ALL BLACKS AT HULL.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 86, 4 January 1908, Page 6

ALL BLACKS AT HULL.

1 —-— ■ A WIN BY FIVE POINTS. " THE BEST'TRY OF THE TOUR." ; r ■ (By A. H. Baskerville.) , Hull—Won by 18 points to 13—3 I goals arid 4 tries to 2 goals'and 3 tries. Played on November 16. ; Tho Now Zealandere travelled over to Hull tho day before tho match. The public thero i evinced considerable interest in our visit, so an invitation ' to spend the week-end with j them was accepted. Tho . directors of: the ' Hull Football' Club and a largo crowd of enthusiasts greeted us. at the station. We i were driven in brakes to the Imperial Hotel, i and entertained there, at luncheon. Tho j same vehicles convoyed us in the afternoon to the Wilborforco Museum, which was in- j spected. Then we went to Earl's shipbuild- , ing yard. and enjoyed a few hours there. 1 Our home-coming steamer, the Ortona, was I built by this firm. . .. RECEIVED BY THE MAYOR. i Our next port of call was the Town Hall, where the Mayor gave a civic reception. • Some fine speeches woro made, and responded to." Wo .were entertained at after- . noon tea by tho' Mayoress ' in the large banqueting hall. Altogether a very pleasant afternoon was-'spent." -.'After dinnor wo were driven to the Palace Theatre, which ■' was filled' to overflowing in our honour. The band played tho National Anthem as we entered', and we received a magnificent reception from' the-crowd. Applause and domands for the war cry continued.-. In order to satisfy .them and allow the " business " to proceed _tlireo cheers for the peoplo of Hull 'were given, and in tho end, by special request, the war cry. The rendering of it was vociferously applauded. On tho : morning of the • match the non- , players, or "breathers'-' —"stingers" they aro known as among ourselves—visited the • Hull Brewery. A fow very interesting hours were spent there; ' I. cannot'vouch for _this, as it'.is. only hearsay, but I expect it is all ( right. . \ '".They.'do .things in"style in Hull. The New Zealand ilag could be seen flying at different points: - An object of interest was tho turtle which was destined to" flavour the soup lor the banquet after the match. It crawled 'about our hotel l bearing"tllo legend, " I'or tho .'All' Blacks.'",v Personally, I. was puzzled whether'to tako this l as a compliment or not . However, nobody else seemed to sec the joke, and tho'.'phrase," in a proverbial senso, was not raerited, "as was proved during tho. game later on. " .'' ' . : A' bright 'sunny day induced the crowd to roll up iu force. Long before the kick-oiF the stands which almost surrounded tho field i were filled to ovorfioiring. ' Thirteen ■ thou- | sand people provided ' a record ■ " gate ' of £540 for the ground.. The playing pitch was* in perfect order. Everything, in fact, v- as favourable for a' fast open game. AGAINST THE.,BREEZE. - New Zealand kicked off against the. slight breeze. Hull returned 'well' and' attacked for "a" little, until 1 Wrigley.' secured and dashed. down the; lino; - getting to ,their full back before his progress was arrested. His effort was the result of a passing rush indulged in by R'.' Wynyard, Todd, and Smith. Todd was'in evidence again-a littlo later. Ho ran well to Hull's twenty-five, but their forwards "worked back again to., neutral ground. ; About. seven - New ; Zealand backs participated ,in:'a brilliant ' passing movement -and reached the-Hull goal-lirio. Hull secured from the scrum 'there ,'aiid back, with fine passing, to half-way. Smith made a fine individual run, ■ but spoiled a. promising chance by passing forward. Hull wero penalised fo'r an ' informality, but Messenger s kick'at goal fell short. . ; ■_ Smith 'and Wrigley, 'by good combined play, instituted an attack again. M'Gregor, our half-hack, secured, from a scrum, and with,,,a brisk dash and c|over " line-kick readied homo twenty-five. From loose play there Messenger secured and made a tricky run before handing on to M'Gregoi', • Todd, R-. Wynyard. 'Tlie last-nanied dashed' over and scored a clever try near the posts, which Messenger converted. ' , Hull then attacked - for a while,' until Lile relieved with a fine run. Johhston knocked on and spoiled a good chance of scoring. Hnll started passing and eventually, scored a try, but one of- tho passes was palnably forward. Their failure to convert it feft the score, New Zealand ,5, Hull 3. . Lile made a fine run, and put New Zealand in' likely; territory again. He soon secured again, and made a fine opening. ■ Johnston took a pass from him and sent tho ball along to : 11., Wynyard. This tricky player dodged through several defenders and ran fully fifty yards before grounding the ball. Messenger converted tho try and made the scores, New Zealand 10 points, Hull 3. Turtill saved well by marking, and Lile, by fast following up, removed plav to Hull's,twenty-five. Smith, by fine tackling, chcckcd a Hull attack, and combining well with Todd in a passing rush, reached the Hull lines, where a'pass forward spoiled a certain score. Wright made' a brilliant run and almost got over a little later. Hull relieved the pressure by a fine line-kick, which readied the Blacks' twenty-five, and later secured from the scrum, and by a passing bout reached the corner flag. New Zealand was penalised for off-side play around the scrum there, and Hull kicked a fine ijoal. New Zealand 10, .Hull 5. LILE AMD M'GREGOR PROMINENT. The home side again attacked, but M'Gregor saved with_ a neat mark. Hull wero'obstructed, but failed with the penalty kick awarded thoni. • Turtill saved cleverly by screw kicking to the touch-line. New Zealand.got a free-kick, and M'Gregor, with a fino punt, shifted tho scene of operations to the Hull end. Lile, who was playing brilliant football, secured,,made n dash, aim' ' 'started a' passing rush in which M'Gregor and Messenger participated. .Tho ball came back to M'Gregor, who scored a vory neat try, which Messenger failed to bettor. M'Gregor made a clover mark and put us,l in an attacking position by a fine kick. R. Wynyard, Smith, and Messenger handled well, and the" latter ran over, but tho reforee —in error apparently—blow his whistle for a ! pass forward. The ""All "Blacks" made a . brilliant effort a few minutes later. Nearly . every man in the team took part in an amazing passing rush. The ball was passed ! about a dozen tnmes—across- the field and ; back again. Gilchrist was the originator of • this fine movement. Just Wore half-time | sounded Todd broke through the defence cleverly, but threw, away" a certain try by [ passing forward. Had he kept on himself ; he would have scored. , 1 ! New Zealand attacked on the resumption . of play. Lile made a fino dribble, and Smith i carrying on with ia fine run, almost scorcd. [ Turtill.ran before passing -to Messenger and Smith. This trio- did brilliant work, but [ a scrum resulted, from which M'Gregor pas- . sed out to Todd and R. Wynyard. The jatter knocked on in a good position. SMITH AMD TODD SHINE. Hull tlion attacked with a passing rush, 1 which ended in their last player to receive ' the ball running into the corner (lag. Tho s lilaclc forwards cleared their line in fine i stylo with a sweeping forward rush. Smith dashed away: with a line, dribble to lialfs way. He snapped up the . leather and ran •. through tho midst of tho wholo Hull team. » At thoir twcnty-livo lie. passed very wide to Todd, who cleverly beat two opponents and scored tho most brilliant try of the tour , so far. Messenger converted, and 3 raised tho score to New Zealand 18, Hull o. o The Now Zealand forwards, with Cross in - the van, rushed play again into home tcrri- , tory, but fino passing by tho Hull backs h removed the danger. , Wrigley prevented a il certain score by fine tackling. Hull wero i, placed in a scoring position by means of a !- penalty kick, and after several attempts ' tlioy at length broke through our defence and scored an unconverted try. 0 They followed-up this advantage with a "} doubtful dropped goal. Darkness was '] causing trouble. The players rotild hardly ( ] bo scon, much less distinguished. -j Just before time sounded a commotion on tho far side of tho Geld' occurred. Loud

