A FAMOUS TEAM

Evening Star, Issue 19699, 28 October 1927, Page 3

A FAMOUS TEAM

UNBEATEN RECORD AIL BLACKS OF 1924-25 SOME REMINISCENCES. \V. AV. Wakefield,,former captain of England on tho Rugby field, in reminiscences of past seasons, gives some interesting views regarding the now famous 1924-25 New Zealand ton in, which was great, ho states, Penalise it pushed every opportunity to its furthest limit. Of the great match between England and New Zealand at Twickenham, the cx-captain of England states that it was a remarkable game, and ho had determined before it started that tho New Zealanders should not assert a moral superiority over his team. He thinks that it is not generally understood how many of the Now Zealand team’s matches wore won by tho assertion of this moral supremacy, and, as an instance, he mentions an incident in tho match between the All Blacks and Hampshire. One of the Hampshire forwards had the ball when he was tackled hard by Irvine. Immediately Irvine, who was tho aggressor, turned round and said: “What tho devil are yon doing? Can’t you leave go of mo?” The Hampshire forward apologised. “Ail right,” said Irvme, “bo more careful next time.” After the game Irvine mentioned the incident and said, “That forward’s no good. Fancy apologising for being tackled!” > Wakefield, writing to the ‘Evening News,’ continues: “This story shows tho definite policy which tho New Zealanders adopted of establishing wherever possible a mental superiority over their opponents; and there is no doubt that, it could bo verv valuable in practice. As I knew this, 1 made sure that before the English team went on to the field they had definitely made up their mind not to bo so treated. Moreover, we felt that wo had everything to gam and nothing to lose, whereas our opponents had their great unbeaten record at stake. THE THICK OF IT. Tho result was a very hectic ten minutes at the beginning of the game, when wc were pitting our mentalities against theirs. After five minutes had passed Tom Yoyce, who had not previously played against them, rolled up his .sleeves and said, “Como on, chaps. It’s getting good fun now. I didn’t know they went as hard as this!” and ho went into the thick of it with a crash. Here, I suppose, I must say something about that most unfortunate occurrence when one of the New Zealand team was sent off the field by Mr A. E. Frcctbey, who refereed the match. First and* foremost, there is no getting away from the fact that Frcethey had warned both sides three times, and it so happened that a New Zealander was the next offender, and thus had to pay the inevitable .penalty, ft might just" ns well have been an Englishman, though as f did not see the actual incident I can say nothing of the rights or wrongs of the case. In New Zealand, I am told that it is sometimes the practice, when a man is sent off, for the captain of the opposing side to ask the referee txy allow him to return to fho field. I did not do this, for most decidedly such a custom is unheard of in this country, and if a similar situation arose again I would certainly not intervene nor feel justified in so doing. Such action clearlv undermines tho authority of a referee, and it is a captain’s business to support a referee’s decision at all costs, whether ho agrees with that decision or not. If this is not done, a referee’s authority is gone, and it is one of tho basic rules of Rugby that a referee’s decision is unalterable. SOME FINE TRIES. There were some fine movements, and 1 shall never forget the beautiful combination between El. J. Kittcrmaster and 11. H. Hamilton-VVickes, which resulted in a try by Kittermaster for England, nor the extraordinary dash of Steel, the New Zealand wing, when he went down tho touch line, brushing off would-bc tacklers like Hies. Another similar try was that of Maurice Brownlie,' who was one of the greatest forwards 1 have over played against. England started the game at a rare pace, and vciy soon V. G. Davies broke through in the centre and was almost over. Then came a. dash by Hamilton-Wickos, another by Gibson, and eventually, relying on my experience in the London match, we wheeled the scrum and went through for CoveSmith to follow up and score. From then on the Now Zealanders played with groat fire and determination, and actually were leading by w points to .3, 20 minutes after half-time. Tho game then swung round in our favor; several times Gibbs kicked ahead when tho slightest luck in tho bounce would have meant a penalty goal. Soon after that came Kittcrmaster’s beautiful effort, which ended tho scoring and left England beaten by 17 points to i t. It was a great game, and tho All Blacks undoubtedly won on their merits Gil 1M DETERM IN AT 1 ON.

Although I had opportunities oi studying their tactics at close quarters, I must confess that 1 could learn little from thorn. My impression was that in this country we had plenty of players as clover and as well built as our visitors, but wo lacked the final thrust which made them a great team. They were great because they pushed every opportunity to its larthest limit, and because, as the result of playing so much together, they had developed tho instinct of combining in the most oflicient way at the right moment. Ti ey wero remarkably adaptable, lor i hey won their matches in all sorts of playing conditions and against greatly varying types ol players, but, abovo all, they produced a stronger Kind of game than ours. 1 noticed that same spirit ot grim determination in the dominion sides which took part in the interservjccs league at the end of the war, and 1 think there is no doubt that they take their Rugger more earnestly than we do in this country. BACKING UP.

A feature of tlicir game which cannot be overlooked was their wonderful back 4 ing up; no player ever broke away unattended, and ho movement ever started which could not be carried on by man after man, with the result that their attacks were prolonged and concentrated, unlike the single-handed thrust which so often characterises English tactics. A great deal iias been said about their seven forwards and eight backs formation, but I do not think that they won their games because of that formation, but because of the earnest spirit in which they played, their intensive backing up, the care they took to keep in perfect training, and their unrivalled combination. In rny opinion they would have won all (heir matches with whatever formation they chose to put into the held. GREAT PLATERS. Their tour was undoubtedly a really great achievement, and they had with them some outstanding players. As I have said, I thought Maurice Brownlie a magnificent forward in every phase of the game, and nest to him camo Jock Richardson, a line player with a charming personality, for whom I have the most sincere admiration. The directing intelligence of the three-quarter lino seemed to me to he M. F. Nicholls, and his capacity for swaying the direction of attack and for discovering the weak points in the opposition’s defence was amazing. A. E. Cooke also was a fine attacking three-quarter with great speed oil

the mark, and J. Steel and K. S. Svensou Avere both unusually powerful runners on the wing. There is one member of the team, however, who deserves special mention in any record of the tour, and he is G. Nepia, the full-back. Ncpia took part in every match, and though I only saw him in action three times, he seemed to me the best full-back I have watched or played against since the war. Dan Drysdale, of Scotland, is a very good second, but Nepia’s exceptional physique gives him the first place. His perfect catching of the ball, his kicking, and his amazing power of breaking ing up a forward rush by whipping the ball off the ground and charging backwards into and through tho oncoming forwards marked him out as the player of a generation.