ALL BLACKS

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 22 September 1924, Page 5

ALL BLACKS

THE, THIRD VICTORY. .. i SOMERSET BEATEN BY SIX TO NIL. slushy And slippery turf. BY CABLE—PRESS ASSOCIATION—COPYRIGHT, LONDON,. Sept. 20. The All Blacks’ third match, against Somerset, was won by tlie narrow margin of only six points to nil.. The. New, , r , Zealand team comprised:— Full-back—Nepia. Three-quarters Robilliard, Lucas * Svenson. . .... v Five-eighths—Cooke, Paewai, . . Half-Mill.. Forwards—Parker, Muiiro,. 1 Irvine, M. Brownlie, Harvey, Richardson, Cupples, White. Unfortunately for the visitors the fine weather did not hold; Heavy rain fell, leaving pools of. water about the , t ground and making the turf slushy stud slippery. On the ether hand there was no wind to interfere with play. . The All Blacks at once opened up.au attack, hut- a wild pass by Mill gave Somerset relief. Still, the county forced down twice in the first five minutes. Somerset proved" to have a welt bal- '.w allied side, and they played a winger opposite Parker. Their forwards set up a resolute defence, both - in scrums* and loose dribbLiiig, their work, being most effective. The New Zealanders’.made "titahic ef- • forts to break through tlieir stubborn opponents, hut all- they succeeded in doing was to force Somerset eight.times in the first half. Tliq handling by the All Blacks backs was ineffective,. • and thdir kicking was; .wild and iitoo -long. Nepia was prominent at , times ,by. his resolute defence when the game swayed into New Zealand quarters. SvenSori retired hurt before the interval,-; but resumed later on. . Half-time: arrived with no score. _ _ . For a long time after resuming the- ?A ‘ county meii, playing above, themselves-, held continued A.U Black rushes ,in check. Notwithstanding the wet state of the ground, which j of coui’se) has-a-tendency to level'play, the-game, was cbockfuil of incident, and is s held, to ;hp.; a vivid illustration pf the, general .ini-', provement in play of English Rugby clubs. ■: .. I. At last, however, tlie persistency-?of, the All Blacks . was rewarded. ,-They, .... were determined to ' score, and kept- • ; going, with the result 'that Cooike. got in a short kick along the ground, .and. following it up headlong scored .in-a* good position. The slippery ball whs too much for Nepia, : " and he failed' ;. < badly with his kick. AU. Blades 3, Somerset nil. ■ Again the All Blackst hurled them-' selves down the ground and the fence gave way once more. Mill, got possession and flew across the liner close to the posts. Again Nepia failed with' an easy kick, and .the match ended Ally Blacks 6, Somerset 0. , \ The game was a most gruelling one; from beginning to end. ' Iriauuity take the wet ball with certainty ; robbed the visitors of their best mode of attack, but failure to run straight, want of variety in attack, and more resolute methods of: stopping : rushes were largely responsible for the Nety. failure to take full 'advantage of their opportunities . ' Cooke and’ Nepia were conspicuous throughout?: It has to be admitted, however, that Somerset showed form that was quite unexpected. -On the day they, were; con? v.\ eidered to-be almost, on. ; a par w-ithi, England’s best side. They used tlie side line continuously, and that helped to. save them from a more severe defeat. -.- r •• .- The New Zealanders have not ;yet reached the form they showed in Their later matches in Their greatest defect was uncertainty and -the fumbling of passes, partly attributable,, no doubt, to, the greasy ball;.Football authorities consider the Welsh clubs'are likely to give them still harder games; and check their unbeaten record, 'There was tremendous enthusiasm: at the finish, the crowd being'igreatly • pleased at the fine defenceput Bp., bythe Englishmen. There were 12,000 spectators, but the ground was'totally inadequate to accommodate them; Players were often thrown on the : people in close proximity .to the playing, area, & - One result of tlie comparatively small scores put up by the*. All : Blacks -is that increasing interest is being token, in the tour everywhere? " Despitb minor injuries," the All Black team are iff sound condition..: ~ ..^yy At a dinner following to-day’s match Mr Donne (president of the Rugby Union) strongly . deprecated continual , comparisons between 'the present team - and that of 1905. He considered it was unfair tc this young team, who would yet- iustifv -themselves. . ' . By invitation the visitors will'he motored to Cheddar on Sunday, .to Taunton on Tuesdav, to. the Bristol tobacco factories on Wednesday, and the team will reach Gloucester on Thursday. . v: