THE NEW ZEALAND FOOTBALLERS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXIV, Issue 13913, 22 November 1905, Page 4

THE NEW ZEALAND FOOTBALLERS.

♦ TRIUMPHAL PROGRESS IN THE NORTH. ENGLISH COUNTY CHAMPIONS OUTPLAYED. "KEW ZEALAND 16 POINTS ; DURHAM 3. [Fbom Oue CoKEEsroNDKirr.] ' LONDON, October 7. / After the toughest contest they have t y©t experienced, the New Zealand foot- -' bailers, gained a victory over last year’s County; champions at Durham on Saturday. The Durham fifteen proved themselves the best side the visitors ■ have had to deal with, and for the first time New Zealand were fairly extended. They won the match by the substantial margin of two goals and two tries to one try, but the fact that their line has last been crossed seems to give as comfort to the critics as though She Maorilanders had suffered a defeat. The man who scored the first try against . Now Zealand bids fair to become historical, so much has been said and writ■Jien about the achievement. Durham went on the field expecting j* defeat. At any rate, their officials Proclaimed it far and wide through the Daily 'Mail ” on Saturday morning, ythat ‘‘'if Durham can keep the coioImais* winning points down below twenty, the home executive will he satis- | ( fled.” Fortunately for Durham, the | Iteam showed a good deal more courage Jhan their executive. They may have Anticipated defeat, but they played to >v’in, and never ceased trying till the pall of time. Unlike some of the previous victims of the Colonial tour, lsur/•ham were beaten without being disigraoed. So far from playing a losing they contested every inch of the . ground, and played as they have never .played before. To triumph over such opposition was an achievement of which the New Zealanders have fcvery reason to feel gratified. It was 'u, game worth winning. ’. \ For the first time in the course of /fhe tour the weather was disagreeable. (There was a drizzle of rain all through •the afternoon, making the ground wet ‘and the bail greasy, besides limiting the ; 'attendance. Nevertheless, the crowd /of 5000 was a. record for the ground, land the weather was not severe enough Afo prevent New Zealand playing their ■usual fast and open game. Gallaher ■fctood down in favour of Gillet at wing:.forward. Booth going full-back and ‘Thompson replacing Deans at threequarter. In the forwards Seeling gave 'place to Nicholson, who had stood down for tho Middlesex match. There was a delay of twenty minutes in starting, through Knaggs and Boylen, of the .‘local team, having failed to arrive from Hartlepool. Durham were compelled to )tarf tho game with thirteen me k n, and jt was when their opponents were thus ' )hort-handed that New Zealand scored , the first try. Soon afterwards E. Elliott, of Durham City, was found, and : he took Boylen’s place in the forward line, and then Knaggs and Boylen ar- : rived, the half-back taking his place, I • while Boylen was an enforced spectator, j The teams wore as under : j New Zealand: E. Booth, back; H. D. I Thomson, G. W. Smith, W. J. Wallace, | three-quarter backs: J. Hunter, J. W. I Stead, five-eighths; F. Roberts, scrum half; F. Glasgow, 8. Casey, G. Niohol-' son, W. Cunningham W. Johnston, W.! Glenn, A. M’Donald, G. Gillet, for-1 Wards. Durham : S. Horsley, back; P. Clark- . *on, J. T. Taylor, 8. Adamson and H. Irarie, three-quarter backs; T. Wallace ad J. Knaggs, half-backs] Dr West,

