FOOTBALL.

Taranaki Daily News, 17 August 1921, Page 3

FOOTBALL.

TARANAKI B w. WAIROA SUB-UNION. TO-MORROW’S MATCH. & The Taranaki 35 team to play the Wairoa Sub-Union at to-morrow, will leave by the mail trajin, returning tooie the same evening, as tb« match is being played at S f p.m. to enable the team to catch the mail. I Mr. D. J. Malone (selector) will be present } at the match, so that the players will have every opportunity of 'earning representative honors this season, as Taranaki has four more important engagements. The. Wairoa team is: Marino, Symes, Dav’s, Bunn, Paisman (captain), Tangapo, Train. A Christensen, Greig, Cniickshanlks, Jury, Stewart, Rowe, Armstrong, Campbell; emergencies, Sullivan, Morrison., W. Cunningham, and Te Wlpa. POVERTY BAY PROTEST. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Gisborne, August 16. The Poverty Bay Rugby Union passed n strong protest against the alteration of the date of the Springboks’ match in Napier, upsetting the arrangements for a special steamer, affecting the ■financial arrangements, and giving tjife public no opportunity io see the Springboks. SATURDAY’S TEST MATCH. INCIDENTS OF THE GAME. STEEL’S SENSATIONAL TRY. The Dominion's apeeial wired as follows, regarding Saturday's Test match:— It was hard, fast, and full of Incident. The betthr team wan. but there was not an eight-points difference in their play. New Zealand won because it knew a little more about Rugby football than the Africans knew. The All Black side was the more versatile.

Though the game contained so much in- J cident, there are varying opinions of the quality of the play. That certainly was not perfect, but the people who, while admitting that it was fast and ekeiting, assert that the game was much below tho international standard of play, overlook tho very important point that a tejim can play only as well as the opposing side allows it to. Now the Springboks are a bard side to beat, and their system of play, though it contains less variety than New Zealand's, is exploited by them to the utmost of their ability and endurance. Their forwards, much heavier than those of the average inter- • national side, make tho utmost use of their weight, and acting on the principle that it ■is the referee’s duly to check them from using any system which is contrary to the rules, they sometimes add illegal tactics to their attempts to break through by mass of metal. In the wedge attacks the men on the apex of the Wedge often are offside, tho bail having be-en passed in toward the centre of | ■ the wedge, but they retain their positions in front of the ball until they are forcibly re- ’ moved. Referees often let them get away! with that style of attack. The South African backs, are less versatile j than New Zealanders, but they execute their style of play very well indeed, their taking i, of the ball and their passing being excellent, , and their speed being great. They are good i ticklers, Loo. Remembering, again, that tho Springboks' have so much weight and .strength that they j play hard, and that they had determined to win test matches, it is not surprising that a J New Zealand team which had not had a I match together before found them a very stifft proposition, and perhaps disappointed same j people. STEELE’S TRY. Steele's try made this a memorable match, j It was a magnificent effort. At a time when the Springboks were attacking with the : scores level, H. E. Nicholls crossed-kicked from New Zealand's twenty-five. Steele, who • was close to the home team's goal-line when ! [the kick was made, was up like a flash; the j ball bounced high in front of him. and as it ; came down again pie speeding winger gather- ; cd it in the air, bringing it against one ear, ; and then getting the other hand to it. Then • he raced for the African goal line, close on I seventy yards away. Moyer chased, but could j not catch him, and Steele capped his sen- ; sational taking of the hall, and his splendidly! fast run by crossing the gaol line well out. | and then, shaking off Meyer, who was inside hsm, he ran along to behind the goal-posts before he touched down. Mark Nicholls concerted. Thete was another occasion in which Steele raced through a gap with the ball and had outpaced the Springboks' backs when he was called back, the referee having ordered a scrum for a knock-on. Steele had not gathered the ball In at the first attempt, but dropped it rather than knocked it on, and he snapped it up again before it could touch tho ground.

