PRENTICE’S MERRY MEN

Greymouth Evening Star, 9 August 1930, Page 12

PRENTICE’S MERRY MEN

BRITISH TOUR ALMOST OVER.

[special to “star.”]

WELLINGTON, August 7. F. D. (“Doug”) Prentice, captain o£ tbo British Rugby team, has under him one of the merriest bands it would be possible to assemble. No team was ever richer in humorists. There is always someone Bassett, Farrell, and Spong, or perhaps [these three’and several more, adding t.<j the gaiety of the party. Three months ago, almost to a day, the team landed in Wellington, and now its tour is drawing to a close. On Friday, next, at 3 p.m., tho team sails for Australia, to play six matches there, and another one at Colombo, in Ceylon, on its way home. The players, as welL as the many friends they have made in New Zealand, look forward to next week’s parting with considerable regret. On the' part of the team, the severance of many ties formed in the Dominion will occasion a sentiment to which the ordinary formalities of parting will ly give adequate expression. Surveying the results of the tour, the New. Zealand Rugby Union will be able to contemplate a tour that has been an unprecedented financial success. It is odd to recall that before the tour be-, gan the Union was uneasily wondering how it would emerge from the venture. There was considerable 'doubt about the calibre of the side. Obviously the record of the 1924 All Blacks at home had led New Zealanders to underestimate the strength of British Rugby, and the withdrawal of such men as Wakefield, Crowe, and Howard from the original selection caused further concern. Yet Bowcott, one of the lastminute replacements, chosen when Crowe was hurt, has been one of the conspicuous successes of the tour.

’ UTILISING THE SURPLUS.

With the huge surplus it will have on its hands when the tour is over, the New Zealand Union will,no doubt embark on a campaign of improving the major grounds, sb that when the next tour ‘ comes long, the undignified scramble for seats will not have to be repeated. The attendances have shown that for international matches every ground is inadequate, the seating in all cases having to be enlarged by means of temporary stands. One respect in which the Union would be well advised to bring its policy up to date is in the matter of press accommodation. Very few grounds have offered satisfactory accommodation. Auckland, Napier, Hamilton, and New Plymouth were very commendable exceptions. At Athletic Park, Wellington, where Press representatives have to cover Rugby matches of almost world-wide interest, the accommodation is a reproach to the controlling body. ’ Naturally, however, officials have to be wary in granting to vdsitting pressmen the privilege of a place in the press enclosure. All sorts of people endevour to assume the mantle of working journalists on these occasions, and-all sorts of journals suddenly discover a lively interest in Rugby. Perhaps the outstanding instance is the fact that for the fourth Test an application for reserved seats was made on behalf of the Journal 'of Agriculture, which is published monthly by a Government department’. While the Union deals in tremendous revenue, its outgoings throughout the tour are heavy. Travelling expenses, laundry, hotel bills, and the numerous other expenses incurred by a team on toui’ make up a heavy total. In the matter of hotel accommodation, the British team has been excellently treated. At nearly every town the best available accommodation was reserved for them, and hotel proprietors have gone out of their way to extend hospitality. At Whangarei the hotel even provided special menu cards, bearing crossed flags, and the words. “Our welcome to tne British .Rugbj’' team.” x # A HARD BUMP.

Tho Railway Department, too, made special efforts to give the team good travelling facilities. In both Islands, Mr. Baxter had the use of the General Manager’s private car, and warmly appreciated the privilege. These cars had not only a large parlour compartment, but also a small'-’cabin exactly suited to the requirements of the “rummy school.” .Spreading a mattress over their knees as a card table, the “rummy players” whiled away many hours of travelling time in this cloistered sanctuary.

In addition, an ordinary first-class car was always set apart for the team. The only experience of sleeping cars was on the last railway journey from National Park to Wellington. The party embarked on its two reserved sleepers at National Park early in the evening, and were taken on to Ohakune to wait in a siding there for the arrival of the Limited Express from Auckland. When the Limited arrived, three hours later, great care was taken by the train hands to effect a quiet shunt, in order that none of the slumbering footballers should be awakened, but unfortunately something slipped, and the impact which followed when the two sections bumped together not only woke every ono up, but even rolled one man out of his bunk.

Constant travelling becomes a wearisome business, but song and laughter revive the most flagging spirits. Incidentally “Taffy” Davies, the everefficient trainer and baggage man, put up a record. He loaded his big cargo of luggage on to train after, train, and never once mislaid a suitcase or missed a connection. There was one occasion when tho record appeared to have been broken. M. J. Dunne lost his suitcase on the journey between Dunedin and Invercargill, and there seemed a prospect mat, without his proper boots, ho would be unable to play in the match. A reserve had’actually been chosen, when suddenly the suitcase was discovered —under the bed in the next room, after Dunne, in the meantime, had missed a most excellent dance because he didn’t have his dress clothes.

JUST IN TIME. There is another record to the credit of the party—none ever missed a train. Put there were some particularly narrow escapes, particularly during stops for refreshments. One man was runn’ng for a moving train when he collided witli a luggage truck on the platform, and only recovered himself in time to scramble on to the van. There are no more trains to be caught in New Zealand, but there are steamers, and there are ’ some who would gladly miss,the last steamer, and stay in New Zealand longer, if not always. In tho meantime, the Australian part of tho tour is looked forward to

with interest, if not with the same lively eagerness with which the team landed in New Zealand. Round Australia, and through the Suez Canal and tho Mediterranean, the globe-trotters will have a delightful trip home. Sobey, whose deep disappointment at not playing more than one game in New Zealand, was never able to subdue his quiet sense of humour, will continue to offer whimsical comments on affairs of the moment. Mick Dunne (“Misery creeps in”) will still be a smiling pessimist. Farrell will continue to proclaim himself “as gay as the plumes on a hearse,” and Roger Spong will still bo the most irrepressible of humorists. Good fellows all, they have been a gay and gallant company, to be remembered not only as footballers, but as men.