All Black Pack

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 140, 3 September 1927, Page 11

All Black Pack

Search for Big Forwards

Brains, Pace and Weight Wanted

ris announced in Rugby that the good big man is better than the good little man. Other things being equal, size and weight are vital factors. Hence the New Zealand selectors, choosing the team for South Africa, will be looking for men who have football ability allied with weight and speed.

i T the moment one of the curious , i A Matures of the impending selec- 1 tion is the apathy with which its ap- 1 preach is viewed by the sporting public, j Things were different in 1924, when : tne football atmosphere seemed to be electric with anticipation for weeks ■ nrior to the selection of the team, and 1 the apparent lack of similar tense in- ' ;‘ 3 t in the present instance can ap- ' narently only be attributed to the fact ; that manv months are to intervene ; between the selection and dispatch of the team. FORMATION OF SCRUM Scrum formation is a subject that has long been debated by footballers and followers of the game, and there Is any amount of support for advocates of a return to the 3-2-3 formation. Whether such a step would be wise at this juncture is gravely questionable but at the same time it must be admitted that New Zealand's former loyalty to the existing form is undoubtedly weakening. Forwards who have battled against overseas packs have contributed to the growing attitude of. doubt. The front rankers who went to Australia with this season's University team said that they were convinced the overseas system was superior. That conclusion is shared by many who saw the South Africans in New Zealand, and the last All Blacks in England, while Wisden’s Rugby Annual records that, “despite their advantage in weight the scrummaging of the 1924 New Zealanders was little, if at all. superior to our own." Meeting in South Africa notoriously big forwards, the All Blacks of 192 S will have no surplus in avoirdupois to help it out if the hooking system fails. STILL IN THE LINE Meanwhile the main consideration will be the composition of the pack. Of the men who made history with the 1924 team, the following are still playing:— Age. Weight. M. J. Brownlie .. .. 28 14.0 C. J. Brownlie .. 29 15.0 R. F. Stewart .. .. 23 14.0 G. H. Harvey 24 15.0 W. R. Irvine .. .. • • 28 13.10 Q. Donald*. .. .. .. 27 13.3 B. V. McCleary 29 13.1 Andrew White 33 C. C. Porter 28 lj.iu Of the immortal fifteen forwards, those who have dropped out are A. H. West, H. G. Munro, J. H. Parker, F. L Cupples, J. Richardson and R. R. Masters. The number still playing is surprisingly large and it must not be thought that their advance in years is to rule them out of court. Should all be available, this, for instance, would form as tine a pack as any New Zealand could put down: Front row: Donald, Irvine. Lock: Harvey. _ Sides: M. Brownlie, R. F. Stewart. Back row: White, Cyril Brownlie. White is said to be playing as well as ever this year, and the fact that he has been included in the strong Canterbury pack seems sufficient guarantee of his proficiency. McCleary, who has made only spasmodic appearances lately, was not one of the successes of the tour and played in only seven games. Cyril Brownlie, too, has not been consistent in recent performances. His leisurely effort against Auckland hist Saturday was not to be compared with his all-conquering game against Wairarapa on July 9, and may be accepted as confirmation of his remark, made here last week, that he hardly feels like incurring the responsibility of the training necessary for the South African trip. M. BROWNLIE WANTED Others must be ruled out on account of inability to make the trip, and apparently Irvine and Q. Donald will be among them. Maurice Brownlie, too, said earlier in the year he would not be a starter, but in that resolve he now seems to be weakening. With his social qualifications and undoubtedly outstanding personality Brownlie would make a good captain for the team. Off the field his interests are not those of other men. He has even confessed a sneaking regard for politics, and his after-dinner speeches, as well as his association with the panjandrums of South African Rugby, would therefore be coloured with something more substantial than the somewhat casual outlook of the happy-go-lucky ordinary footballer. Assuming that they will be available, Harvey, Stewart and M. Brownlie survive from the All Black scrum '■’*l924, and form the nucleus of another world-beating pack. Stewart has lately crossed swords with his parent South Canterbury Union, which has advised its selectors not to pick um for further rep. teams, but the difference, whatever it is, should not he allowed to interfere with the Southern giant’s appearance in trial

matches. He should now be in his | prime. Harvey, seen in cry to-day, was the tonsilitis martyr in the 1924 team, and played in only seven games. Born at Masterton in 1903, Harvey played for Wairarapa against the Sprnigboks as a stripling of 18, and later had expedience as full-back and in the threequarter line, where he learned the accurate handling which makes him so often conspicuous as a forward. But for influenza, tonsilitis and septic throat, which laid him aside as he was reaching form, Harvey might have been the pick of the All Black forwards. As it happened, the best were M. Brownlie, Richardson and White, and White was so consistent, always one of the outstanding packmen, that those who know his real worth would not be at all surprised to see him on the Anchises when she leaves Melbourne for South Africa on May 12 next year. Having included three, or possibly four, of the 1924 pack, one has to look around for more first-flight forwards, and one of them will unquestionably bo “Bunny” Finlayson, the North Auckland champion, who is outstanding if only on account of his accurate handling and greyhound speed. PROSPECT FROM TAIHAPE Then there are Walter, Kivell and Ward, of Taranaki, and Johnston and Leahy, of Wanganui. Johnston is Wanganui’s fancy, but Leahy, a Tailiape man, is said at present to •be showing better form. Hawke’s Bay has Campbell, Swain, Conrad and Tankard. Swain and Conrad may almost be numbered among the probables, and Wellington fancies the unlucky Pringle, Emerson, Claridge and McHardy, four other notabilities. In the South are good men in Clarke (Golden Bay), Scrimshaw, Burrows, Jeffries (Canterbury), Sonntag (Otago), and Bird, Hazlett and McKenzie (Southland). With the suggestion that there will be a dearth of hookers one fails entirely to agree. Auckland has two top-notchers in Hadley and Palmer, both robust forwards. Palmer has developed until he is now one of the side’s bes tmen in the loose, which is what the fleet-footed Hadley has always been. Swain, of Napier, is another fine forward, who was actually emergency for New Zealand against New South Wales in 1923. Cooke was a reserve in the same match. Auckland this season has such a pack that it may contribute substantially to the All Black forward line. Knight seems to be improving with every game, and he, Hadley and Keene, who has few peers as a rover, must be ranked among Auckland’s strongest candidates for the trip to South Africa.