ALL BLACKS.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18264, 24 December 1924, Page 11

ALL BLACKS.

—_ ♦ yiEW OF ENGLISH TEAM.; NEWCOMERS "GOOD EATLNG." ' (bt cablx—pbbss association—coptjuqht) (AUSTBaLIAS AND K.Z. CABLE ASSOCIATION.) LONDON, December 22. The New Zealanders are not underestimating the English side for the Test match, but are of opinion that the selectors have made a great mistake in scrapping too many of the men who put England at the top of. the international championship in the past two seasons. They describe several of the newcomers as "good cating." The New Zealanders intend to put their strongest side in the field against London on December 27th. X THE MISSING FORWARD. In the cabled list of the English players who are to meet the All Blacks in the Rugby Test on January 3rd ono forward was missing—J. Htllard, of Oxford University. Apparently the omission occurred during transmission of the message from Wellington to Christchurch, as the name appeared in tho Wellington papers. CIVIC WELCOME AT DEAL. (AUSTRALIA* AND K.Z. CABLX ASSOCIATION.) (Received December 23rd, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, December 22. The New Zealanders havo arrived at Deal. They receroed a civic welcome. STILL WINNING. TACTICS AT TWICKENHAM. (SFICULLT W*ITTSH TOB "in P*MS.") (By Colonel Philip Trevor, C.8.E.) LONDON, November 18. T shall only touch briefly on the tour oi' the New Zealanders in the North 6i England, which was interrupted by a couple of games in Ireland. It was a case of victory all the way and every time, as I had expected it would be. The all-conquering band returned and began its march on London, halting momentarily at Cambridge, and here a surprise was in store for them, and for us. Cambridge University were known to have a very good pack of forwards, what may be called a real pack as we understand forward play in England. In combination fTiese eight young men had proved themselves to be excellent, and though Tucker and Macmyn are perhaps the best two performers among them, the reputation this pack 'had justly earned was not even indirectly duo to the prowess of any one particular individual. Now on the Saturday .prior to their match against New Zealand Cambridge University played Leicester, who for some years past liave definitely adopted the seven forward formation, and incidentally they pack three-two-two. Tucker and Macmyn were being rested on (that occasion prior to tho big match in the ensuing week against New Zealand. Great then was my surprise to see the eight Cambridge forwards routed, utterly routed, by the Leicester seven. As I watched I could not help coming to a rather distressing conclusion: "If they are treated like this by the seven Leicester forwards, how will they be treated next Wednesday by the seven New Zealand forwards?" For it should be remembered that the' New Zealanders had already given Leicester a very complete thrashing. You can imagine then* the enthusiasm of the spectators, the majority of whom were Cam'bridge undergraduates, when they noted that the 'Varsity pack were making the famous tourists desperately anxious. Responding to the encouragement of loud and long continued cheering, those eight undergraduate lads kept it up to the bitter end, and only by reason of tho clever opportunism of Mill, did the New Zealanders preserve, their unbroken record of'victories. v > The weather wa« vile, and it was a battle in the mud, but we who watched closely were made to realise that oven in a quagmire pace and instantaneousiipss can be made to pay. Often .did the Cambridge forwards slowly press the New Zealand forwards back and then by a dash flip seven would regain the ground which the steady and solid work of their eight younger opponents had caused them to lose. Frankly, it was not by. any means a great match for New Zealand, their bac,ks found the greasy ball and tho treacherous turf too much for them. At first they essayed some hand to hand passing. They soon abandoned the attempt so once again we were made aware of theii; specif limitation, the only limitation which challenges the claim made on their behalf that thev aro ''the greatest ever." Their backs are not old-time Welshmen in the mud. I say , "old-time" Welshmen advisedly. Whew-the Cardiff Club in an ever memorable game overwhelm* ed the South Africans, Gabe Nicholls tand Co. approached tho marvellous. I walked across that field of play prior to the commencement of the match, and like Agag of old. I had' to tread delicately, vet the Welshmen, besides handling That greasy ball as if it had dry, side-stepped and swerved as if the turf was also dry. Those oldtime heroes have not passed oii the secret to their successors. The Twickenham Match. When Londoners on the following day read what had happened at Cambridge to the terrible New Zealandel's, they took heart, and it was with joyful anticipation