RUGBY GREATS
EW ZEALAND’S aristocracy ‘Ys generally agreed to consist of the business and professional classes and the more eminent Rugby players. In conversation, the accolade, "That’s so-and-so, of the great All Black family," tends to replace the more traditional, "That’s so-and-so of the Buckinghamshire so-and-so’s." It is, however, an aristocracy of merit. The blueness of the blood depends directly on the number of tries initiated or scored on the fields of international conflict. A short Who’s Who of Rugby nobility is at present being broadcast from ZB stations .under the title of Rugby Portraits. Written and delivered by the INZBS sports commentator Winston McCarthy, it includes profiles of such Rugby greats as J. B. Smith, Hennie Muller, Bob Scott and Jack Kyle. The picture above shows Scott, famous fullback of the recent touring team, playing against the All Blacks as captain of the Auckland team’in 1951. In his broadcast of Friday, July 2, Winston ‘McCafthy: will deal with the career of J. B. Smith, who played centre three-quarters for New Zealand in 1946, 1947, and 1949..The commentator first heard of. him,.he says, while in a Wairarapa, military camp in 1942. Jack Lamason, who shared a tent with McCarthy, and who had been to an army match in Palmerston North, shook him awake about 3.0. a.m. and announced: "Today I. saw two of the best centres I have ever séen." Even Winston McCarthy’s enthusiasm for Rugby was hardly equal to the occasion. Questioned by The Listener about his new series of broadcasts, Mr, McCarthy
said there would be 13 altogether, all dealing with players, coaches or administrators he had known personally. He was not making comparisons between players of different generations: "I don’t believe in putting one generation against another, any more than one can put Phar Lap against Carbine, or Kindergarten against Phar Lap." The concluding talk, he said, would be about Vic Cavanagh, whom he regarded as the greatest Rugby strategist New Zealand ever had-"the Danie Craven of New Zealand." Rugby Portraits is being broadcast by all ZB stations at 9.30 p.m. on Fridays,
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 31, Issue 779, 25 June 1954, Page 22
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346RUGBY GREATS New Zealand Listener, Volume 31, Issue 779, 25 June 1954, Page 22
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
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