LIKENED UNTO ISRAEL

NZ Truth, Issue 1190, 20 September 1928, Page 14

LIKENED UNTO ISRAEL

All Black Played Dismal Rugby Against Waratahs ' (From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Christchurch Representative.) If the play of the team which represented New Zealand m the third test with New South Wales is a sample of the best that this country can do, it is time the ,N.Z.R.U. put its house m order and looked to its laurels.

THE side. was probably the weakest .that has ever represented,. New i Zealand— weaker even •< than the fifteen which was beaten by. New South Wales at , Christchurch m 1921 by 17 to 0. But even that is no excuse for the lamentably poor showing made by the team; m last Saturday's match at Dancaster Park. ; . Allowing that the men. now on the way home from South Africa are supposed to, be. the best twenty-nine m the game to-day, it might be expected that a country boasting supremacy. in the Union code could go to the extent of selecting an additional fifteen without getting below good international standard. , > ■ - The game staged by the fifteen last week was poor iii the extreme, and few of them were worthy of ; the silver fern whioh adorned their Jerseya. • ........ : They .were rugged m \ their defence, but their ideas of attack were crude. ; With monotonous' regularity they swept acx ; 6ss ' the field; their movements almost invariably lacking any decisive thrust. ' When the ball- did "reach the . wing, neither McClymont r nor Mackay displayed any . initiative, m. returning the attack from the tbuchlirie except .by means of a badly- directed kick which never failed to flop into the arms of a defender- who was standing- well clear and with ' ample ■ time to retrieve' his side.:, .• ■■,'. ■;'■>.;, ';.■.,' ".•..••■ -.-. The New Zealand forwards never livened • up to their 'game * until . ■'•'■ they were eleven; points down, and ' a period of a quarter of an hour was ' the complete .extent of their oohoerted pushing to any profitable , effect.. ., •■ •.':•.••■.•. For the remaining portion . of the liiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinii

game they cruised ; about like the wandering tribes of Israel. If dead men turn m their, graves, the game of the New, Zealand forwards wp.uid have made, some of our. dear departed, giants of; ■the past revolve one hundred "times a minute. ■■'; Cliff iPorter has. seldom- led* such a pack, .but he :;made/ the best of a bad Job/, His . anticipation . helped., him. a lot and He was a source 'of .annoyance to "Slogger" .Sijellv the WarataW.s halfback, but. seldom did he trouble ; George, the/ny-half.' .'.•-. .- ■ \ ; . "Palmer : : andv-' Rpbinscfn,, with "Willoughby. o.ocaatonally:. showing up, dia best for New' 2seaiancl. Knight was. •always looking for the easy stuff, "and -. gave away too many penalties "to-be of much: service to New Zealand. For a ; novice,. Page; maintained a fairly, effective service at the base of the • New Zealand ; scrum, • but m the first spell MbKenzie' seemed to have little" inclination • to do -anything but the obvious.' „.'■■< .. In . the second spell, Hook was brought^ m * from . centre , to first flveeigrhttis, *;" aru* . McKenzie and : Oliver moved out brie. This introduced; a little more-origin-ality Into . the , New , Zealanders' rearguard movements, but still they lacked that thrust to place them m scoring; positions. ... ■_...•:.'• The basic principle of warfare is to owing on somerhinq the opposition doesn't know. The All' Blacks not only failed to .exploit these tactics, but also neglected to give - the old tricks a go. : Consequently ,'they were not m the picture, from the point of view of winning by tries, : though a good goalkicker oould ,-have . turned the tide m their favor as jw&s the case . with the Waratahs m the first and second tests. Oliver was patchy and indecisive, while Hook, m the first spell, was not a shadow of his real self, and inevitably 'did the wrong thing at the right time. ■■•.,, . • . ■ ■■■■■.. Mehrtens, '> at •. full-back, always did his best, and. at times it was a good best. Occasionally he was m dire trouble, but on. the whole his. game was a fair effort, though naturally it suffered m comparison with Weßtfield's exhibition for the Waratahs. McClymont was , more .impressive than Mackayrand he was rewarded by scoring; New -Zealand's first, try^after ! Ollyprv Porter' and Knight had .participated m. a j straggling movement m. the visitors' quarter. - • V; Byrjhe teams they, have; sent .across m recent "> years,-; the Waratahs have come to .be regarded 5 as a team rof fif teen^backs,'. their forward.- packs usually, containing a heavy man or two arid the remainder fast, light, men.' . This '; yeaiv. however, the test pick contained j*.., pfepojideranodTp* -toftvy,

men', and though they were . not so successful m tight rucking, they were infinitely superior when it came to open work, and much of their play was stamped with well-thought-out and skilfully executed movements. , The heavy ground and greasy ball was* opposed to their usual style of play, but whenever the opportunity presented itself they ; flung the leather abput. and more than fifty per cent, of their movements gained , ground- per medium of unorthodox, play. • ."T- . . '■ . - - Loudon, who was born m Christ- ; church, was the outstanding player ' on either side and gave a dashing exhibition. In the absence of Malcolm, who was laid aside with i bronchitis, he led the Waratahs, and he was undoubtedly an inspiration , to them. ■' . ' j Another forward of the dashing type was Bland, while Comrie- Thompson and Rosenblum were also prominent for footwork and solid tackling. Snell was a worthy substitute for Malcolm, and. shot the ball away with speed and precision, at times leaving Porter standing with his speed. •The inside backs, however,, did not make nearly the most Of their opportunities, though they were always more impressive than their opponents. Towers did not play up to his form, and' his excessive kicking deprived both Hemingway : and . •Smairl ■* of many chances to improve, the position of the side. Qaldwell was ' going well ■■ till he injured a knee and. retired. . Burge,: who took his place, gave occasional, flashes of phenomenal speed, but otherwise was seldom m threatening mood, due to his Inability to handle the slippery ball. ' •■ ■■',:■• . . Westfield was never bustled and fielded and kicked with accuracy and

confidence, while his tackling; was sound. .... i Eleven thousand people, however, were vastly disappointed with the exhibition of : football staged by\ the teams. The standard would have been condemned from provincial sides, yet this was an International game. And it would take a large stretch of imagination to believe that New Zealand on the day were ever within three points of their opponents if their play was judged by giving points for merit. The Waratahs had a clear-cut superiority,, and they clearly demonstrated that they were unlucky m the first two tests. "• ■• . . Had the Waratah team -which toured England tackled New Zealand this year it would :have' been a, shame to take the. money.