THE ALL BLACKS.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18302, 9 February 1925, Page 9

THE ALL BLACKS.

JOURNEY ACROSS CANADA.

ALBERTA APPRECIATIVE.

(tress association TSc.r.Gntu.)

WELLINGTON", February 8

Tho following telegram from Calgary, dated February 7th, was received today by Mr Masscy:~-Thc citizens oL Calgary, Alberta, to-day rejoice in entertaining your wonderful young men, and ave proud of our friendship with tou. —Herbert Greenfield, Premier.

Mr Massey replied:—l appreciate the generous hospitality extended by your citizens to our boys. New Zealand sends cordial greetings to her Canadian kinsfolk.

UNPLEASANT JOURNALISM. PROTEST TROM A RHODES SCHOLAR. (rso* OUB OWX COBRESFOSBJtST.) LONDON, Decombor 31. It Is evident tlut even at this late hour we are not yet free from tho unpleasantnesses that Have sometimes aris> en from newspaper criticism of tho All Blacks' Rugby tactics. Tho latest nrticlo to which exception is taken is by "X Rugby International," in tll ° "Evening News." It is an analysis of tho methods alleged to be omployed by tho Now Zealnnders in order to get an advantage in tho scrummages.

"Those watching carefully laßt Saturday, " says tho '' Evening News writer, "probably noticed thnt QDonald and W. R. Irvine, tho All Blacks' two front-row forwards, stood back fivo yards from tho point whore tho scrummage was duo to be formed. Tho second row—composod of the ccutro man, or lock, E. B. Masters, .with M. J. Brownlie and .T. Richardson on oithor sido of him —then packed down, followed by A. White and A. H. West in tho back row.

"When theso five had packed down behind thom—but not before—Donald and Irvine bent \lown and charged the opposing scrum with the whole weight of tlioir own scrum behind them. The result, of course, was that tho charge and impact drovo back tho other scrum (which was in the process of forming up), and so the All Blacks obtained that 'first shove' which) as Rugby followers know, is so important in obtaining the ball. During this first shovewhen, of courao, tho All Blacks ave moving forwards and the other side back—tho ball is put into the scrummage, and so any advantages tho other side might have are discounted, and tiic detaining of the ball becomes a simple matter. Tlw Obvious Counter. ' < Tho obvious counter is not for the front row to wait at the spot where the pcrummago should, bo taking place, but to go right up to tho All Blacks front row' and mako them go down before their second and third rows are ablo to form up behind them. This should prevent the All Blacks from obtaining first shove. Tho referee, however, may stop in to check the English team apparently stoaling flvo yards. Ho may order the interlocked scrummage back to tho proper spot, •whereupon tho English team ,will xnovo backwards and tho All Blades forward and as in a tug-of-war, when you get one sido on the movo it is difficult for the other side to check it. The. ball is again put into tho scrummago when it is not stationary, and the All Blacks still have that important first shove. "Sometimes by going right lip to tho two All Black front-row forwards and getting down quickly, as we saw the Service forwards do on more than one occasion last Saturday, tho two All Black front-row forwards are left standing up, waiting for their own men to form up behind. This, 1 of course, prevents them from scrummaging property or seeing the ball for the purpose of hooking it. appeal, is made to the referee, the scrum is reformed, and the All Blacks-—with their back-row men all inl position—have another opportunity of obtaining first shove. Tree Kick. "if the rofcreo spots tho above two, manoeuvres lie should neither order the scrummago backi nor should bo allow' the scrummago to bo reformed if the two front-row men aro 'caught' standing between tlioir own. second row and the opposing front row, becauso a scrummage should bo formed and the ball put in immodiatlcy at tho spot where the infringement has taken place. For a side to retiro a short dißtancQ to enable its late-comers to get in position shows up tho game, takes away any legitimate advantage a side- might have through its players being up and on the spot, and is contrary to tho spirit of the game. "It is quite within the province of tho referee to award a free kick against a side which refuses to seTummago at onco, and this Mr Potter Irwin did do on more than one occasion. Even if he docs not award a free kick, tho referee should not order the scrtimmago back nor allow it to reform. The situation in which such a side finds itself is of its own malting, and it should therefore suffer any consequent disadvantages. The tusslo for advantage in this matter of first shove introduces a difficult situation. The referee may fail to spot all its intricacies, and yet tho winning of the tusslo is of immeuse importance to the teams."

Mr McCallum's Protest. Mr S. P. McCallum, of Hertford College, Oxford, the special War Ehodes Scholar from Canterbury College in 1020, fakes exception to this article. In a letter to the "Sporting Life and Sportsman" he writes:— "As a New 55ealan/lcr and a Bugby player with a knowledge of tlici game in three countries, I have borne with admirable patience most of the criticism which has fallen on the All Blacks' team during its visit to this country, almost invariably written by some Rugby international, who, apparently, is not averse to earning his two guineas, and yet one who would be the first to attack thts amateur status of ouf players. ' "However, it is not the criticism itself, but the spirit in which a great deal of it has been written, that has exasperated beyond patience one who knows and loves both his own country and England—an exasperation, I may say, which has never beeu produced by your admirable paper, or by those which do not depend upon catch headlines for their circulation. "Take, for instance, an article in a widely-circulated ovening paper on Saturday entitled 'Secret of All Black Scrums,' by an anonymous Rugby international, in which not only is the referee acquainted with the tactics and manoeuvres which are certain to be cmployed, but with the appropriate penalties under a paragraph heading entitled 'Free Kicks.' "Another point emphasised by this same article in italics "was to the effect that the All Blacks invariably form up their scrum five yards away 'from the patient English and then charge thoir opponents with the whole weight of the scrum, while in the confusion

(Continued at foot or next column.)

which ensues the- ball is ttaww i>» J and the All Blacks |U> a* j for which xrc uv tiltcrw ; penalty is a frea kkk—ftf Mcfc W>B, .j in thick black type, ' ,] cateh the eye ot ti» va» aaHwtMWw* ;■ d man in forty millions *k» wQI lap* Ja 1 referee. And all this ia JfWwhich has just begun tOtaJw 1 and whose knowMga tf Mm mmmjm J hardly sufficient to detect tb* rtWK^ v/ *| of criticism' sacb as this. . J. f| "Let some of these papers vjM tack the sportsmanship of tns tCHK % give a little more space to U» taal «**. sons for the quality of. 26wpSnAlai r. Rugby, and show a liUfeataiw Tirfl ffq ness to accredit.to a Xttj BritiWt CWb trv the attributes which ire Ska % ■?! claim as the birthright of all IhithUm. "To a great many of as tftfe is more than a mere *lftn|i|~ |ipif| the result of a few mttltt 1m at la* ' finitesimal value ewngtaurd vffk Ha " value as a strengthening «f tkbpiU connexion."