ARMY RUGBY TEAM

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20431, 16 December 1940, Page 4

ARMY RUGBY TEAM

POOR SHOWING TO DATE PLAYERS WELL SCATTERED Some disappointment has betn expressed by Dominion Rugby enthusiasts at the comparatively po-or show to date of the 11)40 N.Z.E.F. football team in England. In six games, the N.Z.E.F. team lias been beaten three times, by Rosslyn Park, 22—20; by St. Mary’s Hospital, 15—3; and by Cardiff, 12 — 3. The match against Oxford University, probably depleted by calls to service, it won 21—5, and last week the side avenged the Rosslyn Park loss, 15 —8. In the very first game, on November 4, a British Territorial division XV was conquered, 7 —3. The New Zealand Rugby Annual gives the record of the 1918 N.Z.E.F. Rugby team in England and France as: 38 matches played, 33 won, three drawn, and two lost. But, to be exact, this was the record of several teams, often from diffrent depots. The New Zealand Army team proper, that which played for the King's Cup, won live matches in that series and lost one—against Australia. It also did exceptionally well on tour in Wales and Yorkshire and Gloucester. As far as the present N.Z.E.F. team in England is concerned, it must by no means be overlooked that the side so far represents only a small portion of the Dominion's Rugby strength. The lion’s cubs are rather scattered. The 1918 team had a full division to draw on. Give the selectors power to draw on men on other fronts, and the tale of matches won would be vastly different.