NEW ZEALAND RUGBY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18885, 6 December 1924, Page 14 (Supplement)

NEW ZEALAND RUGBY.

■ u Br C. S. TEND AIX.

INTERNATIONAL contests. } . ' ... A REMARKABLE RECORD. LONG SERIES OF SUCCESSES.

CHAPTER 3. ; 'A GREAT COUNXJttT. That New Zealand to[is produced more , great athletes than any other country in the •world on the basi : i of population ! ( teems to the writer to ijbo a reasonable assumption. Of course it i:s a contention ■ which may bo disputed. My idea, however, is not to press this claim but to 1 record briefly merely what this country _ has done on international Rugby football < . fields. ' ' i Naturally our first claiVn to distinction ] is in tho realms of Rugby football. Our ; supremacy in this; direction was indisputably established by that All Black ■ team of 1905 which toured Britain and , Franco with only one loss in 33 matches played. Since then Rugby in this : country has had its ups and downs, but it has never fallen far below the( standard ' set by that wonderful combination Rugby, in short, has put Now Zealand - ■' on the map:" It is our national winter game, and year in and year out tjve havo lways been ablo to put a " hot, ' side in tho field. Why tl.ia is so the', writer does not profess to know. Our climatic conditions and generally healthy and! clean mode of living may havo something f\o do with it. Rugby is a strenuous game for Iha fit young athlete only, _ and that khis little Dominion of ours, with its popula- : tion of not so very much over one millicv inhabitants, bows tho knee to no one where Rugby is concerned is a constant source of pride and wonderment to many j folk. There is another off-shoot of Rugby— the Northern Union game in which New Zealand has made. history recently. Per- , tonally the writer deeply regrets the introduction of the league code into this country.' He has nothing against it as- a ! game. It may or may not be better than < Rugby to which it owes its origin. The i trouble, however, is that with our limited ; population we can hardly expect to sup- , port both codes with our football talent split up into rival camps and do ourselves real justice. The winning or matches is not everything, of course, But still I would personally havo sooner- seen the league game.'left out a little longer at any rate. Having very definitely " arrived," however, it has flourished and good luck to it! Started in Auckland it has spread rapidly with tho result . that the New Zealand league representatives of 1924 were ablo to win the " Ashes " from a visiting . .English team which had just previously vanquished Australia. The visitors;were very sore about their defeat And showed it. While we cannot understand their attitude in this respect, we ran at least sympathise with them and congratulate our own players on their thoroughly deserved win. Association [football has made such rapid strides in New Zealand of late that it bids fair > to outpace the other two codes. It is as yet in its infancy, however, and so far has not; reached anything like that stage when it can compete successfully with English professional teams. Nevertheless it accounted for the Chinese team quite easily in 1924, and the standard of . the game here to-day is probably ' higher ' than it is in Australia. It has undoubtedly a great future. . CHAPTER H. 'A Baiil" HISTORY OS" B.TJGBY FOOTBALL. The writer is particularly anxious to j interest the schoolboy of to-day—who by tho way will .be the international player of to-morrow —in New Zealand's wondorful football record. Tho boy who fails to * take 9a. interest in clean, healthy outdoor 1 sport must be a strange young animal -indeed. He is not normal and in after life he won't do much to assist in the building-up of a young virile nation such as- the Dominion is destined to benomn.' 'Before he can really appreciate his football, however, he must know something of Its history, and for this reason 'I give below a rough outline of the rise land progress of our great winter gama': The-Rugby Union game is a very old 01:0 indeed. It will surprise many to know that it first became popular in Ireland} and has been played there in ■various\forms for upwards of 2000 years. An indication of its old popularity in that somewhat unhappy country is to be found in the 'fact that tho statutes of Galwuy in 1527 forbade every other sport, save archery, excepting only the great foot balle." As an old under-graduate of Magdalene College, i Cambridge, the writer takes a particular interest in the register book of that institution which in 1679 contained tho following :— " That no scholars give or receive at any time any treat or collation upon account of ye footballe, play, on or about Michaelmas Day, further than college beere or ale in ye open halle to quench their thirsts. And particularly that vile custom of drinking and spending money— Sophistcrs and Freshmen together—upon ye account of making or not making a speech at that football time bo utterly left offhand extinguished." It .was not until 1871, however, that the English ' Rugby Union was founded. It then'comprised an association of clubs and schools, which decided to amalgamate and draw up rules to govern the game. From-this beginning the Union grew until it became the governing body of the game in Great Britain and her colonies. It was •aver a•• conservative body, however, and many of us/-though old Rugby players, feel that it has not always moved with the times. A rift in tho lute came in 1895 when si number of leading clubs in Yorkshire and Lancashire broke away from the English Union and formed the Northern Union—now the leading body in the north of England. The payment of players was the bono of contention. It was felt by those v.-ho founded the Northern Union that working men should be re-irnbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses they might incur through playing : the game. The gate;; in the north of Eng- [ land at this time were always large, tho I clubs wealthy, and so the breach came | and the rival bodies were bornone j purely amateur and the other practically ' recognising professionalism. " 1 It was soma considerable time, however, j before tho Northern Union game made its nppearance in New Zealand, and I believe, xnirabile diciu, it was the famous All i Blacks of 1905 'vi were responsible, in- j directly, for its introduction. The | Northern Uiion was not in a nourishing j stato owing to the lack of international matches and the competition of professional Association teams. The All Black's Triumphal tour of 1905 made money for the English Rugby Union, and aroused tho attention of the Northern Union. They at once entered into negotiations with New Zealand players to send a team to England and play tho clubs there, it being agreed that the visiting players should themselves take a share in the gate money. As a sequel a team of New Zealanders I toured the north of England in 1907, and the sequel was the definite establishment of tho game in this country. CHAPTER 111. THE COMING OF THE LEAGUE CODE. In the previous chapter I traced somewhat inadequately the coming of the league code into the Dominion. 1 feel I would be treading on too thin ice if I were to discuss the merits of these two rival games. It is, perhaps, an arguable s point as to how far tho spectator should ft..': influence a game. To tome of us it is a t „ to £ce youths and young of fpotbaU - age gracing the side-line Jeek after we*k, year in year out. -But : to the gate ; provides the wherewithal

