THE ALL BLACKS

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 18 October 1924, Page 5

THE ALL BLACKS

1905 OR 1924? WHICH IS THE BETTER? VIEWS OF ENGLISH CRITICS. BY CABLE—PRESS ASSOCIATION—COPYRIGHT. ‘ LONDON, Oct. 16. The Daily Mail says: “The All Blacks have now completed one-third of their engagements, and the question is asked everywhere whether they are superior to the original All .Black team of 1905. It is difficult to truly estimate their relative merits, as the English game has changed so considerably. The present opposition is much stronger than that offered to Dave Gallaher’s team, who were the pioneers that revolutionised the English game. Thanks to the lessons then learned, England is now in a better position to combat the present combination of star players, whose game is faster and more open than ours.

“Older critics still believe that the original All Blacks were the finest side that ever took the field. The present All Blanks, nevertheless, are magnificent. They possess weight, pace, and cleverness, but frankly they are not the equal of their predecessors. The pack is powerful and clever in the loose, but does not excel in the scrums. “Cooke just fails in being a replica of Hunter, the finest five-eighths of all time. The backs do not run as straight as Roberts, Smith, and Stead. The newcomers are noteworthy in possessing Nepia, who compares with the best full-back ever capped in any country. “It will take a powerful team to lower tlie All Blacks’ colours.” YORKSHIRE ' MATCH TO-DAY. (By “Spectator.”) The cabled reports of comments by one of the leading Home papers on the play in the Sunderland match, and also some general comment by a paper "that is supposed to be a good judge, show that our present team is, as we confidently expected, steadily improving and raising itself in the estimation of the football critics at Home, who probably, and not unreasonably, based their opinions and their impressions on their recollections and the oress reports of the great 1905 team. That team set such a high standard that the tendency was to .give the 1924 team hardly the credit for ability of performance which they deserved. Actually, as the standard of Rugby in England is estimated to have improved, the task of the men of the present day is so much the harder. They have wonall their matches, and while in some cases they have just got home where the 1905 team scored runaway victories, the position in others has just been as much in their favour. It does not help much, therefore, to make such comparisons. It is, however, interesting to recall that the former team played Yorkshire at Leeds on December 13, 1905, and scored a runaway win by 40 to nil. The All Blacks scored 10 tries, and .five were converted. Wallace, of course, did the goal-kicking, and Booth, Mynott, Deans, McGregor and Hunter .scored a couple of tries apiece.

What the standard is now in Yorkshire cannot he judged with certainty, hut at the close of last-- season the English critic, R. F. Oakes, had the following to say: Yorkshire failed to fulfil the high expectations formed at the commencement of the season. Crocks, and the absence 'on international duty of Eddie Myers, accounted m part for this, but if the unvarnished truth be told the county side of last season was probably the poorest for many seasons past. Whilst this Was a disappointment, it in no way impairs Yorkshire’s enthusiasm, for surely, with her 55 clubs and 20 schools, material is at hand for the future. All appearances seem to point to - a win by our team, and we may be quite conudent that, whatever the conditions may be, they will play for the honour of their side and of the Dominion. To-morrow’s message will be awaited with much confidence and with a feeling of keen anticipation.