FINISHED EXPONENTS OF RUGBY GAME.

Shannon News, 1 August 1924, Page 4

FINISHED EXPONENTS OF RUGBY GAME.

ALL BLACKS TKIUMPHAIi FLA* , IN TEST MATCH. -• . 1 FINEST COMBINATION FOR t NUMBER OP YEARS. i ——— i < SYDNEY CRITIC PAYS HIGH ■ , TRIBUTE -TO TEAM. , « Sydney supporters of Rugby , ■ seen the All Blacks in actUn .in iii.ee. matches against the best, home. Play- ! ers. The verdict must be that.. tne tourists are far the-finest combinations of New Zealanders seen in Hu„Dy | Union football in this country «»** * { few years prior to the war. xa y disclose a distinct revival'in the stall- | dard of New Zealand play, and with average fortune will uphold the peerless reputation of their country as finished exponents of Rugby on the fields of the world. ~ This summing-up; of the All Black team, made by a Sydney critic after the second test match with New South Wales, is a general vein throughout the Sydney Press. - , , In the fastest and most momentous—Rugby Union gamceevr played in Sydney, the All Blacks Justified all the predictions of the great New , Zealand critics by a decisive wm + m Saturday's second test (says the "Guardian." In every phase of attack and defence, the test was 'searching, and produced positive- results. English XV.'s are 100 per cent, stronger, than in the lackadaisical days of the 1905 procession, but ,_one i can safely foresast another march ol triumph for the present side. Puzzle! Find the weakness! Before plumping for Nepia,. it would , be as well to remember his tackling i and line-kicking. . Admittedly he "speculates' and , there were distinct blemishes on his fielding. But, so far, he hasn't let his side down. If he hasn't yet disclosed as ,a full-back. One cannot bluff his way past Dominion selectors or fool the New Zealand Rugby public with spurious, wares in that position. Goal kicking!, A rank failure on Saturday. Yet many another side has had its off days in the matter of "additional" points. The Blacks have yet to find their consistent place-kickers. The New Zealanders landed, first. Direct frontal attacks from the first scrum of the day. . Cooke ran straight through the State centre to. make possible Lucas' first try. It was' a staggering blow, and it was deliberately followed up. With cool determination the Blacks penned their opponents into a corner and • remaining, on top, rained blow after blow at an aparpently helpless foe. ,' Not till this interval did New South Wales recover from the:effect of the electrifying opening. During this period of constant pressure, Masters and ills heavy-weights, with Munro and Irvine in the front row, sent the ball to Dailey from five out of. six scrums, and from nearly every loose ruck. Dailey Like a Clock. Dal ley's passes to Nicholls were ideal ,and both Nicholls and Cooke put j the other members of the passing machine into position before transferring. The wing man, Svenson or Lucas, was spare in every, movement with a paddock in which to manoeuvre if that much space had been necessary. Generally, if it wasn't —a straight dash for the line did the trick. . When necessary, the impass was exploited . Wing forward play at its best was seen on the rare occasions when New South Wales secured in the scrums, and Porter, following the ball, was on Walker before he could clear.

Writing after the second test, "Cynic" in the Sydney "Referee" has

the following to say; For some seasons visitiug New Zealand teams to Australia have been inferior to the great combinations that came across in the late '9o's and tlie earlier 1900's. The most marked falling-off was in the backs, though it was also observable in the forwards. To-day one believes that the forwards have picked up the old standard, and that the backs are very little short of it in attack, and will probably become relatively as good all round as the men in front ol them. „ This is a very happy thought for everyone interested in the tour to be commenced shortly. The New Zeaiandrs are sure to reveal to the thousands who patronise the game in the Old Land the most delightful Rugger. The forwards are fast, heavy, and versatile, and the best eight will show off the game in its most fascinating guise. And I believe they will be capable of fighting it out against the international packa with the sting and devil characteristic of the great Irish scrummagerß. In the return match with New South Wales the forwards played to the backs more than is usual in New Zealand teams, for they indulged in comparatively few of those superb passing movements for which the original All Blacks were famed in every part of the world. This may have been due to the determined tackling of the New South Wales forwards, who proved staunch.to a man, and bulldogs in the fight when the ball was

in the tight or ruck. The New Zealanders outweighted the home forwards, and for a time gave them a gruelling in the heavy work. But when ends were changed, the Blues were with them like terriers and in theclosing stretches had the brawny onea tired, and, finding the going hard. During this period the New Zealand banks were tested, in defence, and answered very satisfactorily. Giants Are These. j ■ 8 Tn C .J. and M. Brownlie, of Hawke's I ■Ray.-R. R. Masters, of Canterbury, and i Ij. F. Cupples, of Bay of Plenty, and.. others, they have giants who are foot-

