UNIQUE BANQUET.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 188, 11 August 1930, Page 13

UNIQUE BANQUET.

GATHERING OF RUGBY VETERANS. HT'J> DISSENTIENT VOICE. ' v POBTER ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT. (By Telegraph.—-Press Association.) WELLINGTON, this day. The British team was entertained at dinner on Saturday night by the New Zealand Rugby Union, when the Prime Minister the leaders of the Opposition and the Labour party, and Hon. A. T. Ngata and the Speaker (Mr. Statham, who is also president of the New' Zealand Football Association) were present. The gathering was unique, as members of All. Blacks tours from 1903 onwards were present, and other veterans of Rugby, the doyen.being Mr. Munro, who captained the first representative team to visit New Zealand in 1870. Then came Mr. G. : Harding, leader of the British team of 1908, also Mr J. Kissick, who captained the Army team, and Dr. McEvedy, who played with Sivright's 1904 team and the Anglo-Welsh team of 1908. The Prime Minister, Mr. Forbes, eulogised the visitors' sportsmanship and splendid play throughout the tour. Mr. Baxter expressed regret at the injury to .Nicholls. and other New Zealanders. "Your forwards to-day," he said, "were magnificent." He appreciated the hospitality shown the team, and the spirit in which the games Were played. ' - •Prentice, the British captain, congratulated New Zealand on the win. Porter,, the New Zealand captain, salid he Chose this as a happy time to end his Rugby career. It had been.a hard game to win, and he felt he could not find a better time to announce his intention to retire. , . Aarvold, captain of the English Test team, proposed the toast of the referee, Mr. F. Sutherland, who, in reply, congratulated both teams, especially the British, for the way they had accepted the verdict.