NOT RECORDS, BUT THE GAME

Evening Post, Issue 20, 23 July 1935, Page 8

NOT RECORDS, BUT THE GAME

The manager of the 1935 All Black Rugby team, which is soon to sail Home to the "cradle of Rugby," made a good start in his reference to the spirit of the tour, when replying on behalf of the team af-a complimentary dinner given by the Auckland Rugby Union. Alluding to previous tours and their records of victory, he saicl, "I do not know whether those records are set as a standard for us. The 1924 team had a record that cannot be beaten. We are going to play harder matches than in 1924, but we will endeavour to play good football which is the most attractive football of all. We are going back to the cradle of Rugby. We will count on success in the tour by the friendships we make, and we will count our record by the memories we will bring back, and not the points." This is admirably said, in the true spirit of the game. In the past there has been too much of the "triumphant tour" and the "unbeaten record." Oi; course, the All Blacks will play to win, but not to win at all costs. The game comes first, before the score, and if trie game is played well in the proper spirit, the score will look after itself. The spirit is the essence in Rugby as in all games, expressed in the old.saying "and may the best team win." What applies in football and other games applies also in other fields of life, and nothing finer has been contributed to the ethics of the world by the British nation in all its branches than the idea of "fair play." New Zealand may trust her representatives to uphold her honour.