VICTORIOUS

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 8 December 1924, Page 5

VICTORIOUS

ANOTHER WIN. FOR ALL BLACKS. . EAST MIDLANDS DEFEATED. [The tour of triumph of the All Blacks still continues. As a matter of fact, New Zealanders have become so accustomed to reading of victories by the Dominion's representatives that it has now become merely -a question of “How many points did the All Blacks win by?”] A : BY CABLE—PRESS ASSOCIATION—COPYRIGHT. LONDON, Dec. 6. The New Zealanders met East Mid- , lands at Northampton to-day. 1 and •■won’ easily by 31 points to 7. Their team was:— . Full-back: Nepia. - 1 1 Three-quarters: Luisas, Brown, Steel. Five-eighths: McGregor, Cooke. Half: Mill. ' Wing-forward: Porter. Forwards: Donald* Irvine, Richardson, Masters, C. Brownlie, Parker, Cupples. This was lookedupon as a surprising- ■ ly strong side'to put in tlie .field, seeing that no serious opposition was expected. The Midlands men were: drawn'" almost exclusively fr,om ' tlie Bedford and Northampton clubs ; and a number of players’ who have' done; 1 ; very well in local matches’ The match was played under the very best condi-i; tions, the day being sunny and calm and the turf iii splendid order. Fif-. teen thousand people were present. HOME TEAM SCORE FIRST. New Zealand lost the toss and within a few minutes of Porter’s kick-off first; Steel and then Richardson were all but ' across Midlands ’ goal line. The visitors continued aggressive play, but one momentary lapse bn their part, let their opponents in'to the huge delight of the crowd. It was promptly turned to account, and first blood fell to the home team. : ; . a ; , . A weak cross kick gave Jones (the Midlands half-back) his opportunity to open the scoring. . Dashing in rapidly he got the ball at liis toe, dribbled; it across and touched down. Churchill (the full-back) took the kick but failed. East Midlands 3, All Blacks nil. ’ This roused the home men, and some remarkably fast and keen play followed. The All Blacks, though much below form at thiß stage, mostly held the upper hand, but- the Miduinders '•■ made no niistijke in. their tackling, which was deadly. For a time they gave their opponents i-yme anxious moments, and once there was nearly a repetition of Jones’ feat. Townell (the five-eighth) intercepted a, rather, loose pass, .and before the All Blacks realised it he was away. He ran almost the length of the field before he was brought down. ■ For a time the game was confined to New Zealand quarters, and the local men attacked so strongly that the All,Blacks had to set up a stern defence. , / ALL BLACKS START.,

At last Mill set his three-quarters moving and the New Zealanders romped, down tlie .field in a dangerous-rush. Steel completed a vigorous offensive movement with one of his characteristic fending runs, bumping all tacklers off and scoring-in the corner. . With a splendid kick Nepia turned iF into a goal. All Blacks 5, East Midlands 3. The New Zealand forwards hadlnow shaken themselves together and 'took charge of the game. Richardson broke smartly away from, the scrum and passed to Brownlie, who dived across for a try, but this time, Nepia’s kick failed.—-All Blacks 8, East Midlands 3. The All Blacks continued to gain possession, but their passing was so uncertain and ineffectual that they made no use of their, advantage, and the;first spell ended without further score. — All Blacks 8, East Midlands 3. DEBACLE IN SECOND SPELL.

On resuming the home side attacked strongly until the effects of /their rest wore off, and the Ail Blacks had their defence well tried while this spurt was on. When it was over the superior training of the visitors came into play, and they simply ran all over the Midlanders. Gooke was the first to -break away, but he spoiled what looked a certain try by hanging on to the ball too long. Then Cupples put in a brilliant piece of dribbling, attended by BrownJie, who at the finish picked up the ball and grounded it under the posts. Nepia had no difficulty in adding a goal.— All Blacks 13, East Midlands 3. The All Black forwards continued to, use their feet witli great effect in the open, and kept 'the game, in their .opponents’ twenty-five.- Here Mill sent a long pass to Brown,. who took it at top speed and flashed across at the corner. Once again from this difficult angle Nepia kicked a superb goal.— All Blacks IS, East Midlands 3. NEPIA KICKS WELL. The New Zealanders in this half were playing altogether more scientifically and methodically. Only occasionally did the Midlanders get anywhere near the other end, but on one of these fleeting incursions Jones managed to drop a neat goal to Cheer the drooping spirits of . liis side.—All Blacks IS, East Midlands 7. In a few minutes the All. Blacks wiped this score off. A pass from McGregor let Cooke in, and lie ran over close to the posts, Nepia converting.— All Blacks 23, East Midlands 7. After further chances of scoring liad been nullified by forward passes and fumbling, Brown gave Steel a welljudged pass, and the latter got over at the corner. Nepia all but- scored a goal from his kick.—All Blacks 26, East Midlands 7. ■ •"

Almost immediately Steel repeated his performance, and.this time Nepia put another magnificent goal to his credit. —All Blacks 31, East Midlands 7. The Midlanders made valiant efforts to reduce the deficit, but the New Zealand defence was always sound, and their efforts went for nothing. There was no further score on either side when the bell went with the score: — All Blacks 31 East Midlands 7 BROWN STANDS OUT.

