23 JANUARY 1932, Page 3

The Springboks The South African tour ended triumphantly at hlurrayfield

last Satlirday. When the team first arrived, with a pack averaging six feet in height and fourteen and a half stone in weight, they had an air of the in- vincible which their subsequent record did nothing to belie. They won all four of the international games, and in twenty-six, matches they were only beaten once. If on the whole the British lion went without his share of

the luck, this was due rather to the inspired opportunism of his opponents than to the cruelty of Fate. The South Africans, like most of our colonial visitors, had the advantage of us in team play, and their tactics—close, unrelenting scrummage-work varied by the tremendous kicking of their backs—were pursued with intelligent perseverance and rewarded by success. We shall look forward to seeing them again. However our relations with our Dominions come to be modified, it is difficult to foresee a day when athletic rivalry will not provide a strong bond of friendship and understanding.