Forwards and Backs Both Shone When All Blacks Beat Pretoria

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 447, 31 August 1928, Page 7

Forwards and Backs Both Shone When All Blacks Beat Pretoria

SAFE FIRST-SPELL LEAD

(From Our Special Correspondent.)

»PRETORIA, July 25. The first match in what has been * called one of the most strenuous weeks of our tour was played today. A brilliant first half, and a mediocre second one, just about sums up the game. Ever since we first played in the Transvaal we have been looking at this, the thirteenth game of the series, with anxious eyes, because we knew that we should have to play on the Wednesday after the Johannesburg test, and also because Pretoria footba.’l is particularly strong. The side which played to-day included three of Saturday’s Springbok team, and six others who played against us for Transvaal, while two Transvaal representatives—one of them Prinsloo, a first test Springbok—had been dropped from the team to make way for presumably better men. The 1919 service team beat the Pretorians by five points to four, and in 1924 Cave-Smith’s British team lost their game here by six to nil. The Pretoria side was all out to win if possible, and it was freely said that we should have to be on our toes if we were to win the game. The ground is just about the best we have played on, there being an exceptionally thick and

velvety sole of grass. Pretoria lies in a hollow, as so many of the South African towns do, and is 4,471 feet above sea level, so that we feel much easier in regard to breathing thar we had done in Johannesburg. ALL BLACKS GET BALL Grenside was over at the corner a very few minutes after the start, and the Pretorians came back with another unconverted try, but everything seemed to go our way, with the ball coming cleanly from the scrums. Our halftime lead of 13-3 had practically won the game for us, and although the Pretorians were always dangerous and had to be reckoned with, we had too great a lead on for them to catch. Whether it was the heat of the day or the effects of celebrating Saturday’s victory in the test, our forwards fell away in the second spell. Forward play over here is, after all, the hardest job in the world, because of the number of scrums and the amount of weight that goes into them. It is quite likely too that the open game attracted our forwards, and therein lies the big lesson of the tour. We can have tight forwards or loose forwards, but not both varieties. In the second test we were a scrummaging pack, and one writer who is not very far-seeing says in to-day’s Press that the South African forward play in that match was deplorable—too poor for words. Yet it wasn’t any too deplorable, but it was met by superior tight play. An interesting fact which is not generally known is that we have had three of our forwards injured in scrummaging since we came to Africa, due to the tremendous pressure that is going in, and to a sudden twist in our own scrum. Hadley, Burrows and Alley all suffered in this way, in a greater or less degree, Burrows being the most unlucky. The eartilege between the ribs becomes torn and it is a most difficult job to heal an injured eartilege. cmcmcmcm cmf cmf cmfcmfcmcmcme If the weight is going in, and straight ahead all is well, but if the side-row men and back-rankers are late in coming in, or break at the wrong time, there is danger. Y'ou may say that all this merely shows the stupidity of the Rugby scrum, but the rules are here for us to play under and conditions must be met and overcome, if possible. BACKS ON THEIR GAME Our backs were on their game today, the Johnson, Nicholls, Carleton combination proving useful and solid. Carleton’s great defensive play has been a feature of the matches so far, and in the Natal game he was the attacking back that those who remember him as a secondary school player, know him to be. Lindsay’s kicking you will have heard about, and the crowd to-day gave him several rounds of applause for staggering line-kicks. It is a pity that room can jiot be found in the side for both Lindsay and Lilburne, since the later is quite a good fullback and is excellent at beginning attacking movements from near the half way line.

WRONG REPORTS The late reports of the game to-day attribute our success in getting the ball in set scrums to the use of Stewart as extra man in the front row. Yet this is almost entirely wrong. As long as the weight went in to-day the ball came into Dailey’s waiting hands. For a great deal of the game too, Stewart did not bother to pack down, or rather attach himself to the front row. Still, it is a good move and we are glad to have it up our sleeves. Hadley’s injury has been very painful and stopped him from getting his sleep for several nights. However, bad the “smack” is, it seems hard to believe that we shall not see him in the front row of the scrum again. Many of us think that he has been about the best forward so far. Still it is hard to differentiate and football criticism need not necessarily single out any one player, but rather look for causes why team work was successful or not.