"HAPPY BOYS."

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 130, 4 June 1930, Page 8

"HAPPY BOYS."

BRITISH RUGBY TEAM;

FOND OF "DIM" BAXTER.

TRULY DEMOCRATIC PARTY.

FELLOW TRAVELLER'S OPINION.

"Really a very charming lot of fellows, out-and-out sportsmen, and very keen on all kinds of games," stated Mr. T. B. Gusscott, when asked by a "Star" reporter to-day to give his impressions of the members of the British Rugby team as ho found them as fellowpassengers aboard the s.s. Rangitata from England to Wellington. Mr. Gusscott, a director of the well-known firm of J. R. McKenzie, Ltd., and an old boy of Auckland Sacred Heart College, took a particular interest in the British footballers on the voyage. The whole ship's company, he says, found them quite delightful fellow passengers. He, hjmself, had not the least difficulty in cultivating their acquaintance*, for they were'a sociable, party of young fellows, tremendously interested in all they saw on their travels, and particularly keen to learn all they could about New Zealand—the country, as well as its football. Indeed, as his friendship with several members of the party ripened he discovered there were a few of the party who had at the back of their minds a strong desire to find opportunities for settling in the Dominion.

Thoroughly Democratic. "Yes," said Mr. Gusscott, "they are a thoroughly democratic party, whose ordinary work in life ranges from iron T worker and dockhand by way of commerce to the professional ranks, with a policeman thrown in to round off the circle. Strangely enough, the only one who was sick was the policeman, who has proved to be easily upset by either boat or train travel. This is no doubt the reason that Bassett, the team's crack full-back, has not had a run in any of the team's opening four matches in New Zealand."

. ."Probably your readers might be interested to know the occupations of a few of the players, as I learned from them in the course of the voyage. Well, there are:—

Dai Parker, dockhand.

H. Rew, member of Tank Corps. Tom Murray, house surgeon Dublin hospital. T. Jones-Davies, medical student, St. George's Hospital, London. J. Bassett, policeman.

H. O'Neill, agricultural student, Belfast University. Ivor Jones, worker in iron foundry. G. R. Beamish, lieutenant in Flying Corps.

Harold Jones, accountant. T. C. Knowles, manufacturer hardware business with his father. J. L. Farrell, farmer outside Dublin. R. Spong, manufacturing business with his father. M. Dunne, law student in Dublin. B. Black, South African Rhodes scholar at Oxford.

Novis, Sobey and Aarvold, Cambridge University students.

D. Ken'drew, only 19 years old, but likely to go for the Army:

Confidence in Manager.

"As you sec, there are all classes and conditions among the 29 players, and, as they came from all parts of the three kingdoms and the principality, very few of them had known each other previously. But I observed that they are without exception a very abstemious and well-behaved lot of young fellows, and they chummed up wonderfully. Already fast friendships had been made by the end of the voyage among a number who had never seen one another before getting on the boat. The manager, Mr. James Baxter, himself, I think, a bachelor, appeared to be a most' tactful man. I should say that he is of the hind that appeals to the average New Zealander as typical of the English conservative gentleman. But to the members of the team, every one, he is 'Biin" Baxter, universally liked, and he has landed the mixed party in New Zealand unquestionably a" very happy family. To take charge of 29 players from so many different sources, practically strangers to one another, and to himself, and see them through a voyage in which they were cooped up for a month without a single note of friction, argues beyond doubt that Mr. Baxter is a tactful man with his team.

"Most of the party are turned out in plus fours. This, of course, does not mean that they all play golf, but quite a number of them do, and are very keen on the game. I observed that they are nearly all good Cancers, and also that quite a large section is strong on playing poker, while another section is fond of bridge. But, above all, they are camera fiends, so much so that when the Rangitata reached Wellington the ship's stock of film, printing paper and other camera accessories had been exhausted for some days. In diversity of accent they are Britain in tabloid. The New Zealander will naturally pick out the strong English element by the slight drawl which we are pleased to call the affected Oxford accent. From Bonner they will hear a broad Yorkshire accent, O'Neill has a heavy Scotch-Irish brogue, Farrell will treat the Irish to a real breath of Ould Ireland, Parker has a decided Welsh intonation, while Dunne and Murray have that., delightfully pure Dublin speech which has become famous as a model of spoken. English. Ivor Jones, by the way, never speaks English at all in his employment at Llanelly, but one would not suspect that when he is on holiday.

The Right Spirit. "These boys," declared Mr. Gusscott, "are taking thefr football tour seriously. They trained very hard coming out on the boat. Twenty minutes*of hard physical jerks before breakfast; a lecture on tactics by the manager or captain at 11.30 a.m.; in the afternoon a strenuous.scrum practice, until the perspiration teemed off them; then ballpassing practice in a netted enclosure. That was the daily programme for all, and in addition several of them went in for private practice. Although abstemious at all times, they cut out drink of any sort some days before the end of the voyage. There was also noticeable a' very great keenness to get into the Test matches; all wanted to get the honour. Baesett and Sobey were looked on as the only certainties. All seemed very anxious to put up a good record, and were rather nervous about their early games, the results of which are bound to be immensely pleasing to them. The committee in charge of training aboard were the manager, the captain, Farrell and Bowcott, while Novis and Beamish took charge of the training on alternate days. __ ♦'One thing'is certain; there will he no question of colour line with them. They were most keenly interested in anything they could learn about the Maoris, and are looking forward with th'e greatest interest to their match against the Maori team."