THE ALL BLACKS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 109, 31 January 1908, Page 8

THE ALL BLACKS.

THEIR FOURTEENTH DEFEAT. TELECEinn— FJiESS . ASSOCIATION —COPYRIGHT. London, January -L' 9. In the thirty-first match of their tour- the New Zehlarid footballers .met York'."--.The! gamp resulted:— - York -:. ' ... .... ... .5 . Now.Zealand ' ... .... .... 3. . York; scored' a goal and' a try!' against a' try., ! ;! Hip game was exciting. All, the scoring was done in the first; half. ■ . • .Whpn New IZealand met Yorkshire'on Dpccmner -JB, thc'County was beaten bv 23 points lo •).- ~ 1 Record of the Tour.-Played 31, won IS, lost 14, drawn 2, -points for 304, poinfs against 271. FIRST COUNTY MATCH EASILY WON. (Bt'A. H. Basicekville.) York, December 19. Wednesday was the, first' occasion since the Wigaii, match—our'first defeat—that the "going" was all that could be desired.' The pitch was in perfect condition for fast football, and it was soon made evidont that the "All Blacks'" appreciated it. Tho representatives of the broad-acred shire were not in the hunt with them. Given neutral ground, a good pitch and ball, and last, but not least, a . good referee, then we are convinced several'-of the adverse results -sustained . lately would have been different. Though victory was very pleasant to . secure, it gave riso to; a feoling of regret when these-] defeats were contrasted with/it-; 'It went .to

prove that we are unfortunately fair-,weather players 0n1y... ' The final, score was:/-Ne\v Zealand 23 (7 .- goals aud'3 tries), Yorkshire 4 (2. goals). • More' credit;is due to the New Zealanders, ■. becauso tho Yorkshire' team was; reputed to bo a -very strong fafit, a; better . county .'team'than usual. It was: Taylor (Hull),, full-back; Farrar (Hunslet),-Ward, (Halifax), Thomas - (Leeds), Stacoy (Keigh- '. ley),-three-quarters; Wallace (Hull);' and ; S.nrnian' -'(Bradford), half backs ; . Taylor _ (Wakefield), Wilson (Hunslot),. Major '(Hull)-, Webster 1 (Leeds), ;.Herridge : (Hu11),,., and j Wilkinson KKdighley), forwards. Tlie New, Zealand team was:.Turtill, Rowe, J- Smith; Messeiiger;. Wrigley, Todd,. R. Wyn- ; ya«l,'-Lile,'-Pearce, Gilchrist,! Cross, Johnston, and Wright. Referee, H. Robinson , (Bradford);-" "It is interesting to relate that , Yorkshire ;inet- the. Maori. team 'on ,January ; 19, -1890,' nn- the same enclosure," and gav'o - the New Zertlanders the heaviest-beating. ; which, they sustained during tlio- tour. So ; wo were, in a sonso, paying off old scores.- ■ . Wright,-who lias now recovered from his ; injury, took a roving commission in thov field,. He was forward in. loose play and a'.fiveeighth (extra) : when scrums, were packed. He kicked off for us, to tho home full back, 1 whoso return was marked by Johnston at half-way. Messenger kickcd well,' but failed ' to put over'a goal. A scrum was formed in Yorkshire's • twenty-five: R. Wynyard- se- ; cured therefrom, a|'id passed straight hack to Messenger, s who'coolly dropped a beautir 1 ful goal two minutes : after -the start of play. 1 Smith with a 'good run and dribblo repulsed an-- attack! - Yorkshire- twice' tried' at- goal with free kicks, and on' the : second- occasion . secured a good one, thus making the scores, evc-n—two-points each.' ' ' '• Messenger, when kicking off from halfway, to the astonishment of the crowc 1 ' sent the ball yards' over tho crossbar of the Yorkr shire goal, unaided by the wind. Though'it did not count as a score, they forced down. A New Zcalnudcr marked their drop'out .it .half-way, hut the angle was too great I his time for Messenger to bo successful with his shot at goal. \ lor a feu* ininulcs attacked, until Smith relieved with a fine run, and a passing rush to Todd, lli.v.'i R,v,vo, carried play to neutral ground. Messenger ivcnt down to a 1 orkshire forward rush in line style ou liis own twenty-five. A trcramble ensued, Iroin which tho ball was passed oui wide to Smith. Hp dashed through' several opponents to the half-way lino and' then; pnuted-over, their fullback's head. A race resulted with a low opponents, and needle:-? to say Smith won, but lie dived Puiit over tlio hall behind their goal line. Hcmttver, Lile was close at hand, and 110 scored. Messenger converted .it. 1 A few minutes later Yorksliii-.j' were awarded a free kick, and again soimmhl a penalty goal. This made the scores New Zealand 7, Yorkshire 4. ' \ . ' , Tho Now Zealand forwards, and Gilchrist in particular were going very strong. Ouifive beat' their six at every- point. Thev rushed with a dribble to the home line. From a scrum there R. Wynyard secured. Todd and tlio others riihiicd to one side and drew tho defence, l.ut ho trotted around the other sidi ajir! walked behind the• opponents' goal posts' leaving them standing iu spcechiess .astimi'lnnoiii. The crowd, laughed loudly at tlio -trichy' \vny ' il w;as done. Messenger had 110 triuibln converting this try! New Zealand 32," York- 1 shire 1. Soon , after the start of the si?eond spoil : L'lt secured a mark near li:df-way, hut. Messengers': attempt at goal failed. 'Smith : made a desperate tackle, and brought down : an opponent who' had broken away. ' lii doing so he'was injured and had to retire. 1 Kowc ran.-strongly to tho Yorkshire twenty- | five, and Inter.-secured a clever mark. M'cs- 1 sengor mado a marvellous kick from half- 1 way, near the, sideline, 'tlijs ball passing a ' few iiiches!'oll tsldo -tlio 1 goal post. Lile and ! Gilchrist broke away from a scrum at half- ' way, and dribbled brilliantly to the York- ' shire line, but a hard kick at tho critical 1 stage allowed the oj)pon6nts to force down. ' Yorkshire wero soon off-side, and this time ' Messenger-kicked a fine goal. - 1 Rowo saved a difficult situation by a fino 1 mark. ■ 'I ho New Zealanders started pass- 1 ing at half way. Tho hall was tranferred '' about twenty times, first to ono sido then to 1 tho other. Nearly every All Black player s handled it in an amazing passing rush,' origi- I nated by Messenger. ' spoiled tlio ! final transfer bypassing forward under tho .< opponents' goal. In tho ensuing scramble ' UUchrist snapped a ~mark, ' and Messenger, provided tlio climax—his fifth goal. . New 1 Zealand l(j, Yorkshiro i. 1 Johnston provided lino entertainment by ' dribbling half tho length of tho field beforo 1 snapping up tho ball and passing it 011. to J Lile. liie latter reached tho homo twentyhvo after a smart sprint. Yorkshiro relieved ® with a freo kick. Our extra five-eighth— a \\ right—broko through a scrum and headed a good rush to tho homo twenty-five. Smart * passing, and. running by Todil and others 1 kept on the pressure. Messenger placed tho n ball on the half-way line for a free kick at goal, and sent, tno hall .over tho bar with any n amount of room to spare. This was his f second oil .that mark during tbo day, onlv at a dilierent eutLof tho.field. There was no wind to speak of. .

