ANOTHER WIN

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 29 December 1924, Page 5

ANOTHER WIN

FOR ALL BLACKS. / LONDON COUNTIES DEFEATED. BY 28 POINTS TO 3. If, as is probable, the All, Blacks defeat All England on January 3, the; tleam will have completed the English tour without having once been defeated. Saturday’s match against London Counties was play- . ed on a very heavy field under wretched conditions, and resulted in a win for the New Zealanders by 28 points to 3. BY CABLE—BBESB ASSOCIATION—COPYBIGIiT LONDON, Dec. 27. / The All Blacks to-day defeated London Counties in the’ 6econd match, which was played at Blaekheath, by 28 points to 3, the margin being the same as in.; ihe first game against the Londoners, when the score was 31 to'6. The. New Zealand team: ‘ Full-back—Nepia. ’ Three-quarters Svenson, Cooke, ; Steel. Five-eighths—Nicholls, McGregor: Half—Mill. Wing forward—Parker. . Forwards—lrvine, Donald, Masters, M. Brownlie, C. Brownlie, Guppies ana Richardson. , The -London team underwent many only seven of the original selection taking the field. . practically all .the internationals for the match on Saturday next, including Raymond, were withdrawn. : Ten ; thousand spectators braved the most atrocious weather. Heavy and . continuous rain' fell, and the ground was waterlogged in places. The Londoners’ spotless white uniforms soon took.-on their opponents? colour. The New Zealanders kicked off , against a strong disconcerting diagonal wind.' The London forwards, using their feet cleverly in the loose, established an early footing in the New Zealanders’ territory, and for the first 15minutes the All; Blacks were mostly defending, with Nicholls, Cooke and Svenson proving most effective. . Then Cooke broke through in ,the centime of the field and dribbled on to the Londoners’ line, where C. Brownlie secured in the loose and dived across near the posts. Nicholls converted.—All Blacks 5, London Counties nil. Despite numerous penalties against the All Blacks, the Londoners were now allowed little respite. The New Zealand hacks handled the greasy ball ; brilliantly and with certainty. The next score was sensational. Hamilton Wickes, profiting from a slip by .Svenson, ran brilliantly right up to Nepia. His pass went astray, and Nicholls gathered up the ball ’and. passed to M. Brownlie, who ran 40 yards before passing to Donald, • who scored unopposed between the • posts: Nicholls failed to convert.—All Blacks 8, London Counties nil. . The Londoners - were the next to score. Steel slipped and lost the ball, which the flOet-footed Gibbs annexed and ran along the touchline to Nepia. He short, punted past the full-back, and scored in the corner. The kick at goal failed.—All Blacks B,r London Counties 3. . Immediately afterwards Nepia ran into position to set the All Blacks’ backs away, and the, ball went from Steel to M. Brownlie, who -forced-his way across. Nicholls failed' with the kick, and half-time came with the score: ■ . -. '■ All-Blacks 11 London Counties 3 With the assistance of the wind in second... spell the New Zealanders dominated the game to an ©yen greater, extent than hitherto, and the ball was rarely out-of the Londoners’ 25. Soon after the resumption Cooke tackled, the London Counties’ full-back in possession, and Svenson, who was hacking up, paved the way for C. Brownlie to score: Nicholls’ kick hit the past, rebounded and failed.—All Blacks 14, London Counties 3. ; : i Within a few minutes C. Brownlie repeated hie performance after a brillian run by Svenson, and Nicholls again tailed to pilot the heavy, slippery ball between the posts.—All Blacks 17, London Counties 3. From now on the New Zealanders took complete control of the game, giving a magnificent demonstration of wet weather football.; Three more tries were-scored in quick succession. Parker fan across from a scrum near the line, Nepia just failing in a great effort to convert, the ball striking'the post.—All Blacks 20,, London Counties • V* ■' v .Richardson was the next scorer, and his try was converted by Nicholls.— All Blacks 25, London Counties 3. Irvine completed the New Zealanders’ tally, crossing from a scramble near. the line. Nicholls failed with the kick, the final score being : All Blacks! 28 London Counties ' 3 There, were , numerous other scoring chances which were nullified by uncertain handling.. Nevertheless the passing of backs and forwards alike reached a high standard of excellence, completely demoralising their opponents. Having regard to the conditions, which were the worst the tourists have; yet experienced, it was an excellent game, and pronouncedly in the New Zealanders’ favour. Their forwards were all brilliant, with M. Brownlie, C. Brownlie, Richardson, Donald and Irvine the most conspicuous. Svenson and Cooke were in magnificent form, and Nicholls’ play demonstrated that he has lost nothing' in versatility /by his enforced, spell. Nepia performed a very easy task with his customary soundness. . •It is interesting to note .that 'the New Zealanders’ eight tries were all scored by forwards, and that both front row inen succeeded in crossing their opponents’ line. ■ London, Dec. 28. The Observer says the All Blacks’ victory exploded the old theory that wet conditions would hamper the New Zealanders’ attack. Long* before halftime the visitors were covered with mud, friend and foe alike being indistinguishable, yet the New Zealanders’ genius triumphed over all handicaps. - - / COMMENTS ON THE MATCH. (By “Spectator.”) As was expected, the All Black team put in the field to- meet London Counties was as good as could be selected. The internationals-were withdrawn from the London team, probably on account of the atrocious weather conditions. These naturally made the game largely a forward struggle, but the report sho’vs the.t the whole team, back: and forward, played splendidly, and . though the scores were nearlv all scored bv the forwards, the backs put' in a lot of dashing play and handled the greasy ball excellently. The forwards co-