THE FIRST TEST.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18220, 3 November 1924, Page 9

THE FIRST TEST.

. ♦ tf.Z. UP SIX POINTS. IRELAND FAILS TO SCORE. MAGNIFICENT VANGUARDS. f«T CABLE— PBBBS ASSOCIATION— COFTBIOiIrt iBSWaUax ajtd w.z. cable association.) /jjereived November 2nd, 5.5 p.m) LONDON, November 1. The All Blacks played their first international match against Ireland at poblin to-day, and after a well-eon-teltcd game emerged victorious by G points to 0. The New Zealand team was as rfjiows:— WJ Ncpia gjjt Lucas Svenson Cooke Nichoils Parker Dalley Irvine Donald 3L Brownlie Masters Cupples Bichardson White Pleurisy prevented the inclusion of Stewart in the Irish side, which waß: Crawford H. Stephenson G. Stephenson Gardiner T. Hewitt F. Hewdtt McDowell B, Collopy Crichton Collis McLelland McVicker Spain Clinch Brand Intense interest was taken in tho first appc arance tne famous Dominion players, whose chances were strongly favoured, and even before the day it was known a huge crowd was assured. This expectation was fully borne out, as the attendance numbered 26,000. i. The spectators gave an enthusiastic welcome to the visitors when they filed on to the ground. New Zealand lost the toss and kicked off against a strong wind. It was early seen that Ireland had put in the field a heavy, well-balanced team that was in excellent condition. They stood op boldly to their formidable opponents, and it was not surprising with tho reputation the Irish forwards have gained in the last two or three years, that they made a most creditable fight of it. The first incident of note was a - brilliant rush by the All Black forwards ending in Parker putting in a well-judged cross-kick. Hart gathered it in. his stride and a thrill went through tho crowd as he dashed for the ■ line. The full-back, Crawford, however, w as equal to the occasion, and got there in time to hold up the Taranaki winger by inches only. "With a fine kick up the side line Clinch removed the ball out of danger. A series of scrums and lines-out followed, in which Ireland ably held its own, showing equally good form with the New Zealanders, but their backs' attempts at passing were entirely m-.::i----fled by the All Blacks' terrific tackling, wlich, indeed, was the most striking fixture of the opening stages.. They % haW greatly improved in this branch ?\ of the game, which at one time was '" & decided weakness in' their play. Their keenness led them into some infraetions of the rules and the majority "otjfthe penalties awarded were against Ijitti. From one of these Crawford, tjgb was kicking splendidly, narrowly rifte'd a goal. *, helped very much by the wind, the Irishmen were able to keep the game ,' in their adversaries' territory for quite 'J*long time, until a fine passing rush, )'} in which the ball passed through the of Nichoils, Cooke and Lucas, '**Jtaost enabled Hart to score. Again . v ;<tesermined collaring just stopped him &A -to- time. '? >I -Both setß of forwards were playing a %n»gnificent game and giving a dashing ', exhibition* jT "The Irishmen displayed remarkable ><fcptitude for smothering the All Blacks from the base of the scrum, jlftttd so Clipped off the attempts of the to get going. Both teams, in ij'jjwt, aresorted to spoiling methods, and !jf. to" game therefore was very close ?j£ (j jrithout much room for scientific i against the wind, could not h - afford to take risks and eould hardly do \wything else but keep the game tight 1 it was near their goal, nor were \" tkey disposed to let their opponents ' v 4seji it out. 'i Both sides kept up a great pace and, : if not scientific, the play was decidedly robust and hard. :/: Ifteholla, Dalley and Parker were for fine defensive work at stage, Nichoils' kick* into touch "-T being specially certain and effective. gruelling work, however, began ' to tell its tale, and before the first half 'trended there were signs that the pace i*'sju having an effect on the home side. Y_.!feW Zealand began more and more to %* 'get possession of the ball, but the hacks, though passing brilliantly, were to penetrate the Irishmen's I;* Sturdy defence, and the spell e»ded * -*rfciM| tt t any score. !the resumption of play the All ■m immediately took the offensive, orwards excelling themselves with effective dribbling rushes, while