In the all-important pivot position at flyhalf there would be direct compe tition between John Larrington and Ronnie McLeod. Ronnie was possibly the more brilliant on his day. John seldom played a bad game. He was quick off the mark, nippy, and handled particularly well. He was a most efficient link and did not overdo the break. Ronnie Mark might have been first choice as a scrumhalf but somehow I feel there will be a better position elsewhere for him in an all-tibmest side even if it is out of position. At least he would find himselfwhere he is always in the game and nothing could please Ronnie better than that. The red-headed Tom Collins, the late-developing Tich Taylor, or Neville Reeves as Larrington's partner? Although he was a little slower, his length of pass and dose understanding with his great personal friend John Larrington gets Neville the position at the base of the scrum. The forwards, as usual, present the biggest problem of all. All excepting the front-rank where the immensely tough Hennie Kruger as tight-head, the blond "Fatty" Calder at loose-head, and the versatile NewtonWalker as hooker would be just about as solid a foundation as one could wish to build upon. They were, all three, lads who could hold their own in any loose play so that ancient or modern,they could fit the rugby bill, it isn't easy to decide from among Curt von Keyseriingk, A. P. Lowe, Tiny Doidge, Adendorff and Alec Coutts as locks. Lowe and Doidge were much ofa height and both were excellent iineout forwards while Lowe tackled like a demon. They would make a pretty stout heart of a scrum. David Munro, the elder Driman, Jack Bertram, Oliver Pearce, Mike Beckett, Derek Robbins, Gordon Booth, Peter Lee, Brian Nichols, Jimmy Howarth, Alan Trentham? Could I fit them inanywhere? The ginger-haired Booth had the most irritating habit (for the opposition) of arriving with his toe just as an opponent was about to pick up a ball. Beckett was a magnificent tackier, Drimanwas a clever forward and Trentham would have done as well on the flank as in the front-rank. Flankers have always required pace and the ability to link with three-quarters so i must go for players with speed, good hands and a sense of the positional. Two such were Ian Coutts and Derek Robbins and it would be their tireless scouting that would get them preference over some pretty good candidates. And so one place remains to be filled; that of number 8 where half-back, half-forward, is the ideal. No one surely fits this bill better than does Ronnie Mark who loved it best when the going was toughest and he could be in the thick of it all. In any case improvisation at Kearsney was nothing new. It was not possible to pick and choose In the early days. K. Dyer, E. Groom, G. Bazley, J. Barratt (capt.) and N. Theunissen; J. Larrington and N. Reeves: H. Kruger, N. Walker, A. Calder, I. Coutts, A. P. Lowe, A. Doidge, D. Robbins, R. Mark. Not a bad side at all. And when one considers that such as Leslie France, Jack Huiett, P. J. Duminy, Philip Hind, Neb Lee, Gordon Gillies, Boyd and Billy King are unable to find (on their school form)final placing in a team,one realises that along the line Kearsney had some pretty fair performers. Some will doubtless complain that they were made to train hard enough and that to be left out of a team was little justice. But the hard grind in getting and keeping fit was not always a burden as many will testify, bless them. C. O. MEDWORTH. 300
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