m South Africa. Their opponents played a hard, spoiling game, worrying throughout, and the tourjsts were never able to settle down, despite changes m their back formation. • In the second half, Scrimshaw, went to the wing, Lucas playing extra centre. Over-keenness on the part of the homesters was responsible for several penalties, two of whjch were converted. McWilliams again proved himself to be a grand forward, and was mainly responsible for Stewart's try, twice handling with Nicholls before the rover took the final pass. He was always leading m the vanguard. \ McGregor, though not properly fit, filled the breach at first five-eighths, thus allowing Johnson *to rest. He-was rather slow,though he scored after Nicholls, "Scrimshaw and Strang had engaged m a handling movement which covered half the length of the field. Throughout, the tourists were lackadaisical, the homesters rushing the ball m. the final two minutes of play, footing it over the line against a fumbling defence, v Badenhorst -scoring. Lindsay was most useful during the first half, but during \ later play when coming into line to take a pass from Lucas, he was thrown^ heavily into touch, sustaining a badly-bruised shoulder. Vainly, during later stage_s, the All Blacks strove hard to press home their attack, but thejr poor handling and the. keen marking and touchkicking of their opponents checked all their efforts. The backs did not' distinguish themselves, despite the fact that the forwards practically dominated the scrums, thereby giving the men behind them plenty of chances. Burrows and Hadley proved to be the best scrummagers. " _ r . Wide interest' is centred m Saturday's match against Western Province, the champion State of South Africa. It is regarded as a semi-Test, as eight Springboks are included among the homesters, four of this year's internationals being omitted. This province has a high, invincible record against touring teams, and the match is regarded as a feeler by both sides regarding players for the final Test. Maurice Brownlie is suffering from a septic hand and is unlikely to play. "'■'»'•' It is probable that the All Blacks will try some experiments among the backs close to the .scrum with a view to strengthening their attack m the final game. The allegations contained m New Zealand newspapers to hand that Spilth Africa sought to obtain an advantage m the agreement regarding the rules at the conference held on: arrival-, between the team and the South African^ /Rugby Board, created indignation here. The sole purpose of the agreement was to clarify the South African interpretations and ensure uniformity throughout the country during the All Blacks'' matches. All decisions were made strictly according to the rules. V Theo Pienaar, captain, of the Springboks who toured New Zealand, informs me that during that tour different interpretations were encountered m different parts \of the country, necessitating discussions with referees before each match. x .' it. was with a purpose of similar confusion that ;the conference was held. V •'•■•• . \ '