i and Nichoils, both playing brily, inspired their colleagues in the division by their example. The i player was magnificent, Selling all faultlessly and kicking a won--1 length. se again the conditions »ly favoured the home side, was really extraordinarily bad for the New Zealanders after battling against the wind ie first half, it Bhould veer comly round and again blow from bcIreland, this time accompanied eavy rain squalls. Nothing could been worse for the visitors, but faced the heavy task with resoluind undiminished vigour. ter twentv minutes of hard, gruelplay the All Black forwards, devola tremendous loose attack, which letely broke the opposition up er secured the ball and passed te », and he ianded it on to Svenson,

who crossed the line half-way from the corner, to score a thoroughly deserved tr J'- Nepia's kick failed. New Zealand .. i. Ireland .. O Five minutes later Nicholls landed a superb goal from a penalty kick. >• New Zealand ... ~.6 Ireland .. .. 0 The New Zcalanders' heeling our from the scrum improved as the ganv? progressed, but the chances this gave the backs of promising passing move ments were nullified by their inability to handle the greasy ball with certainty. T. Hewitt (Ireland) retired hurt at this juncture. Notwithstanding their disadvantage the All Blacks had clearly assertcu their supremacy, and twice Hart was j almost across. Nothing but their mag j nificent tackling saved Ireland. F. s Hewitt was particularly conspicuous in defence. The game ended—--11 New Zealand .. ..6 Ireland .. 0 The match was contested in the finest possible spirit, and aroused the great mass of. onlookers to the highest pitch of enthusiasm. f The battle between the forwards : was the most notable feature of the game. All through both packs fought desperately for every inch of ground. New Zealand's success was primarily due to the collective excellence of the vanguard, who fulfilled the greatest exs pectations. Notwithstanding their obstinate defence, the Irishmen were a beaten team in the second half, and had the turf 3 remained dry it is agreed that the All Blacks would probably have put up 7 20 points against them. Brownlie, White, Richardson and • Chippies were prominent, but in jus- > tice to the remaining forwards it must be added that all alike played magnifiJ cently. The display of both full-backs I was also another outstanding feature of the day. Dalley rose meritoriously • to the occasion, but Cooke and Lucas ' did not appear to handle the ball with ! their nsual sureness. Svenson, on the ' wing, was comparatively neglected. I Parker was possibly the most brilliant " player of all on the day, showing out > consistently well both in attack and 5 defence. i New Zealand was penalised eight ' times in the first half, chiefly through mistakes in scrum play, but fared 1 better in the next spell, when only six • penalties were givon, three of them i against Parker. Luckily they were I mostly out of easy range of the goal. > The stamina of both sides was ex--5 ceptional, and a tremendous pressure • was maintained throughout. 1 The game from beginning to end was ■ qnite up to the best international t Btandard. During the final exciting stages, when the All Blacks were mostly in the - ascendancy threatening to score i at any moment, the people were roused i to Buch. a pitch of excitement that ' thousands stood in the pouring rain, regardless of the weather, cheering , frantically. ; The negotiations for a game in ■ British Columbia remain indefinite till . the homeward route is decided on. It ; has been suggested that the tour . should end with the match' against ■ France at Toulouse, and the team ' should return by Suez Canal. > A MUD FIGHT. 5 THE GLOUCESTER MATCH. (By A. J. Harrop, M.A.) 5 (Special Eepresentative of "The , Press.") 1 GLOUCESTER, September 25. 1 The All Blacks seem doomed to wet weather for their matches, and if the 1 British winter is as moist as the sum- ' mer has been, the team will not have much chance of showing how good it is. 5 In comparing the scores of the present ' tour with those of 1905, it must be re- ' membered that fine weather favoured 3 most of the games of the original AH \ Blacks. So far the present side has had three mud fights and on© decent game —against Cornwall. 