Wriglcy, by. kicking well and -following nri LiSl, instituted ■ another attack",. Nov.* Zealand secured ,from a scrum, and by brilliant passing ivero almost over. Johnston again reached tho home lino by . dribbling through cleverly and tackling their full back in possession of the bajl. Short, sharp passing followed, and J'oive ran over and then around behind the goal posts beforo scoring. Alessenger added Ins seventh goal, and thus raised tho scoro to New Zealand 23, Yorkshire 4, Iml'ore tho filial whistle sounded. All tho New, Zealand forwards played a sterling game, but Gilchrist must bo mentioned in particular for all-round oxcollcnce, whilo Johnston's footwork was superb. Lilo, 1 cat ce, and Cross also shono out conspicuously at times. ' Messenger seemed to benefit most by tho unusual ground conditions. The . fiuo going and dry ball suited him. Smith, until his retirement,, both 011 attack and on dcfelico, was the most conspicuous back 011 the ground llis lino sprints and odectivo tacklin" wero quito a feature of tho match. 11. Wynyard was very nippy. His clever try mado tho dctenco seem tho simplest in. tho world. Kowo 1 showed marked improvement in his play. His j try was also a very smart picco of work. Our live-eighths—Todd, Wriglcy,and Wrightdid not combino effectively in passing from f tho serum, but in other rcspccts they wero 1 very good, lurtill was 011 his best behaviour, i Talking about him reminds mo that his vis- r a-vis—Taylor, of Hull—played a very lino t game. The duel between these two giants— c m their positions—was a remarkable one,. (