G. Carter, T. Hogarth, 6. Summerscales, J. Elliott, B. F. Stock, H. Havelock, forwards. Mr Adam Turnbull, of. Hawick, was referoe. The game opened as dramatically as in the match at Stamford Bridge. Starting with characteristic dash, New Zealand scored within four minutes from the kick-off, Hunter taking a pass from Wallace, and running in smartly. Wallace failed with the place-kick. Although two men short, Durham forced their opponents back, Adamson, Havelock and Taylor briskly initiating an attack, which, however, el id not last long. Booth'was very safe at full-back for the visitors, whose rapid passing and smart gathering of the greasy hall was wonderfully sure. Admirable combined play, Hunter, Smith and Wallace handling the ball in succession, led to the last-named obtaining a try, but again he failed to convert. The Durham forwards were the means of breaking down the New Zealand defence. They brought off several powerful rushes, and at last were rewarded with a score. Wallace, the Durham half, got the ball away to Adamson, who made for the line, drew the opposition from Clarkson, and with a big overhead pass transferred to the Sunderland winger, who ran in at the corner with a New, Zealander on his heels. There was tremendous enthusiasm at the score, for Clarkson had been the first to cross the hitherto invincible line. Prom a difficult angle near the touch-line Adamson made a fine shot at goal, tho ball going under the crossbar. 'From now to tho end of the half the game was fairly even, and the New Zealanders found themselves leading by only three points. . ' New Zealand—C tries (6 points). Durham—l try (3 points). Play had not long been resumed when they attacked strongly, Hunter having the bad luck to lose the call when over the line, and Thompson missing a score through failing to reach a pass from Smith. This was the first occasion in the game on which a New Zealand bad not been accepted. After these escapes, Durham, thanks to a splendid kick by Taylor, looked dangerous, but the New Zealanders soon had all the play again. Stead obtained a try, and from a pass by him Wallace carried the ball down the touch-line from half-way to the corner, and then round behind the posts, outstripping all his opponents, *and scored a mag-nificently-earned try. Wallace kicked a goal from each of these trios, and no doubt remained as to the result of the game, butt with the certainty of defeat before them, Durham played better than ever. Wallace, their halfback, getting the ball from a scrummage, cleverly evaded- would-be tacldors and passed to Taylor, who ran strongly, and when brought down left Imrie with a chance, but despite a plucky attempt to get round, the Durham three-quarter was pushed into touch just outside the New Zealand lino. The game continued to be splendidly contested, Durham never relaxing their efforts, but they could make no impression on their opponents, who gained their seventh consecutive victory decisively. '• . Kew Zealand—2 sroals. 2 tries (16 points). Durham—l try (3 points).. A RECORD SCORE. ASTONISHING DISPLAY AT HARTLEPOOL. SIXTY-THREE POINTS TO NIL. [Fr.un Cub Corbesponuext.] ’ LONDON, October 13. Tho New Zealanders have created something very like a panic in the English Rugby world, which has received tho biggest shock it ever experienced. The reniarkable series of victories with

which the tour has opened culminated' on Wednesday in the crushing defeat of Hartlepool by sixty-three points to nil—a.score unprecedented in firstclass Rugby football. Already the half-penny papers are loudly proclaiming the decadence of English character and physique, while the critics who held the New Zealanders so lightly before their tour began are now trying to take the edge off the bitterness of defeat by styling the victors the greatest Rugby combination ever seen on a football field., They are long past the stage of explaining away the English defeats. We hear no more about “ false football ” and other ingenious excuses for the New Zealanders’ colossal scores. We hear no more, or almost nothing, about the famous wingforward, who at the opening of the tour was the best-abused man in the kingdom. The Hartlepool climax has, for the present, at any rate, silenced all criticism. The New Zealanders’ performance on Wednesday eclipses all records. It may be that they were determined to show that the comparatively small score in the Durham match was no indication of waning strength, as some judges seemed to imagine. At any rate, they showed the home team no mercy. Keeping the upper hand from the very start, they scored a try, on an average, every five minutes of the game. Thirty-three points were scored in the first spell and thirty more in the second. In all, the home goal line was crossed no fewer than fifteen times, and only thrice in the whole game did poor Hartlepool get on. the New Zealand side of the centre line. Never once did the Home team endanger the enemy’s goal-line. It was leal a football match than a dazzling exhibition of “football fireworks.” The home team were utterly bewildered, and if they had been grasping at shadows their tackling could not have been more ineffective. As for the spectators, they were struck dumb with v amazement. After the first ten minutes they were past articulate comment. Most of the tries were scored right behind the goal-posts, and nine goals were added to the score. The unusual spectacle of a full-back (Wallace), scoring two tries was another feature of this most extraordinary .game. The home side played with the courage of desperate men, but they were hopelessly and utterly outclassed and eclipsed. They were supposed to be a strong team, too, representing, as they did, the two best clubs in Durham County— Hartlepool Rovers and West Hartlepool—aiid containing a number of the men yrlio helped to make Durham the county champions last year. But they never had a look in. Whole columns of explanations and excuses and allowances would not affect the result one jot. Even the referee escaped censure in the face of a rout so overwhelming. New Zealand made five changes in the team which had defeated Durham, Wallace replacing Booth at full, Deans and ‘Abbott joining Smith at threequarter, and Newton, Seeling and O’Sullivan taking the places of Glenn, Casey and Nicholson in the pack. Gillet again filled the post of wing forward. It is worth noting that tho English side sought to confound the New Zealand methods by adopting precisely the same formation, but the result shows how signally they failed in their purpose. There is no need to give a detailed description of a game which speedily resolved itself into a procession across the home goal line. The weather was delightful and the ground in the Rectory Field in first-class order. Aided by these favourable conditions, the New Zealanders played at the top of their form, showing to much greater advantage than on the wet, lumpy and sloping ground at Durham. Getting possession from almost every scrum, the visitors displayed brilliant combination. which, together with their rei

