DECISIVE VICTORY TO ENGLAND

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXVI, 6 January 1936, Page 4

DECISIVE VICTORY TO ENGLAND

THE tour of Great Britain of the 1935-36 All Blacks has ended in no blaze of triumph for the tourists, but to the accompaniment of the wildest cheering of the crowd at Twickenham as on Saturday they watched the Englishmen overwhelm New Zealand’s best to the tune of three unconverted tries and a field goal, to nil. Thus was a significant chapter in Rugby history written, and finally and finely has England prevailed and earned and received the silent congratulations of those who have followed the 'tour from this end of the world. With the Tests at two-all, honours end even on the present tour. Comment had been made before the final Test that the All Blacks had a poor look-out, for at the end of a long and strenuous tour they seemed to be up against something special. And so it proved, the tremendous speed on the centre and wings and the deadly tackling of the Englishmen in a game played for the most part among the backs being the chief factors in the visitors’ defeat. The 1905 All Blacks defeated England by 15-0, and the 1924 team by 17-11, the Einglish side in this match trying the All Blacks to. the utmost and forming the hardest combination they met. Thus to all thinking followers of the game the present defeat should not prove astounding. It seems agreed that British Rugby has continued to improve since the last visit of the All Blacks, and the closeness of many of the matches, together with the number of points scored against the tourists seem to bear this out.

A glance over the score sheet shows 24 All Black victories, three defeats and a draw, points for 431, points against 180. It was not an unbeatable side that represented New Zealand at Home on this occasion, and unfavourable com-' parisons may perhaps be made with its all-conquering predecessor, but during the tour it proved tremendously difficult to defeat (England excluded), and finished with a good record. The British teams’ total score of 180 points against the All Blacks on the tour is very large by comparison with the 98 against the 1924 team, and the mere 39 against the original AH Blacks of 1905. A question that arises from the tour with its three important losses is whether our vaunted Rugby supremacy reached its peak in 1924. , The 1905 team scored 830 points and the 1924 side 654. All Black teams that have toured Great Britain and France have played 91 games of which only four have been lost and one drawn, a total of 2020 points for and 339 against. Turning to the 1935 team’s individual records it is seen that Gilbert, the full-hack, leads the list of pointgetters, having played 26 games, scoring 120 points per medium of his boot, 30 conversions, 16 penalties and three field goals. Caughey, who scored 14 tries and a field goal, is next with 46 points. However much the N.Z. Rugby follower desires the All Blacks to go on winning he realises it is not absolutely essential that that state of affairs should continue indefinitely, even if it were possible. The teams which this season have put a period to our successes were worthy, as those thousands of New Zealanders listening in the early , morning hours have been compelled to realise; but whether win or lose, the true sportsmanship of the player must overshadow the result. Many tributes have come to be paid to the present All Blacks for their conduct on and off the field, and in the last analysis that is the essential.