FOOTBALL AT ITS BEST.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 17872, 29 August 1921, Page 4

FOOTBALL AT ITS BEST.

If among the invisible ties which unite British peoples we may count a common love of sport, then Saturday's match between New Zealand and South Africa was an Imperial game played in the true Imperial spirit. Not only did it yield international football of a very high standard but—and this was its greatest recommendation to many thousands present—it was as clean and friendly a game as any sportsmen could plan. Hard knocks there were, and the pace was a fast one from start to finish, but there was no rough play, no sign of temper, no descent from the «ode of a gentleman's game. The visitors played like the great-hearted athletes they are, and if the New Zealanders were on the day's showing a little inferior as footballers they were not a whit behind as sportsmen. In this respect the game was as creditable to the spectators as to the teams. Strict impartiality is not to be expected where rivalry runs high, but the crowd was fair and even generous in its altitude to the visitors, thus creating an atmosphere worthv of the game. There was no great margin between the sides, but the South Africans deserved to win. The New Zealanders were beaten in tactics and were forced to accept defeat at the hands of a team which, under the conditions of the day's play, displayed a slight superiority. This is not to say that the New Zealanders have not the makings of a superior combination or that they might not have won under different conditions of weather and ground. The defeat will serve as a tonic to New Zealand Rugby, and whether the third game loses or wins us the rubber the standard of play in the Dominion will be all the higher for the visit of so fine a team as the South Africans at their best have proved to be.