Why All Blacks Lost: W. J. Stead's Views

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 93, 14 January 1936, Page 14

Why All Blacks Lost: W. J. Stead's Views

“T AM not surprised at the result. As my friends know, I expected that England would have a substantial win. One reason is our lack of pace, which has been our trouble for 10 years. Another is that prevention must be done close in .to.jthe serum, Five-eighths defence cannot be built up in a day. And that is where we failed. An apparently glaring error, t.o.iny mind, was leaving out Hart, the fastest man in the New Zealand team, who, had he been included, would have played opposite Prince Obolensky.”

These opinions were givqn by Mr. W. J. Stead (vice-captain of the 1905. All Blacks, when his views on the England v. All Blacks match were sought by a “Southland News” representative. Mr. Stead, it may be remembered, has a record

for captaining international sides which is probably unequalled, although lie is quite satisfied to be known as a member of tlie famous 1905 All Blacks, and does not mention his other' achievements.

Mr. Stead had the "distinction of captaining the first New Zealand team to play in an international match, the fifteen which met Sievright's English side in Wellington and won, 9-3. During the 1905 tour Mr. Stead was vice-captain and actually captained the team for the greater part of its tour, as Gallagher was unable to play in many matches. Mr. Stead led the All Blacks against Ireland. In 1908 he was captain in all three tests of the New Zealand fifteen against Harding’s English team, which toured , the country. In the first test New Zealand had a runaway victory, the second was drawn, and the third New Zealand won by 29 points to" 0. “I played in 45 matches for New Zealand, and never hud the pleasure of being licked,” remarked Mr. Stead with a smile. ”1 was lucky enough to be out of the Welsh mutch.” "There is no getting away from the fact that the best team won,” Mr. Stead continued. "I think' our showing was just typical of the class of football we have been playing. To my mind Tindill Was included as a possible match-winner by virtue of goal Hotting. It is a poor outlook when a team has to depend on that. Apparently he has nothing else to commend him as a five-eighth.

“I have made no secret of my opinion that the’ All Blacks would lose agaiust Wales, and England on account of their lack of pace and the lack of defensive tactics on the part of the inside backs,” Mr. Stead, continued. “But, even with such pace as they have, they could have won ( it tjiey had- used the right tactics. They should have been able to bottle their opponents up. The thing is not to give fast men an opening—drive them across The field and prevent them from penetrating ; make as many as possible handle the ball.

“It is said that Obolensky is the fastest man to have represented England. M ith that assertion I disagree,” added Mr. Stead. “A. E. Hind (Middlesex), who played on the wing in 1905 was the 100 yards champion of England at the time, and I am extremely doubtful if the Prince is faster than him. I know we spent a lot of time wondering how we would bottle him up. But we did-,it. We scored our tries on the blind side and did not give him a chance to use his pace. In the Leicester match I was playing on the wing opposite him. I did not consider myselt a speed champion by any means, but I managed to keep him quiet, and had the pleasure of running round him 'to score. Our winger, G. W. Smith, by the way, was world champion over, the 120 yards hurdles and won his title at the same meeting as Hind won the .100 yards sprint. He was not available on this occasion. "The 1905 team beat England by l-» points to 0 on a wet day with a giensj ball. We played at the Crystal lalace, where the ground was a natural bog. r our of our five tries were scored on the blind yit “dur lesson from the English match is that we lack speed, and that we have badly lacked inside backs for some time, he said. “Defence in the five-eighths line takes a lot of working up. Attacking is easy. I think the most wonderful part ot the 1905 team’s tour is that only five tries were scored against us, and on each occasion it was due to an error in our five-, eighths line. That shows how vitai is defence by inside backs.” . 'Asked if he thought staleness might have affected the All Blacks, Mr. Stead said he did not think this should have applied to the team generally, since they had 10 days to get ready for the international match. He considered that sped-in-r chosen men for two or three matches before an international encounter was wrong, as it tended to make an international match too important. particulaHy in the minds of young players, who were liable to become overstrung and put oil their game. “If a man is playing his natural game you are getting the best of him. When he tries super-feats he tans, Mr. Stead remarked. ■ “I really believe," he concluded, that Miß-hell lias been played over Ins quota of -mines. Blit he has been the handy man of the team, and has shown himself quite up to the standard of the best All Blacks. ’