THE SPRINGBOKS.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 September 1921, Page 5

THE SPRINGBOKS.

UNEXPECTED OPPOSITION, AGAINST HAWKE'S BAY. GAME FULL OF. INCIDENT. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Napier, Last Night. Between 7000 and 8000 witnessed the match, Springboks versus Hawke’s Bay and Poverty Bay. The weather was dull but fine and the ground was in good condition. It proved an interesting game. Loose forward play predominated, and ended in favor of tire visitors by 14 to 8. In the forwards the local men more than held their own against much heavier opponents. The Africans were only really dangerous when the backs got in motion, but even the defence far exceeded expectations. The teams were as follows: Springboks—Full-back, G. P. Morkel; three-quarters, Van Heerden, Strauss, Sendin, Du Plessis, Meyer; halves, J. Michau, J. Tindall; forwards, Piennaar, Mellish, Walk.r, Kruger, Michau, Ellis, Du Plessis, Olliver.

Hawke’s Bay and Poverty Bay.—Fullback, Langlands; three-quarters, Kirwan, Blake, Grenside; five-eighths. P. Tureia, N. Kivell; half, J. Mills; forwards, H. Batchelor, Gemmell, Te Whata, Heeney, J. McNab, M. Brownlie, T. Torrie, A. Kirkpatrick. The visitors kicked off, and almost Immediately their loose work on the home line looked dangerous, but the defenders broke through. Returning to the attack, the Africans met a determined defence. A kick by the home side shifted the venue to half-way. Here a. penalty was awarded against the greens, and from a difficult angle Brownlie failed with the kick. A subsequent exchange of kicks brought play into green territory, but off-side play relieved, the gi\ ns kicking out at halfway. A splendid passing rush through all the local backs was stopped by the green full-back. Then Meyer put in a great run, and was brought down by ! Langlands. The green backs opened out [again, and Van Heerden missed a pass, j Strauss, Sendin and Meyer opened anI other onslaught. The last named kickI in-field, and a splendid mark by Kivell ! enabled the locals to find the line. Kirwan smothered the next attempted on- ; slaught, and then Langlands relieved , i with a couple of good kicks. Morkel failed with an attempt at goal from a penalty from a difficult angle. Loose forward play took the ball into the visitors’ territory. Batchelor smothered Morkel on the line, and from the resulting scrum Strauss secured and kicked' to the twenty-five. The concerted attempt of the visiting backs bore fruit, Meyer dashing over in the corner after twenty-seven minutes’ play. Morkel failed with the®, kick.

Springboks 3 Hawke’s Bay-Poverty Bay .. 0

Soon after resuming Brownlie failed with a kick at goal from between the twenty-five and half-way. Blake tackled Strauss and broke away for the green line, where a score was narrowly averted. .and a scrum five yards out resulted from the line-out. Soon after Gemmell broke through, but Michau intercepted. He, however, was tackled, and then Mills, Blake, Greenside and McNab handled the ball, and the last named scored in a handy position, from which Tureia converted.

Hawke’s Bay-Poverty Bay .. 5 Springboks 3

Sendin went off injured. A free kick just outside the twenty-five was piloted over by Morkel. Springboks 0 Hawke’s Bay-Poverty Bay ~ 5

An exchange of kicks ended in the ball beating Van Heerden in the green territory. Following up, the home forwards formed a serum, from which Mills secured, and, running round, scored cleverly. Tureia failed with the kick.

Hawke's Bay-Poverty Bay .. 8 Springboks 6

Play was in mid-field at half-time. A good deal of loose play, in WnicJi there was careless handling by both sides, characterised the opening stages of the second spell. Morkel missed a kick from a penalty in front of the goal, but Blake relieved the pressure on the home line. Then Ellis made a dash for the line in the corner, but the whistle stopped him. From the scrum the ball went through the green backs, but no ground was gained. A decidedly dangerous situation was saved by Greenside beating Van Heerden for the ball. He was collared by Kruger, and the ball went out at half-way. More or less interesting open forward work followed, in which the tackling of the visitors arrested the onslaughts by the local team adopting similar loose tactics. The greens got into the home territory, where a number of free kicks were awarded against them. Eventually the green backs got in motion, and Van Heerden was pushed into touch. From the line-out Strauss scored and Morkel converted.

Springboks I'l Hawke’s Bay-Poverty Bay .. 8

The greens kept up the attack until a kick from a scrum to half-way relieved. A series of serums followed, from one of which Michau passed to Meyer, to Strauss and Van Heerden, the last named scoring. Morkel failed with the kick.

Springboks 14 Hawke’s Bay-Poverty Bay .. 8

The local team worked play into the green territory. A line kick by Mellish relieved, and further line kicking resulted in the ball going out close to the home line. A free kick for off-side play gave the home team a lift. Batchelor broke through from the line, but Morkel found the line at half-way, Play hovered at half-way until Tureia and Blake got away, and the latter was thrown out at the corner. Another desperate effort was smothered by the green forwards. The local forwards set up an attack and found touch almost on the .green line. From a scrum five yards out an attempt to work the blind side failed. An exciting struggle in front of the goal resulted in the greens gaining ground by their preponderance of weight. A kick to the line at halfway was the last incident of the match, the result being:— ' Springboks 14 Hawke’s Bay-Poverty Bay .. 8 , Mt. ?! Pwaia rsfomd.

N.S.W. v. NEW ZEALANft .

NEW ZEALAND THOROUGHLY BEATEN.

Christchurch, Last Night* ■ At Lancaster Park, in the presence <4 about ten thousand spectators, South Wales defeated New Zealand by 17 points to nil. The day was perfeoQ and the ground in excellent condition. Raymond, Carr, Walker and Smith ■seor«f ed tries, Louden converting one kicking a penalty goal. The game throughout was in favor of the visitor* It was rather uninteresting, and long before the end the crowd made a move towards the gates. New Zealand waa fairly and squarely beaten, and the pads was dog tired before the whistle The team lacked combination, and was beaten in scrums and line-outs. Thq

backs fumbled a lot, and though Roberts made many openings, nothing came of them. The visitors were nippy, their passing being superb, and it would have taken New Zealand’s best fifteen to beatj them. The only weak spot in thniq team was their five-eighths, who, ho<4 ever, was much better than the twi New Zealand five-eighths. Their victory, was very well received, and the crowd! carried them shoulder high oft thq ground. i Roberts, Algar and Evans were thd pick of the home backs, and CumihbQgB and Shearer of the forwards.

VISITORS ENTERTAINED.

Christchurch, Last Night. , The New South Wales and New Zea-* land football teams dined together lartj night, c In proposing the health of thfil New South Wales team, Mr. S. F. son, president of the Canterbury Rugby, Union, and an old New South Wales re< presentative, said the two test match defeats would do New Zealand an immense amount of good. The New South.'.! Wales Rugby Union enthusiasts had. stuck manfully to the game, resisting* the alluring temptations of the Leaguer game, and their victory that day waw some reward for their loyalty. Mr. E. Roberts, the New Zealand, cap-; tain, said the New Soirth Wales men had shown their superiority at every part of the game. He paid a tribute to the visitors for their clean, sporting play. Mr. Bosworth, manager of the New South Wales teain, said the result of the match would do a great amount of good to the union game in New South Wales. It would help greatly to re-es-tablish it in further favor in Sydney. They were disappointed that they had not met New Zealand’s best team, bub they had met a good team, and he hoped they would not be robbed of any credit that was due to them.