11-5 Test Triumph Breaks Long
Springbok Reign.
By Our Rugby Correspondent.
The long, long trail has ended. New Zealand on Saturday entered the land
Of its rugby dreams by defeating South Africa in a series of test matches.
The score in this memorable test at Eden Park was a goal and two
Penalty goals (11 points) to New Zealand, and a goal (5 points) to South Africa.
From the Rugby point of view, it
Was the day of a lifetime, Not even
The most ardent of Wellingtonians
could have raised a quibble about the
climate, which was all sunshine and
the balmiest of breezes, or the ground,
which was perfect; or even about the crowd, which was very large, extremely enthusiastic, fair-minded and
movingly spontaneous in the way it
sang “God Save the Queen” at the
beginning of the match and “Now Is
the Hour” and “Auld Lang Syne” at
the end of it.
Jones Shines
The game satisfied most people, too.
The want of attacking back play by
The All Blacks was offset by superb
Forward play and an exhibition by the
North Auckland powerhouse, P. F.
Jones, which will almost certainly become legendary. Springbok skill in
Close-quarter forward play and in some
Elusive and swift running in the backs
Was countered by a wonderfully fiery
And well-controlled All Black pack,
Tackling which would certainly rate A1
At Twickenham, and a demonstration
Of fullback play allied to goal kicking,
Which made D. B. Clarke, of Waikato,
Another of the immortals of the match.
The game was fiercely fought,and if the goal obtained by the Springboks in the very last minute of play was pretty well pure luck it was at least a tribute to
the distinction and determination which the team fought for the honor of South Africa.
|
Happily, there were few incidents.
Some early instances of the late tackling by both teams soon disappeared, and
it was not until the second half that
a penalty against an All Black for
using his fists expressed the growing
fierceness of the conflict between the
forwards.
This culminated in a regrettable incident within a few minutes of no-side when R. A. White was kicked
so hard on the spine that he had
to quite the field. Blows were struck
by forwards of both teams as White,
obviously grievously hurt, lay at the
bottom of the melee. Fortunately, Mr
W. H. Fright, the referee, and extremely
cool-headed man, so sternly made it
plain that he would accept no more of
this that the last few minutes were
played as Rugby and not as a brawl.
Deserved Win New Zealand deserved to win. There
could be no question of that. It was
Jones who provided the whole explanation, when, after the match, he
commented on his state of exhaustion.
It was because he and his fellows were
willing to exhaust themselves in the
effort that the Springboks were vanquished, not only in this match but also in the rubber.
As always seems to happen in tests,
Casualties occurred and New Zealand
suffered the more.
White’s departure
three minutes from time was inconsequential, because at that stage the All
Blacks could hardly lose, but from the
Seventh minute of the second half R.
A. Jarden, the left wing, was more or
less a passenger with an arm injury.
The pack had to be reduced to seven
Men while W. H. Clarke took post at
Centre-threequarter. It said a great
deal for both the spirit and physical
power of the New Zealand forwards
that they not only survived the gruelling fight but emerged, on the whole
as the champions.
Basically, the difference between the two teams was one of the tactics. Because of the inadequacies of the New
Zealand backline, the All Black attack
had three essentials—driving play
(which as personified by Jones, developed a tremendous quality) by the
|
forwards, short punting by A. R. Reid,
the halfback, and short or tactical
punting by R. H. Brown, the first five-
eighths. Allied to the superb goalkick-
ing by D. B. Clarke, whose successful
penalties were placed from 48 and 42
yards and who failed by no great margin to score with penalties from 44 and
62 yards, this essentially simple
scheme of attack, diligently applied,
frequently involved the Springboks in
desperate defence.
Spingbok Pattern
By Contrast, the Springboks looked
as if their attack was based upon opportunism rather that upon a designed
plan. Certainly their forward play, especially in scrimmaging, was very
fine and the running among the backs
of C. F. Strydom, the halfback, P. G.
Johnstone, the centre who in the second
Half became flyhalf, and T. P. Briers,
the right wing, was swift and purposeful. Moreover, attacks down the right
hand touchline in the first half, princepally by Strydom and that invaluable
loose forward, D. F. Retief, were skilful
and penetrative. On the whole, however, the All Blacks more successfully and consistently applied the tactics of test winning rugby. |