3 I haive" just come from the Gloucester grcund after seeing the AIL Blacks > win by two tries to none, as in the b Somerset match—with the difference , that in this game the first try came earlv, and New Zealand supporters 6 were not quite so keyed up throughout > the game as at Weston-super-Mare. Yet i with the score at 3—o for most of the game, we had nc chance of feeling really comfortable. With Corbett, the » Gloucester captain and English Jnternar tional, playing a good game, there was always the chance of a quick breakaway and an equalising score. fc Constant Attack. 1 The game itself needs little deserip- . tion—or rather it deiies description. At ! half-time the Gloucester half of the grcund was chumed up by the feet ot the two teams. The >.ew Zealand half 3 was practically untouched. The bal- . ance was adjusted on the change of > ends—and that was practically the whole story. From the first the New 5 Zealand forwards attacked with determination. Porter was here, there, and 3 everywhere. He aud Hart got away 1 together, but the latter was pushed out. I was keenly interested in Hart's play after the criticism it had received 1 m Australia, and I was pleasantly sur- > prised. It is true that he missed sevi eral passes, but sordid everybody else. 8 The wonder was that they did not drop more. The next prospect of a New Zealand e score came from a penalty awarded s acainst Gloucester for offside play, but T Nicholls failed at goal, though the shot • was a good one. The forwards kept up a continual pressure on the Gloucester line, and finally Donald went over for s a try, Nepia's kick failing. Porter u was again conspicuous in the loose and , he nearly got over on his own. Richardson headed a loose forward rush, 8 but Gloucester came away. A high 1 kick across had Nepia thinking, but . Nicholls backed wo quickly and relieved , with a good line kick. Dally had a shot , at goal from a mark without result. 1 Nepia was next conspicuous for a gfelj? 1 line kick. Soon afterwards he had a t kick at goal from a penalty, which ,_ went over, but was disallowed presumably because it -toadied one of the Gloucester men. The All Blacks started a I- good passing movement, but Hart failj. Ed to gather the ball. Corhett kicked b through to an opening, but Dalley sared with a good line-kick. Nicholls ?• stopped a loose rush c * the Gloucester o forwards by throwing himself on the l# ball, and then picking himself up be-

gan a straight dash which gained about twenty yards. Half-timo was called with no addition to the score. On resuming, the All Blacks took play quickly to Gloucester territory. Nepia sent a rather risky cross-kick to' Hart, who had two or three Gloucester men on top of him, but he managed to clear. The New Zealand backs were showing great speed in attack, but the wet ball defied any attempts at consistent passing. The Gloucester backs showed one spasmodic spark of brilance, but it soon flickered out. and the siege of the Gloucester .line was resumed. Eventually Dalley kicked ahead, and Nichollfl carried the ball on for Richardson to secure and pass to Donald. The latter scored his secend try, and time was called soon after Nepia had made a pood attempt to convert from the side-line. Little Cause for Cheer. Beyond the fact that the New Zealand Jiuc was kept intact, there was little to be enthusiastic about in the \ll Blacks' performance. The conditions prohibited brilliant passing, but the backs hardly excelled in making such openings for themselves as Cooke made when he scored against Somerset. McGregor and Nicholls played solidly, the latter's defence being remarkably good. The three-quarter line was not inspiring. Nepia has yet to make. a serious error, although ne has been subject to 6ome exceedingly trying conditions. The forwards were superior to Gloucester in the loose, hut they failed to secure the hall in the scrams, and it is becoming increasingly apparent that the backs will have to initiate most of their movements from the loose. The team now makes its invasion of Wales io meet Swansea, whom the Old Invincibles defeated by a potted goal to a try. Swansea have been training hard to wipe out that defeat, and tho All Blacks have at last a chance of putting up a better performance, as far as points go, ISan their predecessors. TNeW Zealand beat Swansea bv 39 points to throe.]