that they made their way in their thousands to Twickenham on the following, Saturday. Surely the specially selected forwards of experience in the London pack must be better than these Cambridge lads. True the rain held off. but though the ball Tv'as'dry, the going was rather heavy, and in the first half of the big match at Twickenham the hopoful crowd began to reassure itself, nor from the point of the view of those who had not seen the New Zealanders before was this assurance (or reassurance) unjustified. It is true that at half-time the London pack had not done anything remarkable,"but for a matter of that, neither had the New Zealand pack. I would here add by wav of parenthesis that the iight scrummaging of both packs all through the game was ragged and slwenly. I often thought _ the referee could have interfered advantage. A few free ki< ■'. :- might have produced more careful forming. However, his patience held- London ought to have established a one-point lead at half-time, bat Brownlie, of all people, was left unmarked at a line-out in the London twenty-five, and he is the last man to fail to use practically a chance of that, kind, This was a criminal sin of omission, Brownlie had already scored a try, and if ever a

man bad labelled himself "danger,' Brownlie bad. The crowd knew that veil enough, and I listened with interoet to to? at least plausible argument that was popular during the interval ''What about this talk of tho Now Zealand backs. "Where are they ? They no done nothing but kick. They haven't scored, and thev haven't looked like scoring. Tho All Blacks have got two tries, and they've converted them. Granted, but that big giant of a forward, Brownlie, got 'em both, and ho ought never to have been allowed to get the second. And haven't we got two tries? We got ours by hand passing in our three-quarter line, and twice has the same wine nian C ot through their defence. If thev just get the ball out to Millar nnd Wickes, we shall win. As I say. it all sounded plausible enough. *I admit I was inclined to bepuzzled. Wliy hadn't the New Zealand baclts given their opponents a touch of real New Zealandism? I had a shrewd iu a that it was coming, but why the d.-lav? Were thev sure of tiring out the Englishmen before thev let loose the race against them? Thinking it over, I am not convinced that the winers played the waiting game by deliberate"" design. Anyhow, after halttime, they rearranged their back division." Pafker went out on the right wing, and subsequently they romped to victory. It was "Swansea" all over again, straight running, mutual un<|&rstanding, dummy stepping, accurate giving and taking of passes, and it was) all done at top speed. It was magnificent. I find it hard to say which ot the cluster of backs behind the New Zealand scrummage was, during ' the second half, the best man. Mill, McGregor and Nicholls cbufd not do wrong then, and the bigger the thing that was attempted the < better it. succeeded. These three could,, had they been selfish, have done enough to ensure victory, but they called oh Cooke .nnd Parker to help' and the result was the rout of London. • People in New Zealand will, I think, be interested to hear that the members o; tho crowd (an educated and intelligent one) despite the falsification of their early prophecies and consequent chagrin, went away with nothing but praise of the winners, and they pondered the future as well they might. The English backs were too slow, quite apart from the fact that their scrum half found the job in hand too big for him, and when you say nowadays that backs arc slow it is tantamount to saying that they aro negligible in attack. It was a great victory that was won and it was thoroughly deserved. If what happened in the matter of policy was tho outcome of plan in advance, I congratulate heartily those responsible for it. Tactically they were right, but I shall venture to insist that psychologically they were wrong. When an English team which' rather expects to be beaten (as was the case in this instance) is alloWed to establish a lead, it is»very apt'to continue to play above form for the rest of the game, "in this peculiarity (though for the opposite reason) it is like the hare which runs itself stiff and dies standing on all four legs. I am, as I always was, in favour of nearly every form of risk-running at Rugby football. One/only appals me and that is the lie—doggo risk. Anyhow, you see the New Zealanders are still winning. As T write their record up "to date is before me. They have played eighteen matches and won them all. Only 48 points (that is to say on an average less than one try a match) have been scored against ttienl, while their own total of points is 435. Are they better fnan the All Blacks of 1905? English football has improved out of all knowledge (so far as team work is concerned) in the last seventeen years, so I will