markable speed, made them a source of constant anxiety to the home defence, who were utterly unable to cope with the bewildering tactics of their opponents. The scoring was commenced ten minutes from the start, Smith being responsible for a fine try ae the result of an opening made by Stead. Wallace converted. The second try came through Doans, and at about equal intervals others followed through Roberts, Stead, Hunter, Smith and Abbott, Wallace adding the major points on all but one occasion. Thus at the interval the Now Zealanders led by six goals and one try to nil. Change of ends saw a continuance of the procession, Hunter being , responsible for two "tries, Abbott for two, Wallace two, and O’Sullivan and Roberts for one each. Conversions followed in three instances through Wallace (two) and Glasgow, Hartlepools retiring defeated by nine goals and six tries (sixty-three points) to nil. The teams were:— New Zealand.—Wallace (back), Smith, Deans and Abbott (three-quar-ter backs), Hunter and Stead (fiveeighths), Roberts (half-back), Glasgow, M’Donald, Cunningham, O’Sullivan, Newton, Seeling, Johnson'and .Gillebt (forwards). Hartlepools. Ell wood (Rovers), back; Wellcck, Taylor and Wass (West Hartlepool), three-quarter backs [ Wallace (West Hartlepool) and Knaggs (Rovers), five-eighths; Thompson (Rovers), half-back; West, Scott, Metcalfe and Moule (West Hartlepool), and Carter, Hogarth, Boylen and Brittain (Rovers), forwards. Referee, Mr Robin Welsh (Scotch Rugby Union). NOTfes ON THE GAMES. (By E. T. HARPER.) We were very loath to leave London after our round of excitements and gaieties in that great city. As many as possible of the chief places of interest were visited by us, besides the numerous places of amusement which London provides. Our journey from London to Durham reminded u$ once more of the New Zealand railways, for we left at 10.30 a.in. and did not arrive until 6.30 p.m. However, we had a most enjoyable boar’s break at York, and most of us visited the famous cathedral. We found Durham, so far as the town was concerned, rather dull; but the people wore kindness itself, and could not do enough for us. Nearly all of us found our way to the ancient cathedral and castle, over which we were very 5 kindly escorted by guides. We expected a good hard tussle with the Durham team, and we had one. This team is by far the best wo have met so far, both in forwards and backs. The ground was not too good, and very uneven in places. Heavy rain fell in the morning, and continued in a drizzle in the afternoon, and although not muddy, the ground was very wet, and, in consequence, the ball was difficult to handle. I can confidently say that if it had been a drier (Jay the score would have been larger on our side. Durham played with a wing-forward. Their forwards worked well, and they were well backed up by the backs, and the try they obtained was a welldeserved one. A very long pass from the centre three-quarter enabled the wing-threequarter to score. This is the first time our line has been creased. \s has been the case in all our other games, our backs were far too speedy and accurate for their opponents. This was the first occasion on which, our tackling powers’ were really tested, and the work was done splendidly. There are no serious accidents to report, but minor ones are preventing,' some of our men from playing. Tylei; has a slightly sprained ankle, Gallahev a bad knee, and Casey a bruise)! shoulder. Mynott has had a bad attack of influenza, but is how recover-, ina; and we hoi>e to see Mackrell,

whom we left in London with influenza, with us this week. ■Wo arrived in West Hartlepool on Monday last. Mynott and Casey stayed behind,at Durham, the former with a bad cold and Casey with a bruised shoulder. Both have now joined us again, and will be fit to play again next week.

West Hartlepool is a large shipbuilding centre, and we nad a most interesting inspection of Gray’s Shipbuilding Yards, the largest, we were informed, in the world. Great interest was taxen in the match, and all the dockyard und shipbuilding hands were given a halfholiday for the occasion. A record gate for Hartlepool was the result. Within a few minutes of play we scored our first try, and it was very easy to see from the commencement, on account of the feeble opposition of the opposing backs, that we would have no difficulty in putting together a large score. Our backs played brilliantly, and this is indeed the most _ brilliant display they have given during the tour. Of course, the opposition was very feeble, but none the less, our passing was faultless, and we rattled up thirty-three points in the first spell. Tn the second spell we put on another thirty, and heat our record of fifty-four against Devonshire. Much of the success of the hacks in scoring was due to the way in which the forwards picked the ball up and threw it out to the-backs.. The spectators were all admiration at our skill, and everyone assures us that our tactios will do more for the revival of Rugby football in England than any other means. M’Don aid had the misfortune to rick his shoulder in the course of the match, and he may be prevented from playing for ten days or so, otherwise all are well or on the road to speedy recovery.

