THE DEFEAT BY WALES

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21686, 21 January 1936, Page 15

THE DEFEAT BY WALES

A MAGNIFICENT MATCH ALL BLACKS OUTPLAYED [By E. N. GREATOREX, Special Correspondent of "The Press" with the All Blacks.] (By Air Mail.) LONDON, December 24. Three days have gone by since the All Blacks went under to Wales at Cardiff Arms Park,.but I am still thrilled when I think back on the exciting incidents of that magnificent Rugby, match. The old hands say the .game was decidedly more thrilling than the history-making match of 1905, between Wales and New Zealand. I can give no opinion about that because I did not see the 1905 struggle, but I do know that I have never seen a better game than that played at Cardiff on Saturday. The match, there is no question, of doubt, will become every bit as famous as that which Wales won over New Zealand in 1905. Wales has won the deciding match of a rubber of three, but you in New Zealand should not be unduly . disappointed about it. You should be proud that the All Blacks of 1935 played their part just as much as the Welshmen in making it such a gripping game. The result does not affect the side's reputation, just as it does not affect New Zealand's great reputation at Rugby football. The 15 who played for New Zealand did their best, and the result might easily have been the other way. Wales deserved the win; the Welshmen were the better players, but it was only in the last minutes that they succeeded in snatching victory. The dramatic changes of fortune were the features of the game. At half-time, though they were leading by only three points, it seemed that the* All Blacks would hang on to that lead to the end. Then came that spell of inspired play by the Welsh backs when they rattled up 10 points, and were so immeasurably superior that they looked like going further ahead. New Zealand, however, was far from beaten. First came the marvellous field goal by Gilbert, and then Ball's converted try. The tragedy of it from a New Zealand point of view was that they could not hold the lead they had fought so strenuously to get. All Blacks' Big Effort So well were the Welsh backs playing in the second half that it seemed impossible that any side could turn a deficit of seven points to a surplus of two, and the fact that New Zealand did so shows how tenaciously and doggedly her players 'fought. Wooller, hero of the match and hero of Wales, pulled the game out !of the fire when he made his last frand effort to make a try for Rees ones. A biased man might say that because there was the element of luck in two of Wales's tries they were lucky to win. I admit that there was some luck in those two tries, but nobody can say that the Welsh victory was a fluke. The luckier of the Welsh tries was the first, scored by that brainy centre, Claude Davey, after the Cambridge player, Cliff Jones, had kicked through. Not many people saw the ball hit one of the goal posts as it was travelling along the ground towards the goal line. The players assure me that it did. Gilbert was on the spot when Davey scored, and, had the ball gone straight over tyie line, it is certain'that he would have succeeded in forcing it. Gilbert was thrown out of his stride when the ball struck the post arid bounded* straight into Davey's waiting arms." There was luck, too, in the kindly way the ball bounced for Rees Jonjas's last try. It came right up to him as he was racing at too speed for the line. All he had to do then was to ground it for the try that meant defeat for New Zealand. There has to be luck with the attacking side whenever a ball is kicked through as a method of reaching the line. Cliff Jones's and Wooller's kicks might easily have bounced in fav» our of New Zealand. The point is that they didn't, and they brought scores to Wales. Welsh Backs Superior EvenJiad Wales not <?ot those tries and been beaten they would still have been the better players. In attack and in defence the All Blacks were outclassed by Tanner, Cliff Jones, Davey, Wooller, Idwal Rees. and Rees Jones on Saturday. Individually and collectively the Welsh backs did cleverer things than the New Zealanders, and had they won as much of the ball as did the tourists they might have scored two or three more tries. In the second half the Welsh backs were operating so smoothly and with such understanding of each other's methods that they brought the thousands of spectators to their feet practically every time they got moving. For once the All Blacks could not give an opposing side a lesson in teamwork. The New Zealand backs did not break down, nor were they really disorganised; it simply amounted to this—they were not good enough.* That they were able to score three neatly-executed tries, that came from combined work, to two tries, one of which was a purely individual effort from a misplaced kick, in a game in which they lost about three scrums out of every four,. tells the story of the Welsh superiority. The result will do no harm. It will show New Zealand where her weaknesses are, and enable the authorities to remedy them for the important games against South Africa. On the other hand, the result will do an immense amount of good in Great Britain. It will lead to a revival " of Rugby in Wales, where interest has been dying in recent years. Welsh Rugby owes the All Blacks a debt of gratitude in providing the knowledge that there is nothing wrong with the game in this country. There is nothing ! wrong with Rugby when we can see games like that witnessed on Saturday at Cardiff Arms Park. It was a privilege to be present, and the memory of it Will last while life remains. Those | who saw that match are going to spread the gospel of Rugby, and it I will give the game a fillip it badly needs.

Speed of Winning Try For a time in the first half it looked as if the game was going to develop into one of those hard, but uninteresting struggles that are seen so often when two good teams eager to win clash. The state of the field had a lot to do with it. Immediately play began it was seen that the going was treacherous, due to heavy frost that had gone right through the covering of straw spread all over the field for a week before the game. A warm sun all the morning had the effect of making the surface slippery, with the soil underneath very hard. The ground had improved by half-time through the surface being trodden down, making it better for speedy runners. As usual, the New Zealanders succeeded in settling down right away, and with Hadley hooking in his best form, the All Blacks' supporters were feeling quite at ease with things in general. They were waiting for those early points on the board. New Zealand scored against Scotland and Ireland before their- opponents had quite realised what was going on, and it was thought they would do so again. But Davey, a tactician if ever there was one,, knew how important It was to hold the All Blacks in check until his men had warmed up to it. Right at the beginning Davey missed Oliver, but he did not miss him when the All , Blacks' vice-cap-tain tried twice to burst through before the game was 10 minutes old. New . Zealand' had to - fight all the way for the three points lead they had when the team lined up for

the second half, and by then it was obviojis that Wales, with Wooller brought to centre, was going to be a far more difficult proposition than either Scotland or Ireland. The Welshmen gave, the impression that they knew .they were good enough to win, and they fought through to a victory that sent the crowd wild with delight. * t A ?*H? lly » Jt was the speed with which the ball came from the scrum that gave Wales the final try. It came so fast, and Tanner and Jones got it out to their attacking genius, Wilfred Wooller, so speedily, that the centre had done the damage with his great run before the All Blacks could rally round to cover up the defence. This is the amazing thing about the winning of the ball from the scrum on that occasion, and it shows that anything can happen in Rugby—seven Welsh forwards beat eight All Blacks for possession And the man missing from the Welsh pack was the hooker,. D. J. Soured! b6en carrled off badly ALL BLACKS CROSS CANADA HOPE FOR FUTURE GAMES IN ONTARIO (SUITED KUSBB ASSQCIAWOH—COPYRIGHT.) (Received January 20, 10.30 p.m.) TORONTO, January 19. The All Blacks took train for Vancouver, expressing, their pleasure at the. warm welcomes received at Halifax, Montreal, and Toronto. The manager, Mr V. R. Meredith, regretted that games with clubs in Ontario were impossible because of the wintry weather, but expressed the hope at some future time it might be possible to arrange games in the late summer or the early autumn.