THE ALL BLACKS

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18267, 29 December 1924, Page 9

THE ALL BLACKS

FORWARDS' DAY OUT. LONDON DEFEATED, 28—3. GRAND GAME UNDER ATROCIOUS CONDITIONS. IBT CABLE -TKMS ASSOCIATION—COrrT.KiBT' lAUSTRALIAX AND N.Z. CA*L* ASSOCIATION. > (Received December 2Sth, o.<"> p.m.) LONDON, December 127. The All Blacks defeated London Counties in tho second match, which was played at Blackhcath, by 28 points to 3. Tho margin was the same as in the first game against the Londoners, when the score was 31 points to 6. The London team underwent many changes, only seven of the original selection taking the iicld. Practically nil the internationals for the match on Saturday next, including Raymond, were withdrawn. The New Zealand team was:— Xepia Svenson Cooko .Steel Nicholls McGregor Mill Parker Irvine Donald C. Brownlie Masters M. Brownlie Cupplcs Richardson. Ten thousand spectators braved most atrocious weather conditions. Heavy and continuous rain fell, and the ground was waterlogged in places. The Londoners' spotless white uniforms soon took on their opponents' colour. The Now Zealanders kicked off against a strong and disconcerting diagonal wind. Tho London forwards, using their feet cloverly in the loose, established ah early footing in the New Zealanders' territory, and for the first fifteen minutes tho All Blacks mostly were defending, with Nicholls, Cooke, and Svenson most effective. Then Cooke broke through in tho • centre of tho field and dribbled on to the Londoners' line, where C. Brownlie secured in the loose and dived across near the posts. Nicholls converted. All Blacks .. ..5 London Counties 0 In spite of numerals penalties against them, the All Blacks handled tho greasy ball brilliantly and with certainty. The next score was a sensational one. Hamilton-Wicks, profiting from a slip by Svenson, ran brilliantly right up 1 to Nepia. Hiß pass wont astray, and I Nicholls gathered up tho ball and passed to M. Brownlie, who ran forty yards before passing to Donald, who scored unopposed between the posts. Nicholls failed to convert. All Blacks .. < .. 8 London Counties .. 0 The Londoners were next to score. Steel slipped and lost tho ball, which tho fleet-footed Gibbs annexed and ran along the touchline to Nepia. He short-punted past the full-baTk and scored in tho corner. The kick at goal failed. All Blacks ..8 London Counties .. 3 Immediately afterwards Nepia ran into position to sot the All Black backs off, and the ball went from Steel to M. Brownlio, who forced his way across. Nicholls failed with tho kick, and the half-time score was: — AH Blacks .. .11 London Counties .. 3 With the assistance of tho wind in tho second spell, the New Zealanders dominated the game to even a greater extent than hitherto, and the ball was rarely out of tho Londoners' twentyfive. Soon after the resumption, Cooko tackled the Counties' full-back in possession, and Svenson, who was backing up, paved the way for C. Brownlio to score. Nicholls's kick hit the post and rebounded into the field. All Blacks .. ..14 London Counties .'. 3 Within a fow minutes C. Brownlie repeated his performance after a brilliant run by Svenson, and Nicholls again failed to pilot the heavy and slippery ball between tho posts. All Blacks .. ;.. 17 London Counties .. 3 From. now on tho New Zealanders took complete control of the game, giving a magnificent demonstration of wetweather football. Three more tries were scored in quick succession. Parker ran across from a scrum near tho line, Nepia just failing in a great effort to convert, the ball striking the post. Richardson was the next scorer, and his try was converted by Nicholls. Irvine completed the New Zealanders' tally, crossing from a scramble near the line. Nicholls failed to convert. There were numerous other scoring chancos which were nullified by uncertain handling; nevertheless, the passing of the backs and forwards alike reached a high standard of excellence, completely demoralising their opponents. The game thus ended:— All Blacks ..28 London Counties .. 3 Having regard to the conditions, which were the worft the tourists have yet experienced, it was an exeellont game, pronouncedly in the New Zealanders' favour. Their forwards wore all brilliant, with the Brownlies, Richardson, Donald, and Irvine most conspicuous. Svenson and Cooke were in magnificent form, and Nicholls's play demonstrated that he has lost nothing in versatility by his enforced spell. Nepia performed a very easy task with his customary soundness. It is interesting to note that tho New Zealanders' eight tries were all scored by forwards, and that both front row men succeeded in crossing their opponents' line. The All Blacks arc in excellent fettle, except Stewart, who has been suffering from a slight attack of quinsy.' The team received shoals of messages from New Zealanders winning them success. After the match tho All Blacks returned to Deal to complete their preparations for the international g>;>ir next Saturday.