cheering thero denoted that something had happened. An. unsuccessful attempt to plaeo a goal in the gloaming proved that Hull had gained another try, which made (ho final scores—New Zealand IS, Hull 13. ,! PLAYERS' FORM. " Some critics give us credit for the finest display of scientific football ever seen in Hull. •It delighted .tho spectators, who though, nearly all Yorkshire, and conserva-' tivo, simply, had to give, us considerable applause. Smith and Todd's work when, tho fourth, try was scored fairly brought down the house. These two players wero seen at tho top of thoir form. Neither made, a mistake. Wrigley showed that ho can still defend well if required. M'Gregor's. coolnoss and , football knowledge wero of great sorvico to our side. Ho is well adapted for tho Northern Uuion half-back game. R. Wynyard was in good form and as elusive as ever. Turtill played the good game that is -usually given by him. Messenger was unlucky in not scoring once or twice. Among tho forwards Lilo was vory noticeable. . Ho seemed to have a hand in every . .important.. movement, ' both passing . and dribbling. Cross followed up like, a racehorso,. and was a thorn to tho Hull backs. Johnston was always in the thick of the fray and handy when passing moves were oil. Gilchrist took tho field for . tho first timo sines his accident in Wales, and proved ho had not lost his form. : Before departing for our headquarters the. wholo New Zealand party was entertained at a magnificent banquet. Taken all round, our sojourn in Hull was an exceedingly enjoyable one. The New Zealand team was: Turtill, Wrigley, Smith, Mfcssenger, R. Wynyard, Todd, M'Gregor, Lile, Cross, - Gilchrist; Tearce, Wright, Johnston.