TOUR OF TRIUMPH

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 17 November 1924, Page 5

TOUR OF TRIUMPH

STILL GOING STRONG.

ALL BLACKS’ TOUR

LONDON COUNTIES DEFEATED,

BY 31 POINTS TO 6.

BY CABLE —PRESS ASSOCIATION—COPYRIGHT

LONDON, Nov. IG. The 'All Blacks maintained their unbeaten record on English soil by defeating London Counties by 31 points. .to 6. It was considered to be the best display of the tour and dumbfounded the critics, who have at last come to the- conclusion that the All Slacks are a magnificent team. “BLACKED OUT.'’ BY CABLE—PRESS ASSOCIATION—COPYRIGHT, '? LONDON, Nov. 16. “All Blacked J Out.” : • Thus the Weekly N Despatch describes an ugly game in which the New Zealanders’ tactics, were not quite, nice, especially towards the end, when they charged like cavalry through a defenceless and undisciplined mob. The Sketch says that the All Blacks invested their tackling with unnecessary violence and were repeatedly penalised' for, handling in the scrum and for barefaced obstruction. —Sydney Sun Cables. . ! NICHOLLS’ RECORD. WELLINGTON, Nov. 17. By .converting five goals on Saturday, M. Nioholls, of Wellington, has brought his score for the All Black teams to 109 points, and is now third to Wallace. LONDON, Nov. 15. After their narrow victory against Cambridge University, the A'l Blacks, in their nest match, shoved a wonderful return to form, aud went even further, for in defeating the London Counties’ strong team, whi<h included several international players, by 31 points to 6, the tourists gave their most exhilarating display, and the best exhibition so far afforded at Home.

The back division, especially/was obviously superior to their opponents in finesse, variety of attack and defence. The London line was ■ quite oyer-' shadowed. The forwards, too, were brilliant, and outstandingly useful were M. Brownlie, Richardson, White, Stewart and Irvine.

, Spectacular qlay was provided in plenty, Mill (half) . frequently setting the whole back linerfn motion to carry out beautiful and well executed rushes that pierped the most stubborn defence the home team could offer. Every-ir an in the All Blacks’ rearguard showed that versatility was individual as well as in combination. The New Zealand team was a s'rcng one, comprising Full-bhck—Nepia. Three-quarters—Hart, Cooke, Svenson. - ' ■; 1 Five-eighths—McGregor, N oholls. Half—Mill. Wing-forward—Parker. - Forwards.-—lrvine, Donald, Richardson, Masters, M. Brownlie,. Stewart, White. On . this occasion the weather was fine, though dull, and the 'turf was soft arid easy, conditions which appar *ently," suited the visitors. admirably . Forty thousand spectators attended the match, which was the first to be played at Twickenham. Early in the game London snowed cut early m a strong attack, their forwards making headway with fast, cribbling rushes. The New Zealanders retaliated with some effective back play, but the county men were soon w ithin striking distance again, and it was only by a narrow margin that Richardson. (London) missed scoring with a drop-kick, which he slightly misjudged. Nepia relieved the position, and with play transferred to London territory, the All Blacks sorely tried the home team’s defence. Then Hart cleverly marked near the corner from a centring kick and initiated an attack, in which M. Brownlie dashed over by 1 sheer pace and weight. N ieholls converted. v Neiv Zealand 5 London Counties 0 HOME TEAM TAKES LEAD. The first score was not gained till the game- had progressed twenty minutes from the kick-off. Lawton, the Queenslander, then started a fine passing bout for London, which finished in Millar crossing at the corner, but the try was hot converted. Not long afterwards Wakefield puked up in the loose and transferred to his inreequarters, the movement again ending with Millar,,who put London ahead by means of a fine piece of work. His try was not converted’. London Counties ............... 6 New Zealand 5 This was only the second occasion in which the visitors have been led, the other time being in the game against Newport, but in this latter case the lead was not held long, as the New Zealanders’ by hard forward play, transferred action to London’s territory, where Brownlie crossed under the posts, - Nieholls easily converting. There was nm further score at halftime, which came with the result. — New Zealand 10 London Counties 6 ALL BLACKS TAKE CONTROL. The superiority of the New Zealand combination was becoming more and more apparent. The backs were playing with beautiful precision, though ’ the forwards were still faced with vigorous resistance, both in the scrums and in the loose.

After the interval Parker played as right wing - three-quarter, improving matters materially by checking and defeating London’s efforts to score with their fleet backs. The visitors’ scoring commenced almost immediately. Parker, eross-kincking to the centre, Cooke secured and transferred to Sven son, who finally passed to Cooke, and after a fine piece of combined work the fast Aucklander scored. It was the gem of the match. Nicholls failed - with the kick. New Zealand 13 London Counties 6 Richardson (All Blacks) then fielded near the line and passed inwards, Parker scoring after . Brownlie, McGregor and Svenson had all handled. Nicholls again failed with the kick. PARKER’S GREAT RUN. The next try was Richardson’s, as the result of excellent opening work by Mill, McGregor and Nicholls. The last-named converted. The tourists were now in charge of the game, and it was only a matter of how many points they would win by. London, however, did not let up, but the visiters’ vastly improved style of play was too effective for them. Taking a flying pass at top speed, Nicholls cut through and ran almost to

the line before letting Cooke in to finish under the posts. Nicholls again goaled. From a weak kick by Lawton Parker secured and from haif-way started a run, which he finished under the posts for Nicholls to convert. There was no further score, and a game in which delightful form was shown by the All Blacks ended:— New Zealand 31 London Counties (j COMMENTS ON THE GAME,. (By “Spectator. ”) Apparently the result of the match, a most decisive victory against an extremely strong British side, has con- / founded the, critics at Home, for the opinion, was'freely expressed in several papers that after the form shown in the struggle with Cambridge, the London Counties had a very good chance of beating the redoubtable visitors. But the result has once more proved the strength and brilliance of the New Zealanders on a decent day and under conditions that naturally suit a fast team. The selection was a change from the usual three-quarter line, Cocke, as once before, being placed in the centre. Despite the fact that the forwards were faced by keen and strong opposition, the report shows that they were throughout often beaten both in the scrum and in the loose. This, of course, serves to emphasise the more the good work of the backs. In the first spelL there was evidently something wrong with the defence, the speedy London three-quarter Jine beating our wing man and full-back, and apparently it was Hart who showed a weakness. 'lll© report seems to indicate that lie was not- fast enough to master the attack, and Parker, who, it is well-known, is a sprinter, and perhaps the fastest man in the team, and who also has been tried before with success in the position, took the place of the right wing-three-quarter. ; Thenceforward the backs went on to. give a wonderful display, which quite overshadowed their opponents, and is described as quite the best of the tour. It must- have been very good, but whether it is fair to say quite the best in ivew of the many brilliant displays given seems open to question. In addition, the forwards had a considerable hand in the scoring, showing that they were well up with the backs, and probably took no inconsiderable part in these brilliant passing rushes. Nicholls is fast making \his renutation equal to that of the incomparable Wallace of 1905, and did great work in converting no less than five of the seven tries scored. It was a great performance all round. The result confirms the optimism of their sanguine supporters that the team which beats them will need to be a great lot. Oxford University are expected to give them a keen contest on Thursday, and this, with the Welsh matches. Cardiff and Llannelly, and the international match, will make a hard fortnight.