HEROIC FORWARD WORK. The New Zealand forwards stood up manfully to their heavier opponents. Indeed, they stood tip to them rather too much, matching vim and strength against strength and greater j weight in struggles for possession of the ball instead of bringing the Springbok forwards • down and trying to break up the tight work ; by other methods than they adopted. It ] was heroic, but the New Zealand forwards. would have been better suited by more open • play, at which they beat the Africans. But even with so much heavy battling they lasted bolter than their opponents, and in the last quarter of an hour the New Zealanders were more decidedly the superior team. Tho New Zaland forwards did less dribbling than was expected of tl em, and their following up was below their usual standard, very few uneu chasing the ball together, but injuries contributed to this factor. Bellis hurt an ankle early in the game, and Mcfht early strained a tendon, and these two were therefore unable to keep on the ball continuously. They could go only in bursts, but what they did was performed excellently. There was also the fact that the Black forwards did so much heavy battling in the sot scrums that they did the better hooking, though sometimes they were pushed off the ball by the eight heavier men who opposed their seven. THE YOUNG NEW ZEALAND BACKS. Considering all things, the young New Zealand backs, whose average age is only 23 years, came out of their ordeal very well. They had not tte combination one usually has found in New Zealand back divisions, but as one of the original All Blacks, who had come from the North Island to see the game, remarked to the writer before the match: "Old football heads cannot, be put on the shoulders of young backs in a week.” The variety in their play and efforts of the i centre backs to sec Tire tl:e advantage of the odd man out in their passing rushes showed | that they were assimilating the instructions ! which had been imparted to them, and they needed only more matches together tp make | them a pretty good lot, not up to tlw standard of the original Ail Blacks, of course, but still a useful and skilful lot. THE INDIVIDUAL PLAY, H. E. Nicholls shaped well at half-back, getting the ball away smartly when be could and mixing his play judiciously. Some onlookers thought he kicked for gaps in the opposition rather too •much, but he really was playing to instructions, having been told to kick tor the line or tor gaps when he saw a danger, of his being nipped by tl:c. Springboks forwards or hfilves before he could get the ball away effectively to the nicn behind him. Badelcy. at first, five-eighth, dropped a pass or two, but also did a lot of very nippy work, and tried hard io make nlay from tho centre. Mark Nicholls, at second five-eighth, was less effective. His handling of the hall was erratic at times, but he was doing quite good work towards the end of tte game. Ha played a eocl game, too, and was not flurried. was sound on the whole at centre. fltMle, on tM MU* wloj, was both IwOU-l

ant and sound, doing a lot of work well and showing up a whole lot better than in the inter-island game of a few weeks ago. Storey, on the other wing, was handicapped by having his right shoulder hurt early in the game. Thereafter he often had difficulty in fielding, or taking tho ball> as he could not stretch his right arm out very far. He was a trier, though, and his try was obi tained very creditably. In this movement, H. Nicholls got the ball away smartly to Badeley who sent it. to Aitken. A pass at the I right unoment was gathered well in by Storey, I who went for the line at the corner witb I determiua’tion and just got there. Kingston at full-back was excellent, fielding, kicking, and tackling well, and saving his side several times. THE SPRINGBOKS’ TRY. The Springboks' try was the result of a movement which gave very little chance to the Blacks to stop it. Following a line-out there was an informal scrummage deep in New Zealand’s twenty-five. Mellish wXs pushed out of this and just as he was trying to get back into l:is scrum the ball was kicked out alongside him. snatched it up and slung it sharply to Van Heerden who was well up and who swerved in and touched down after a very short dash. Townsend, at scrum-half, was very busy and smart, but Mlchau was not so well suited by fly-half's position as by scrum half work, and he and Townsend changed places halfway through the second spell. In the forwards, big "Baby” Michau played the best game he has given in New Zealand, doing a tremendous lot of heavy work, and lasting remarkably well. Scholtz and Mellish were slightly the better of the other forwards. For the first fifteen minutes of the second half the Springboks made a great effort to "gain a clear-cut vl'Aory, but all their desperate onslaughts availed them not, and gradually the tide turned in favot of New Zealand. ■Gerhardt Morkel showed some of his old international form as full-back for the Springboks, but took some risks, and it was in his favor that he had no bustling forwards tearing down on him very often. The Springboks' centre backs showed little more cuttings-in than hitherto, but it was not. as dangerous as (hat of tte New Zealand centres. The best cut-in of the day was made by Badeley in tho second half, but the Aucklander delayed his pas§ to Donald just too 1 late, otherwise Donald probably would have scored. Apart from offside play in the early part of the game, and his being sadly left once by a dummy pass by Townsend, Donald played an excellent game for the All Blacks. The New Zealand forwards grafted hard,' even if they did not adopt the best tactics. Considering his injury, Bellis' played a splendid game. Mofiftt, too, did hard work, although he was hurt, and had to let up occasionally. The injuries to Bellis and Moffit prevented their putting all their weight and strength info the scrums. Fortunately, White was just. In front of Beilis in scrums, and the hard-working Southlander gave, Hughes, the hooker on his side, rare support