The game, although fast and interesting, was deficient in the finer points of play. The All Blacks’ weight and stamina were great factors in their victory, and wore down all opposition! Richardson stood out as the finest forward on the field sind Guppies was

always conspicuous, though neither .of them actually scored. Nepia, who was in wonderful form, kicked five goals from seven tries, two of them being from the side line. Brown, Steel and Cooke were the best of the backs.

COMMENTS ON THE MATCH

(By “Spectator.?* The report appears to indicate that the Midlandei's,: playing perhaps above themselves, gave the All Blacks a pretty strenuous run for the first half of the game. Eagerly snapping up every opening, they scored first and just missed a second, seme. Their keenness in attack and their deadly tackling in defence were the factors which countered the work of our teani and prevented the' backs getting into their stride. However,” when'in the secofid spell the' Englishmen found themselves unable to maintain the terrific pace set, the All Blacks made no race of the match and rattled on 23 points. Nepia’s goat kicking was up to'his best form, and no’ fewer than five out of seven tries' were converted by him. Though the opposition was not expected’to be'serious, the "report says- that “.a surprisingly strong side was put in the field.*’ This wgs especially so iii the forwards, hut as a fact the jteapt has played so mapy, combinations of players that any possible selection or arrangement presents a good solid’"front. It wilt;be noted that the versatile Parker was played on this occasion in the pack. Hb can play well anywhere. Brown was in action again, and gained very favourable . notice.' He appeared to he playing in his best form. Only four more matches remain to be played before the All England fixture, the last in England . Two at least of these, Combined Services and London Counties, will probably be great" struggles, and the English tour will culminate in the keenly anticipated clash with All England at New Year. Interest will certainly be well maintained to the end. RESULTS TO DATE.

INDIVIDUAL SCORES. Following is a, summarised record of scores:

Sven son was the scorer’ of the try in the Yorkshire match that was not cabled. REMAINING MATCHES. December 11—v. Warwickshire, at Coventry. ■ December 13—v. Combined Services, at Twickenham. December, 17—v.. Hampshire, at Portsmouth. December 27 —v. London Counties (second match). January 3—v. England, at Twicken- , ham . January 11 —v. a representative French team at Paris.

January 18 —v. France, at Toulouse,

Won by F. A. July 5—N.S.W., 1st test N.S.W. 16 20 July 9—Metropolitan .... N.Z. 37 '5 July 12—N.S.W., 2nd test N.Z. 21 5 July 16 —N.S.W., 3rd test N.Z. 38 8 Sept. 13—Devon .. N.Z. 11 0 Sept. 17—Cornwall N.Z. 29 0 Sept. 20—Somerset N.Z. 6 0 Sept. 25 —Gloucester N.Z. 6 0 Sept. 27—Swansea' N.Z. 39 3 Oct. 2 —Newport N.Z. 13 10 Oct. 4—Leicester . N.Z. 27 0 Oct. 8 —NortH " Midlands N.Z. 40 3 Oct. 11—Cheshire ...... N.Z. 18 5 Oet. 15—Durham ...... N.Z. 43 7 Oct. 18—Yorkshire ..... N.Z. 42 4 Oet. 22—Lancashire .... N.Z. 23 0 Oet. 25 —Cumberland N.Z. 41 0 Nov. 1—Ireland ........ N.Z. 6 0 Nov. 5 —Ulster N.Z. 28 6 Nov. 8—Northumberland N.Z. 27 4 Nov. 12—Cambridge .... N.Z. 5 0 Nov 15—London Counties N.Z. 31 6 Nov. 19 —Oxford N.Z.' 33 15 Nov. 22—Cardiff N.Z. 1G 8 Nov. 29—Wales N.Z. 19 0 Dee. 2—Llanelly N.Z. 8 3 Dec. 6 —East Midlands' N.Z. 31 7

Goals from Other Potted Player Tries Tries Goals Goals Tl. Nicholls, M. 2 29 5 2 87 Nepia, G. — 24 3 — 57 Hart, A. H. 17 1 — — 53 Cooke, A. E. 15 — —. — 45 Svenson, K. S. 13 — — —. 39 Steel, J. 11 — — 1 37 Parker. H. 12 _ — — 36 Mill, J. 9 3 — 33 White, A. 3 5 — — 19 Brown, H. W. 5 2 — — 19 Richardson, J. 6, — 18 Brownlie, M. 6 -— —- — 18 Irvine, W. E. 5 ■ — — — 15 Lucas, W, • 4 — — — 12 Donald, J. 3 — .— — 9 Porter, C. G. 3 — — 9 Brownlie, 0. Ji 3 —. — — 9 McGregor, N. P. 2 \ — — 6 Masters, R. R. 2 — — — 6 Stewart, R. L. 2 . — — — 6 Guppies, L. P. I — — — 3 West, A. H. 1 — —. — 3 Robilliard, A. C. 1 — — — 3