OLD THEORY EXPLODED

iavstrauak a\p k.e. carli association 1 December 2Sth, 11.,"i p.m.) LONDON, December 29. The "Observer" sa.ya the All Blacks' victory exploded the old theory thnt wo? conditions would hamper tho New Zealanders' attack. Long before half-time, tho visitors wore covered with mud. Friend and foo alike wero indistinguishable, yet the Now 7/c*ianticts' genius uiurophcil over all handicap s . LONDON LOST. A GREAT EXHIBITION. , By A. J. liar rep. N Representative ef ''The Press.'") CAMBRIDGE, November 1". I wont to Twickenham on Saturday with the idea that Now Zealand would beat. London, but by Bbout ten point* at the most. The London side looked quite strong on paper, and wc heard *o much from the sporting writers of tho genius of Wakefield as a eaptain that! victory for him and his fourteen assistants seemed not impossible. Wake. field, we were told, would be sure to find a way to circumvent the tactics of the All Blacks. If tiie game wen!, against London in the first half, somo uew scheme would be evolved to crumple the All Blacks' defence in thn second. It sounded very convincing, f«r Wakofiold is undoubtedly a groat <aptain. On this occasion, however. the new scheme camo from the All Blacks, and it was the London defence which crumpled. Tn consequence, the mora optimistic of the writers arc now forced to put the blame on tho obstructions*: tactics of the All Blacks. Their formula? is as follows: When Tarker comes round the serum too quickly, that is obstruction. When a London forward comes round the scrum too soon, that is merclv off-side. From these premises the? proceed to draw all sorts of eonelusions flattering to themselves and the rcverso to the Tcferce. That official, thev say, missed a lot of things. Only a f'cw arc frank enough to ndmit that both sides benefited by this. The best-known critics, it is pleasing to note, found nothing to complain of m the tactics of the All Blacks, but on. was pained, if hardly surprised, to fin* the "Morning" Post" stating thst tha team made a fine art of waiting off* side and obstruction. In this connexion I may be permitted to quoto from an article which I wrote for "Tho Press" about the England v Scotland match played at Twickenham on March 15th:— "From the >ejr Zealnnd point, of view, perhaps tho most interesting remark on tlio match was that of the 'Morning Tost r 'Strategy and a long-head counted in, this game. Blakiston and Voyce, as the flying men in the third tow of the English pack, carried out thctr duties of smashing up the development of tho Scots cum Oxford third line—that outGallahored Gallnher.' It is good td hear that wing-forward play, <"> much criticised when used by the All Blacks in 1905, is now accounted excellent strategy. It is to bo hoped that this type of play doesn't become suddenly unpopular next season." Well, the hope has been disappointed. The "Morning Post" itself devotes a leading article to a paraphrase of its critic'B remarks about the All Blacks. Inasmuch as tho paper's critic wis one of tbc few who even mentioned tho nasty incident which led to Cooke 9 injury in the Newport match, his opinion is entitled.to more/reipect than; that of those critics who did not eve* mention the occurrence, but after seeing quite as much of the London game as he could have done, I venture to differ from his view of this match. The Game. The game itself is one which will bs) remembered chiefly for tho extraordinary transformation which came over it in the second naif. Both teams were obviously impressed with the importance of tho occasion when they lined out at the beginning of tho match. The opening play was therefore largely of a scrambling nature. Londoa got the ball easily from the first •cram, which appeared ominous, but as tho game went on the New Zonlanders got quite a good share of the ball—» fact which will cause the Englleh ■alec-, tors to think furiously. Mill began to get the ball away quite frequently, but the backs indulged in a veritable orgy of short-punting. Thero was probably a certain amount of method In thia policy, ae it kept the defence in a continuous state of uncertainty;- but th« device seemed to be badly overdone. In any case, when it was eliminated in the second half, better progress was made. After some loose play, Mill cut through and Eichardson headed a rush to the London line, M. Brownlie finishing the movement under the posts. Nicholls made tho kick at goal look ridiculously easy. The subsequent play was largely in favour of the Ail Blacks, but a splendid London forward rush, which swept Nepia away, gav» the London backs a chance to show their quality. The ball went from, half to wing beautifully. Cooke missed the wing, Svenson and Nepia had been drawn out of position, and Millar; scored a splendid try wide out. Biehardson's attempt at goal just failed. The try, a perfectly orthodox one, wa« ominious only in the sense that it revealed a certain weakness in anticipation on the part of some of the All Blacks. A second try scored by London soon afterwards served only t» emphasise this weakness. Miliar wa* again missed, and the All Blacks wereagain out of position. Leading by 6-5, the London team proceeded to play oven bettor, but the All Black forwards were playing a magnificent game, and they transferred the play to the London quarter. From a line-out HaTt, seeing M. Brownlie unmarked, threw the ball out to him very accurately, and tho big forward was quite equal to the rest. Nicholls again converted, and the All Blacks led at half-time by 10 points to 6. Ail Blacks' Great Spurt On resuming, it was observed that the New Zealand formation had been altered. Mill put the ball in tho scrum himself, and Parker was out on the wing. There was a touch of inspiration about this decision—at least, it worked wonders. The London team played about as well as before. The All Blacks might have been a different side altogether, so completely was their play revolutionised. Gone was tho short punt, gone also a certain indefinable feeling of no confidence among the centre backs. They began to indulge in those sharp, straight dashes which are the chief distinguishing mark of the side when in proper working order. They sold dummy passes with consummate skill, and passed at exactly the right moment*. They always had plenty of men to spare, and they went from excellence to supcr-cxccllcnee. Audacity was the keynote of the. attack, and it was soon evident that