“WHY THE NEW ZEALANDERS WIN.” A “ DAILY* MAIL ” CAUSERIE. [From Our Corresi’oxdknt.l LONDON, October 13. The “ Daily Mail ” seems to have taken the New Zealand team qnder its wing, and the momentous question, “Why do the New Zealanders win?” has been started as a subject of correspondence by that weighty organ. One is glad to see the “ Mail giving so much prominence to the New Zealanders in its crowded columns, but it would be even more satisfactory if the scribe who chronicles their achievements knew at the least the rudiments of Rugby football. The “ Mail ” man seems to think that Rugby is played between teams of eleven, for, in the course of a lengthy disquisition, he says:—“The Now Zealanders are much better than the best English county sides in .every respect, and there seems little probability of a picked English eleven overcoming them.” If the writer had ever seen a Rugby game in his life he would know that—but there 1 Comment is superfluous. A Rugger “expert” who thinks the game is played eleven a side is past praying for. Tfie day after this memorable statement appeared in its columns, the “Mad” again distinguished itself by informing ' a wondering world .that George Smith, the speedy New Zealand three-quarter, “holds several , Antipodean records, including the Australian 100’yards in 9J seconds.” And the paper naively adds: “It may thus easily bo conceived that when he has full steam on ho takes some catching.” I should think so, indeed 1 When our friend George or anyone else succeeds in covering a hundred yards, Australian or otherwise, in nine and a quarter seconds, I shall believe that the age of miracles is not yet dead.

Why do the New Zealanders win? "Can it he,” asks the "Daily Mail,” "that the pick of British bone and muscle has emigrated to_ New Zealand, leaving the inferior quality of English-

man behind, and that thus the defeats of British teams are to be explained? Is it that the English failure in' the game' of English invention is a fresh manifestation of the want of energy and determination which foreign witnesses believe to bo more and more characterising our social and political life?” Mr P. A. Vailo and numerous others are quite sure of it. They have hastened to fill the columns of the “ Daily Mail ” with articles and letters accusing the Englishman of lack of virility, and stamping him as a decadent type. Mr Vaile, after seeing the New Zealanders play one match, comes to the sorrowful conclusion that “dear old England” is in a state of decline, and must take a lesson from “ the lusty sons of Empire,” or else “in the end it will come to pass that the men of old England will not be as they were, take they not heed ere it be too late.” And much move to the same awe-inspiring effect. Now, all this pother about decadence may be smart journalism', but is it sportsmanlike? The New Zealanders have won their first eight matches in brilliant style, and may be expected to win many more; but is it fair on the part of the “ Daily Mail ” and its contributors to start thus early to cry down the Mother Country? _ On the strength of these eight victories there is a tendency to credit the colonial team with almost supernatural powers, and at the same time to write the merits of the Home teams down to zero. I don’t like to see the halfpenny Press hastening to besmirch their own side because the visitor's have so_ far come out on top. That is not fair play to the Home* teams which have vet to meet the colonials, and I am sure the members of the New Zealand team would be the first to deprecate the extravagant and far-fetched conclusions which" the halfpenny papers are hastening to draw from the first few matenes of'the tour. Nor will they attach much value to the eulogies of paper's which talk about Rugby “elevens, and sprinters who cover a hundred yards rn impossible times. The New Zealanders aro a grand lot, and have put up a phenomenal performance. . They have Avon all tlieir matoh-es so far by showing more dash, stamina, self-reliance and skill than their opponents. It may be that the New Zealander, man for man, is more vigorous, more self-reliant and more resourceful than the Bngnsninan. One may hold that opinion, and the results of the tour may strengthen rt, but why hasten to shout it from English house-tops when only a fourth oi the matches of the tour has been played? It seems to me that to be for ever trimming one’s sails to catch toe popular breeze is a more notable sign of decadence than a scries of defeats on the football field. A TOPIC OF THE DAY. “ THE UNLICKED CUB.” [Plum OIIR ColHUiSl-ONDKXT.] V LONDON, October 13. The New Zealand footballers are the topic of the day. Little more than a month ago their existence as a team was practically unknown over here. Today all England is talking of their exploits. They have played _ eight matches, achieved eighty decisive victories, and scored 310 points against a miserable seven on the part of the eight teams opposed to them. _ In fine, tlieir success has been sensational, and foi that reason they have captured the imagination of the British public. “ Punch’s ” cartoon this weak, off the situation very neatly in a spirited sketch of “The Unlioked Cub ” making the British Lion look foolish on the football field. Dressed in the sombre black uniform of the New Zealanders, with the New Zealand flag emblazoned on his jersey, the young lioncub is depicted careering down the field with the ball, while ho neatly and calmly fends himself clear of the old bin’s eager clutches. The look of mingled surprise, confusion and .dismay

