TEST PROSPECTS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 22 July 1938, Page 5

TEST PROSPECTS

TOMORROW’S RUGBY MATCH IN SYDNEY REVIEW OF AUSTRALIAN TEAM. DOMINION BACKS FASTER. By Telegraph—Press Association. Copyright. (Recd This Day, 9.45 a.m.) SYDNEY, This Day. Though the All Blacks are bound to have a much more formidable task on Saturday than against New South Wales, the consensus of opinion is that they will win the first Test. Doubt about the fitness of the originally chosen players cannot fail to have an unsettling effect on the Australian side though this is altogether better balanced than was the New South Wales team. Wilson and Ramsay, as props to the experienced hooker Bonis, comprise the solidest front row for years. The locks, Hutchinson and Kelly, are ideally matched physically. Both are conscientious scrummagers. Hodgson is in the right place as sideman. He and Oxlade, both expert breakaways, are expected to disturb the Saxton-Berghan harmony. Kerr, the Victorian third row man, is tall and fast. He excelled in the lineout in inter-State fixtures. The main weakness of New South Wales was the centre and Mitchell clove through at will. It is expected that the Queensland pair, Lewis and Hayes will “shut the gate.” Both aregood tacklers. Rankin is likely to hold his own as full-back. Nevertheless, even if the Australian forwards cut even. New Zealand has a definite advantage in a much faster back division. The pace of the backs will be a vital factor. Moreover, in another key position, New Zealand is likely to be far better served than Australian. Saxton, the half-back, is much superior to Stone in all phases. His passing gives Berghan and Sullivan a chance to secure a depth in attack entirely lacking in Stone’s service to Richards. An interesting sidelight is that the Queenslander Oxlade is making his debut on July 23. That was the date, thirty-four years ago, on which his father played his first game for Australia against a British team. Oxlade senior subsequently captained an Australian side in New Zealand.