THE 1905 MATCH

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 78, 29 September 1924, Page 5

THE 1905 MATCH

- COMPAEISONS NOT NOW POSSIBLE. Tha result of the match against Swansea on Saturday shows how futile it is to compare the doings of the 1905 All Blacks with the happenings of the present tour. Becau6e the 1924 team has secured victory by such a comfortable margin, while the previous side only won by 4 points to 3, does not mean that the present side is that much superior over the 1905 combination. Consistency for comparative purposes is now scattered to the four winds, because the present ; combination's low scoring in its early matches when compared with 1905 is dissembled, by its substantial score of 39 points to 3 against Swansea. The 1905 match, the last in Britain ™i a ~tour* was Played at Swansea on oUtn December, 15,000 people being P teS?n t- t, In consequence of a number of All Blacks suffering from injuries, the selection committee was hard put to determine upon a, genuinely representative side. The absence of Tyler from the pack necessitated.' Gallaher niimg the vacancy; while Gillett took tip the position of wing-forward. For bwansea Scrino scored a try in the nrst spell, and in the second half, after 30 minutes' play, Wallace kicked a beautiful left-foot goal from a difficult angle. Commenting on 'the match, Mr. G. H. Dixon, the manager, said : "In tins, the last game of the series in Britain, it was more than ever evident that the team had got to the end of its 1 tether as a playing combination. On the run of play New Zealand were fortunate in notching a win, and yet the Swansea team could not in any sense be reckoned the equal of the other Welsh sides New Zealand had previously met."

A Welsh critic, reviewing the 1905 match, said : "It had flashes of real brilliancy, but it ended unfortunately because the best team lost when it should have won. Swansea's luck has been thoroughly bad throughout the season; drops and penalty goals havo contributed to nearly every defeat suffered. After giving the colonials one of the hardest games of their tour, and crossing their line, they were eventually beaten by a lucky kick with the wind. This was cruelly hard lines for the homesters. In the result we have this singular featura in the New Zealander's scoring against the Welsh teams— against Newport they won by three points, against Cardiff by two points, and against Swansea by one point. Their line has been crossed on every occasion that they have met a Welsh side." After each match in Wales this kind of criticiem was levelled1 at the All Blacks during the 1905 tour, with not one word of excuse for the poor showing of the touring team, which was by now showing very palpable signs of staleness after a. series of thirty-two matches.