leave you who read to decide that question for yourselves. CAMBRIDGE MATCH. HARD STRUGGLE IN THE MUD. (written- "the tress.'') (By L. Simpson.) LONDON, November 13. The seventeenth match of tho tour, against Cambridge, was played on the University football ground, Cambridge, yesterday, before 6000 spectators. A worse day could hardly be imagined. Wain fell continuously. The ground was very wet, and soon worked' up into a quagmire, both sides being hardly distinguishable towards the end! of tho game. The pace was a cracker, and as a game to watch under such wretched conditions it was one of the best possible, and 3-eally brilliant football was seen. The spectators were treated to seme of tho best tackling any game of football has produced. It was deadly. Tho strength of the New Zealanders was particularly noticeable m their amazing fastness and sure and severe tackling. Up to this game they have been' very weak in tackling, and it was, very pleasant to see them all exfcel. There was a large number of students present, and they kept their side in good spirits with good-natured "barrack.'' Each side received a splendid welcome as it marched on the field. From the kick-off the excitement was intense, and it continued throughout, for there was not a dull moment. There was no score in tho first half, and it was fifteen minutes after halftime when New Zealand wore five points up. Dangerous Qollegians. The 'Varsity side owed everything to their forwards', who included six Blues. The dribbling of these fine forwards was remarkable with such a sodden ball. Thev would travel fifteen to thirtv yards with perfect combination. These 'movements were often dangerous, and took a deal of stopping. It was heie the New Zealanders shone, and their blocking and smothering tactics were always successful, and likely scores were saved. The 'Varatv hacks, containing four Blues, were a fast and clever lot. Thev handled the wet ball better than the New Zealanders. Thenweakness lay in their centre-three-quart-ers. The winders. Sir T. G. Devitt and W Rowe-Harding, are a wonderful oair. and had thev been bety served bv their centres with decent passes it is possible the result of the £?*»« would have heen different. Tliev handled the he.-tw. slippery ball as if it were drv. Cantidn Young, just returned from South Africa with the team, plsye'l a ni"e p»me at half Never once did l*t his side down. He received the 1v »ll frequently from the serum, and onlv tho failure rvf the infide ba-ks spoilt raanv promising movements-initiated by him. His cathering ur> "f the wet ball while travelling ton speed, pleased the spectators immensely. "Fight for Their Lives.'• The All Blacks had to fight for their lives. They were often sorely fested. Their defence; wag perfection to a degree. It is doubtful if any team has ever left the field more pleased than they were whon the referee blew for time. The forwards worked well, but some of them have been seen to much better advantage. The 'Varsity forwards obtained the ball more often from the scrums', while the tall Xctf Zealanders were more successful in the linc-onts. The All Blacks were also good in the loose, although they were often beaten for possession. Thoy did most of the attacking, except in the latter part of the game, when 'Varsity became very dangerous. Richardson played lock, but did not appear to like his new position. He played a fine game, and led the New Zealand forwards well. He had bad

luck in not being awarded tho try he scored. The 'Varsity full-back kicked the ball back over the goal line, and Richardson, following up fast, touched down, but the referee ordered a scrum at the spot where, the ball had been kicked from. McClcary played a good game. Ho does not put quite enough '•'devil" in his work, but he is willing. Cupplcs in an honest grafter. His height is useful in the line-outs. Parker, although suffering from a severe cold, played another masterly game. Ho showed some line dribbling ability. He was always where the ball was, and was of great assistance to tho backs. Mill was in his element in tho mud. Ho is a dangerous player when attacking near the goal line. When he scored tho winning try ho obtained the ball from sonic loose play and cut through the disorganised opposition to score under the posts. It was one of his best efforts and a great try. Nicholls played well. Ho led the backs excellently and was good on defence. Tho star player was McGregor. As in his previous game be was all out and again played brilliantly. He is a tiger for work. Covered ,from bead to foot in mud, be never slackened from whistle to whistle. Tlio selectors will find it hard to leave him out of tho test. Bobilliard played his second frame of the tour, ami was sound. He has great determination and brought off some good tackles, especially one in which he saved a certain score. Hart played well. He had his work