"Tho best man I ever bad behind me,” said Hughes afterwards of White. Hughes showed surprising dash for a man forty-three years of age, and also hooked excellently. A DISPUTED TRY. There arc many arguments over Bellis’s try. Some i>eople, including members of the New Zealand team, assort that one of three Springboks who tried to get the ball as it bounced sideways behind the African line, jufct forced it down. Others say that the Springboks did not make contact between hand, ball, and ground, and that the. try was .a fair one. IL certainly was lucky for New Zealand that tho hall bounced as It did. The ground was dead, but sun and wind had made it inulh better than it was expected to be after Friday’s j’ain. The. change In the weather led to some alterations in the team which the Springboks intended to put in the field. THE BEST PLAYERS. The. selectors of the New Zealand team have awarded to H. ]•?. Nicholls a gold medal given for the best back in the New Zealand team, and to "Baby” Michau the medal for the best forward on the ground. The general opinion now is that if tho New Zealanders improve their tactics and combination, the Springboks will not win any of the Tests. The New Zealanders did not carry out all their instructions in this match. THE CROWD ELECTRIFIED. Another special correspondent, in tho course of his report, says:—Townsend let the hall o*it to Clarkson and Van Heerden, who electrified the crowd by a magnificent dual piece of play down the touch line until they only had Kingston facing them, but here Van Heerden lost tte ball and a big roar went up from the crovyl at the narrow escape the Blacks had. They came away and for the last five minutes pressed hotlj’. A scrum was given near the posts a'nd H. Nicholls shot the leai her out to Storey who dived over in the comer. GETTING THE BALL. The Springboks generally managed to get the ball from the tight scrummages, but in the set scrums It was a. case of fifty fifty, while most of the lineouts were even. Donald and Bellis were the pick of the Now Zealand pack with Richardson also in the limelight. Donald harassed the opposinig half throughout, giving him little peace. 11. Nicholls was good behind the scrums, but M. Nicholls was uncertain at first flveeighths and he will probably be replaced by Roberts in the next test. Badeloy justified himself, while Aitken saved his side on several occasions, yet was unreliable in attack. Steele was the hero of the day, and ho certainly played a great game. His line kicking was a big factor. Storey, on the opposite wing, was not up to his usual form. Kingston, at full-back, was generally safe. As a combination the New Zealand’s rearguard showed evidences of the want of a game together, and their collective work was not up io the standard of their opponents. The backs were perhaps only what was to be. expected. THE REFEREE’S ERROR. Referee Mackenzie, of Wairarapa, apart from the one bad error mentioned above refereed capably. The awarding of the first try to New Zealand appeared to daze the Springboks, though they fought desperately right through to the end. There wera several knockouts, eight al’> told, six Blacks and two Greens, but all minor cases. The clock showed that the Springboks attacked for twenty minutes in the first spety and the Blacks for fifteen in neutral territory. These figures were almost exactly reversed in the second half.