THE ALL BLACKS

Evening Post, Volume C, Issue 38, 13 August 1920, Page 7

THE ALL BLACKS

EASY. WINNERS IN NEW SOUTH 1 ' WALES, (PROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)'

SYDNEY/ 3rd August. - The New Zealand Rugby "Union team, so far, has had three wins in Sydney — and they have been very easy wins. In the writer's opinion the All Blacks, although given worthy opponents, haveiiot yet been fully extended. Anyone, watching their play in successive matches, might be pardoned for thinking that they played to the score —in other words, they are interested only in keeping their score a winning, one, and they do not put on pressure until their opponents' score is close to or level with their own. It is at least easy to persuade oneself that the wearers of the silver fern could have "won by a street" in each, of their matches had they been so disposed. Last Saturday's match (won by New 1 Zealand by 14 to 6) was a sharp disap-, pointment to those who, saw the first trial pf strength against New South Wales. The first match was full of sparkle and excitement, and delightful to see. Tiie .second was flat, dead, and uninteresting. .It was a iong series of scrums,-line-outs, and scrambles i,n the mud. There were occasional 'spurts of individual brilliance, but the "machine"—the really spectacular tiling about Rugby football—seldom got into action. - The ground was very soft and heavy, and about 100 square yards, in the dead centre of the fie(i.d, was simply a mud puddle. The players avoided it whenever possible, and when a man did run into it—well, he just stopped running. And this handicap on fast and opeu pjay was greatly added to by the referee. Some new rules—which were so much Greek to the. spectators, so far as thsy could discern what they were arid what they purported t6 do— were being played to, and the- referee was extraordinarily fussy about them.. He saw errors- in the dribbling rushes, breaches in tackling, and wrong in everything. His whistle again and again brought about a full stop when play was working up to an interesting point. It sounded so continuously that at last the spectators wearied of it, and counted him out. But he had all the grim tenacity of the fanatic. v

There were only about 7000 at this mktch. Across tho fence, at a purely local League game on a much better ground there were said to be 10,000 spectators. - Yesterday the All Blacks played a, Metropolitan team, and again won easily. In iV,« arst half, they loafed —there is no questii>i. about it. They held their opponents too cheaply and at half-time they had the soorj 3 points to nil against them. Thpn they pulled themselves together. They gavVo. display of football more reminiscent of iheir first match, and 'they finished winnivo; comfortably by 20 to 11. It is a thousand pities that so many of this country's best players aTe tiow in the League ranlcs ; there wo.ild have been a magnificent battle between an Australian $cam, such as used to be put into the field ten years ago, and these New Zealand giants.