on the face of the British Lion is delightful. The big crowd looking o>n behind the railings indicates the interest which the “Unlicked” has created in the Old Country. The fact is that the newspapers, finding first-rat© “copy” in these dashing footballers, have _ given an amount of space and discussion to their doings which the promoters of the tour could never, even in their most roseate dreams, have hoped for; and the result is that hundreds of thousands of people who have hitherto taken no interest in Rugby football, in addition to every follower of the game, know all about the doughty visitors, and are keenly following the progress of their tour. The New Zealanders are drawing record crowds at every ground they play on, which proves conclusively that thousands of people who have seldom or never attended the ordinary Rugby matches, have made a point of seeing the “ Invincibles.” They are, in short, the heroes of the day. The astonishing success which_ marked the opening of the tour surprised no one more than it did the New Zealanders themselves. “Wo hoped to win a match here and there,” remarked one of the team in course of conversation the other day, “ but we never for a moment expected to win our first match with so great a margin, nor to follow' it up with seven victories in succession.” When the team were training at Newton Abbott the local people, after watching them at practice, told them to expect defeat from Devon, but added, by way of comfort, that if they scraped through as victors in the opening match they might reasonably expect to enjoy a fairly successful tour. The result of the Devon match you know. It astonished the natives, but it astonished the New Zealand ere just as much. Since then their tour has been a series of surprises for themselves as well as for the public. MODEST VICTORS.

The New- Zealanders have won general admiration, not only by their prowess but also by their modest demeanour in the hour o*f victory. “ Deeds, not words,” has been their motto. Swelled head and over-confidence are conspicuously absent. The team steer clear of banquets wherever possible, and fight shy of the interviewer. If one of them has to make a speech in reply to a public welcome, it is almost apologetic in its reference to the result of the day’s match—the inevitable victory. The vicecaptain greatly amused the Durham folk at the smoke concert in that city by saying that the team had come to England to learn; but I have no doubt he meant it seriously. They are open to receive lessons, and if the Home teams cannot teach them any, the would-be pupils do not ' propose-to “crow” over the fact. English people have told me that they have found the New Zealanders footballers as modest off the field as they are dashing and skilful when in action. The “Blacks” have also created a favourable impression upon the English by the spirit in which they play the game. , They are “willing” without being rough, and their methods are open and above-board. Many notable tributes to their fairness have been published from the pens of Englifi players, and these echo the general opinion. Said one famous English international at the close of the Hartlepool match on Wednesday, “ I cannot understand how anyone can charge the New Zealanders with being rough. I never saw a team play a more perfectly proper game. They do not use their weight half as much as they could, mark my words.” These cardial sentiments I, myself, as an eye-witness of some of their most spirited games, am happy to endorse. , To sum up, the New Zealand team has launched its tour under the most prosperous auspices, and given itself and the colony from which it comes ‘a grand_advertisement. There is reason to believe that the team will go through the remainder of the programme with flying colours, but already they have done

enough to set all England talking. Ak ready the “ Daily Mail ” is .asking whether the- decadence, of the BnglishmaE has really i set in, and Mr P. A. Vaile, ever on the alert, has promptly stepped into the breach, more in sorrow than ii anger, to answer the question in th< most emphatic of affirmatives. “ Now ii is time, cries the enthusiastic apostk of efficiency, “for England to take at her watchword what the. Prince dl Wales said when he returned from visiting the lusty sons of Empire in tbeii homes across the sea, where they watcls with fond hearts and proud hopes th« fortunes of the dear old Motherlandj and to ‘wake up’ ” y No wonder the poor old British Lioi is beginning to breathe , hard and looJ surprised, arid confused, and a littli hurt.