cut out in watching Harding. Brown showed signs of improvement. His line kicking was good. Xepia, usual, filled the last lino of defence with ability. Tlio game was played in the true 'Varsity snirit, and was controlled by Mr T. TT. Vile (Newport), whose rulings were often not too well received by tho New Zealanders, especially when he disallowed Richardson's try, and when he blew his whistle for £mie when tiio New Zealanders were on the verge of scoring. The ball was still in play and the stoppage was a most unusual happening. DAZZLING PLAY * ■ AGAINST LONDON COUNTIES. CUTTING IN AND "SELLING THE DUMMY." - a (waimtf job "thi pkbss.") (By L. Simpson.) LONDON, November 16. The New Zealanders' smashing defeat of tlie London fifteen yesterday makes good reading. Tho tourist* have now scored 104 tries, with the brilliant points aggregate of 435 against 48. The weather was ideal, and ther© was much enthusiasm, aa this was tho first appearanco of the New Zealanders before a critical London crowd. There were over 40,000 i people at Twickenham, and let it be said it was tjlo most impartial crowd one could wish to see. Tho victory will cause the critics to think, for they haro been singing tho praises of the London fifteen, and tho New Zealanders are now wondering how they will twist. It was a fino game to watch, fast, hard, and clean. There were nmny exciting moments, especially in the first spell, with the score fluctuating New Zealand 5, London 3; London 6, New Zealand 5; Now Zealand 10, London 6. The vast crowd got their money's worth in this spell alone. In tho second spell the New Zealanders altered their positions. Parker went into the threequarters line,-and Mill put the ball in the scrums. Tho change worked wonders for in this spell the All Blacks rattled on 2l points in brilliant fashion. As each try was scored tho crowd showed' its appreciation by loud applause. The Londoners im-© led by W. «■. Wakefield, the English captain and International, who has a great reputation. They say- he owes it to hie thorough determination and concentration, and what he does not know about forward play is not worth knowing. _On twenty occasions ho has won the English jersey. His height is Wt> and weight 14st. Londoners will now realise that tb© New; Zealandera are a fine side. Although they-held the New Zealanders in the Arab spell fairly well, London weV© obviously outclassed in the eocond haif. They Jacked the speed and the finer points of the game. TJieir eight forwards were'beaten for possession in the scrums more often than toe New Ze&bmd seven, and their forwaroa could not last the tremendous <paoa. Their inside backs were much inferior to the New Zealanders. Their two wingers were better .and played splendid games. Especially Miller, who Bcorett two tries from beautiful passing boute. He has a great turn of speed. There was nothing outstanding amongst the others. ' Tho New Zealandera a htUe more than held their own in the first spell. Occasionally they were called on to defend, and it is queationaWe if anyone could have stopped Miller's tries. Taken all through their defence was : sound. M. Brownlie had a, day out after his ehort spell. He played a wonderful game and scored two tries, the first being a fine* effort. All the others played well. Donald and Irvine made successful front rankers. Richardson scored a fine try from a pasa from Cooke. Mill played a apod gam© and showed a clean pair of heels once when he cut in beautifully and just failed to score. He served his backs well. Nicholls, McGregor and Cooke wove .% host in themselves. Their cutting in and ".selling the dummy" (which was beautifully accepted) -were among the dazzling pieces of play served up to the spectators. Cooke scored two tries. If tho Londoners felt as foolish as they looked, one mWt be sorry for them. They would move with outstretched arms to tackle an opponent, expecting a pasß which did "not always come. A swerve.or cut-in did the trick. Nicholls, McGregor, and Cooke worked together with delightful combination. Parker's name was on all tongues. He was brilliant. He scored two tries, one of which was the "cream" of the afternoon. Beceiving the ball overhead from a kick —how he held the tfail is a mystery—and he set sail from halfway, beating all the opposition to score a great try. Parker is right on his game, and is in great form. It will be interesting to sec how he fares when Porter recovers. Hart and Svenson had little to do. Svenson scored one good try. •It was on his side Miller scored. Hart docs some queer things at times. . Yesterday he deliberately threw the ball with a lob" throw into touch, which showed fear and weakness. He could easily have passed to Bicbardson. Jfr wat?3}ad football, and the crowd did not appreciate it by any means. Nepia played excellently. His linekicks were a feature of the game. Mr B. A. Lloyd (Liverpool; was referee.