bailers through and through. C. J. ir Brownlie in the first and... second a. matches struck me as being great- > t« P Bt iorward of the lot, : but on Sat- ■ a uruay he was not selected. The one.! h uiayer who did not, come up to ex- . Is lactations on Wednesday and Satur- t uay was G. Nepia, the young Maori, e uo full-back. He indulged in so much t uiuiawous speculating kicking must-be a habit. Besides, on Saturday he did not handle the ball with c auxins accuracy. He will have to - eliminate the speculator, or it wilt be necessary to place him in some other -i ! position. This team will need a Wal- - ' ;ace as full-back, and a Wallace as ( goal-kicker. But these are matters they should have no trouble in ■smoothing otft once they get into match-playing swing in England. For I the New Zealanders are a brilliant i team, and if the leadership and managreement—on and off the field—be equal to that of 1905, this team will enhance the record of New Zealand in 'lnternational football.. Brilliant- Play by New Zealand. From the outset New Zealand took command of the position, 'and never lost it (says the Sydney "Sun" concerning the second test.) From the very kick-off, which resulted, m a Scrum, the All Blacks scored—it was a magnificent try—and the further ,-tne- game progressed the surer they were of victory. * It. was a case of speed, sturdy defence, and combined effort, That .was all. And N.S W. could not cope with the flashing 'movements towards its goal-line. Those passing bursts were like so many waves that could not be stemmed. Had it not been for the fact that ■ there was such a vast difference be-, tv/ecn the scores so early in the game —New Zealand scored five tries in 22. minutes —the match might have been ■( a real thriller. The classy football : was there right enough, but it, was all on the one side. New Zealand's display was brilliant. It was true Rugby. 5 The forward struggle was hard from 1 the commencement —particularly hard ' for New South Wales, because the All L Blacks were dominant throughout. 3 Where was the vim, vigour, and speed 3 of the New South'Wales eight of last Saturday? The' New Zealanders were 1 right on lop of the Blues the whole 3 time and never let up The biff. fast . raffS-cl forwards of the t Dominion displayed their best form, • and it w?.s quite in keeping with the :. highest standard of New Zealand foott i.iail. Fast away . from the scrums, t Punching quickly in the loose rucks, - heeling to the half-back, and, rnorc- - over, protecting him well so that the j New Zealand rearguard were served with the-ball under favourable circum 9 *:ancs, Richardson, Brownlie, Munro, ~ White, and Porter, excelled. Hardly v .-■ver did Brownlie or Richardson case s up but with wonderful dash and speed v kept on the ball and ever were on the f look-out to make openings for the splendid backs behind them. Porteiplayed a remarkable game, Tireless in all phases of play, h e ran like a L hacjA and passed and received the ball with precision and judgment. Greate orex, who was told off to watch mm, was quite unequal to the task. Improvement in the Backs. The improvement in the form of the e .Ml Blacks was not unexpected. It e was staled last week that the side was " sure to do better, because the i'ootR ball was, there in the' first place, though it was not finished off. Still, '> the inclusion oi'\ Svenson in place of a Hart made a great difference. Sven•t son is a very line winger, and haa - more thai: ordinary pace. He scored '• ,\.\, si-.l'-udid tries, one of them a lone effort that marked him a real onpors funist. He ,s-very stockily built,'too, and defends splendidly. In Lucas and s' Svenson New Zealand.. has a pair of v great wingers. Lucas, perhaps, is the. 3, more polished, but, Svenson, is the a sturdier. Dailey, who took Mill's place as L, half-back, was very, successful, but s Cooke was again, the greatest playe? on the ground, Built on the same v lines as Les. Cubitt,. though not quite e so tall, he is the best footballer New . Zealand has sent here for many years. s Young and brainy, has a brilliant it future, and his career will be watched , with great interest, p The fact that New Zealand's two t wingers scored five of the side's seven tries —Lucas three and Svenson two — shows that the inside men realise that 3 the wing men are their scoring agents. The centres are called upon to make . the openings, and the. wingers must finish them off. They did. The ball went in every case but one from the * base of. the scrum or a rush or a linee out to the winger, via The inside men; and in another instance —probably the best try of the day—it went right out " to Svenson'on the wing'and in again, " via the cetre to the five-eighth. Cooke, ' who scored. That is real football. Several of the All Blacks' tries were of that, tvne.

Brilliancy of Cooke. - concerning the work 01 individuals in the second test, the Sydney "Referee" makes th e following remarks: —There is no back amongst the visitors better than Cooke at making openings, nor so entitled to comparison" with Hunter, Mynott, or Stead, of the 1905 men. He is dangerous even if unaided by the opposition. ' But when his sparkling individualism is helped by lack of resistance, he can raise to great heights. Cooke will delight the Rugger enthusiasts of the Homeland with his evasiveness. Nicholls had an easier path than did Badeley in the f.rst game. He was very sure in taking the ball, and his passes were smartly given at the proper height. Lucas's display was better than his opening one. He was one of the chief offenders in missing passes on that occasion.but on Saturday his fingers were more adhesive. Brown ran both wings into. position well, and his handling of the ball, whether off the ground or in the air, was without fault. Sven. son impressed more than did Haft, the winger of the first day. Fast and a very determined runner, he should get a lot of tries on tour. G Nepia is wanting in some require-

