SPRINGBOKS ON TOUR

New Zealand Listener, Volume 31, Issue 804, 17 December 1954, Page 13

SPRINGBOKS ON TOUR

SPRINGBOK STORY, 1949-1953, by Danie Craven; A. H. and A. W. Reed, N.Z. price 16/-. ' S an international player, highly successful coach, and author of the best existing manual on the game, Danie Craven is a Rugby authority whose opinions merit serious study. His new book is essentially an account of the 1951 Springbok tour of Britain and France, although it contains sections on the 1949 All Blacks and the 1953 Wallabies. He attributes the failure of the 1949 All Blacks to realise their full

potentialities to tenseness and overemphasis on physical rather than tactical training. Having learnt in some bitter controversy after the 1949 tour that his polemical zeal could lead him into regretted indiscretions, Dr. Craven now writes so cautiously that the account of the wonderfully successful 1951 Springbok tour is a little disappointing. Rarely does he lift the iron curtain of his reticence on significant matters, although he is amiably expansive over trivialities. The chapter "Old Soldiers Never Die’ arouses the suspicion that the Springboks are not only the best Rugby players in the world, but also the most fanatical. Welshmen and New Zealanders who doubt this heresy should read the account of how and why the dangerously concussed Ryk van Schoor returned to the field in the Irish international. As Dr. Craven is obviously an extremely shrewd practical psychologist, it is interesting to note his faith in the therapeutic value of team singing and practical jokes for a touring team liable to staleness and boredom. It appears that his talents as a writer lie in exposition rather than description, as he becomes appreciably more fluent in his excellent concluding chapter, "Lessons." Although his comments refer to South African Rugby, most of what he says is certainly relevant in this country. Above everything else, he stresses the fundamental importance of good handling by every man in a team of international calibre. The illustrations include three cartoons and some beautifully produced photographs which are more suited to

a souvenir booklet.

R.G.

W.