ments of full-back play. He gets to. a ball in the air well, but was uncertain in fielding both grubber kicks and the bouncing ones. With the Blues rushing down on him he speculated, a fault that would be eradicated from juniors in Sydney. He kicked powerfully when given time, and he . taeided well. Dailey repeated his fin e display of Wednesday. Certainly he has shown out better than the Hawke's Bay halt, Mill who, hawever, wjas behind a less 'successful pack.. The heeling deteriorated in the second term,. ana Dailey was engaged.more in defensive work. This he did well. Early tiie heeling by the Black ioi.wards was rather smart. Richardson was in the second row in ■lieu of C. Brownlie, and Cupples; who had played brilliantly against the Metropolitan team, partnered White in the back rank instead of the vice-captain. Cupples again showed out. The second All Blacks seemed to' be as well equipped in' this department •as any., of their predecessors. Front-row iorward Munro, as well as being an expert scrurnmager, was prominent in the ioose. One hue piece of dribbling (solus) showed h e had great control of the ball, and must be a champion on the heavy Otago fields. White and M. Brownlie were again good, and wing-forward Porter worried Walker considerably. In th e second' half he was not quite so troublesome. WHY SCOTLAND REFUSED.

SCOTTISH PAPER'S CRITICISM. Some caustic criticism of the Scottish Rugby Union is contained in a recent issue of the Edinburgh "Sports Despatch," wfcich has just reached New Zealand. The Scottish Rugby Union, evidently afraid of trouble, decided to exclude the press • from its annualmeeting, which was held at the beginning of May. An official report of the proceedings was supplied, and in it i-lie name of this Dominion was not mentioned. Yet the committee, in the u ords of the Edinburgh paper quoted, Knew that Rugby men and the public generally were keen . to know how mutters blood in regard to that subject and it was passed over as if it were a matter of no moment and of no interest." "That colourless- and anaemic report," proceeds the article, "was another instances of the lack of consideration the union has for the public. And of course not a figure was mentioned as regards the finances. 1 "The reason for the New Zealanders —I had almost used the word 'excuse' —not coming to Scotland is not one that \yill impress the Rugby people of Scotland, or any other country. It is paltry and petty, and why something should have been done that is regarded by many as an insult to New Zealand and done on such a slender ground, is not easy to understand."SHABBY AND ALSURD."

"Had it been that the Scottish Union suspected New Zealand's bona fides in regard to amateurism there would not have been so much surprise at the action taken, but that,.apparently, is not so, and to decline fixtures with our cousins, coming all the way from New Zealand, and who fought so gallantly during the war, not because of any grievance against them, but because of some grievance against another'union —the English —seems, to say the least, shabby mjaa absurd. , ' "It would not be surprising were the New Zealand people unaDle to accept the reason given, and to feel that there must be something behind it all. Tame and lame reason though, it be, one cannot but accept it. An official gave that out as the reason, and we must take his word for it; but it will be all the. harder for the New Zealand people to credit it in view of the ill-feeling that was aroused over their last visit to Scotland when the Scottish Union took; the unusual course of allowing the All Blacks to go away with the whole of the drawing—over £IOOO, if 1 remember right. "From the statement read by M-r, R; T. Neilson it did not appear that the Scottish Union challenged the English Union on their breaking th e agreement regarding tours. The man who did the correspondence in regard to the tour was Mr. Wray, a New " Zealander in London. He wrote to the secretary of the Scottish Union offering two dates, and asked for an early reply. Mr. Simson, the Scottish secretary, said that he could not give him a a'eply as he could not get his committee together in July.

ANOTHER LETTER SENT,

"Then Mr. Wray wr6te again, pressing for a reply, suggesting that Mr. Sinison should get at his committee by letter. Mr. Simson got the opinion of the committee sufficiently to say that the Scottish Union coiud not arrange dates. No reason seems to have been given to the English Union, so there does not seem to have been any open attack and defence. Both parties seem to be, like the ostrich, holding their heads in the sand and the Scottish Rugby Union is well versed in this engaging faculty. Practice ma!.;e;j perfection.

"One gathered .from what was said

that the Scottish Union did not like the New Zealand tour- following the South African tour so closely. The. Scottish players going to South Africa would probably not be very fit to meet the (Now Zealanders. The . English, Welsh and Irish Unions do .not show the same touching solicitudefor their players. But not so much importance need be attached to that consideration. ■ "The Scottish Union seems to be expert in finding' flaws on which to found objections. How is it that the Irish. Union people are playing Zealand despite an agreement? It seems to say "to the dogs with agreements, let us get on with the game." It did not seem to get very excited, either, over H. Macpherson's gold watch. There was just a slight allusion to that incident at the meeting. The chairman said it was now closed.

"The Scottish Union's case is now on the table despite its great effort to keep secret its reason for declining to play the New. Zealanders. One is tempted to ask, in passing, if it were ashamed of the reason* or did-it feel that it would';be difficult to persuade the public that; such a . little : matter should have been advanced to cause such a big disturbance ing, and all unnecessarily, as far as one can sec. Is it not'curious how the Scottish Union seems always to be trampling on somebody's toes and that it should be the only people doing so?"