to a'vry on the gam© the spectator cannot bo ignored, far he quite naturally will patronise tho brighter form of sport. This ! fact the league has grasped and profited by; can the same be said of the Rugby code ? . The conditions in New Zealand are very different to those in England. Here I think the time for professionalism is not vet. Our working man can still afford to play the great winter game— it Rugby or League*—without recompense. The question of mere out-of-pocket expense is a moot poinit. It may or may not constitute profiassionsdism. As played in New Zealand, tho League game is a good gamefast, open and clean. Tho Rugby ; game, too, is as fine as ever it was, though, peihaps, a little behind the times. Throughout the years the English Rugby Union has retained its conservatism to tho despair of some of its more enterprising branches. There arß indications, however, that it will soon move in tho right direction. • Many will' agree that it is more than a pity that some of our best players follow on*) code and somo another. As matters stapd, howerver, there seems no remedy. Tho breach has widened and tho gap is now too great to bridge. The two codes have come to stay, and provided they are cieanly controlled wo can't complain. Nevertheless, it is a pity! In regard to the League game, however, I would like to put on record one note of warning and that is: " Keep out tho professional." The advent of the paid player invariably encourages the gambler. We have " crooked" riding on tho racecourse, sometimes, and the cause is simply money. 60, too, with football. Let tho monetary element tako pride of place and you will havo "faked" games and dirty " players. Tho dangers of overindulgence in liquor aro frequently stressed by enthusiastic supporters of prohibition, and the evils of gambling on the race-course are often brought before us. Why not a crusade against professional football in our schools and colleges, too ? That a great player should be debarred from representing hi." country abroad for financial reasons, I do not suggest for one moment. Pay his oi;;t-of-pocket expenses if you will— is doao in cricket, tennis and other sports—but give him a financial interest and a hope ov profit as if ho were a touring theatrical attraction—no! CHAPTER IV. TttE Dominion's International Record. V«w Zealand's record in international Bug,by is a unique one, and considering our small population, the result is astonishing. The first international game playe\l by an All Black team was in 1884, and th|e following table, shows a long series of successes—

1884. New South' Wales .. won 11 to 0. Nsw South Wales .. won 21 to 2, New ,South Wal«s .. won 16 to 0. 1893. Nsw South Wales won 17 to 8. New Wales .. lost 3 to 25. Queensland . «■ ( ., won 14 to 3. Queensland .. . won 36 to 0. New Soi4h Wales won 16 to 0. 1894. New South Wales lost 6 to 8, 1896. Queensland .-.i .. ■ won 9 to 0. 1897. New South Wales ... won 13 to 8-. New South Wales .. lost 8 to 22. Queensland .. t .* won 16 to 5. Queensland won 24 to 6. New South Wales won 26 to 3. 1901.. New South Wales .. won 20 t-o 3. 1903. New South Wales .> won 12 to 0. New South Wales .. won 3 to 0. Queensland .. i. * won 17 to 0. Queensland >. •: t.. won 28 to 0. Australia :i <*• won 22 to 3. 1904. British XV. t . . .. won 9 to 3. 1905. New South Wales ,. won 19 to 0. New South Wales .. draw 8 to 8. Australia ic. won 14 to 3. Scotland i«i t.. won 12 to 7. Ireland i-x t»« won 15 Jo 0. England >« i.. won 15, to 0. Wales i. « .. lost 0 to 3. 1906. France (*> ... won 38 to 8. 1907. New South Wales .. won 11 to 3. New South Wales lost 0 to 14. Australia i-« i.. won 28 to 6. Queensland . 4 t . * won 23 to 3. Queensland :• -i t .. won 17 to 11. Australia t . .i t .. won 14 to 6. Australia •. . draw 5 to 5. 1908. 'Welsh XV. . .. won 32 to 5. Anglo-Welsh XV. ■ ... draw 3 to 5. Anglo-Welsh XV. .. won 29 to 0. 1910. New South Wales . .• won 21 to 8. New South Wales ... won 17 to 11. Australia ,., * won 6 to 0. Queensland M r.« won 19 to 15. Queensland .■« i. < won 21 to 3. Australia (.« i.» lost 0 to 11. Australia i... ••« won 28 to 13. 1913. . Australia r>>i t..* won 30 to 5. ■ Australia m i.» won 25 to 13. Australia to . ••lost 5 to 16. 1914. New South Wales w* won 27 to 6. New South Wales won 25 to 10. Australia t . * won 5 to 0. Queensland t,., ' won 26 to 5. Queensland i. .> »•: won 19 to 0. Australia •. .< i.. won 17 to 0. Australia I.. •. .i won 22 to 7. 1920. New South Wales .. won 26 to 15. New South Wales . M won 14 to 6. New South Wales . won 24 to 13. 1921. South Africa ... won 13 to 5. South Africa ... lost 5 to 9. South Africa ,.. draw 0 to 0. Now South Wales .. lost 0 to 17. 1922. New South Wales .* won 26 to 19. New South Wales .. lost 8 tc 14. New South Wales i.. lost 6 to 8. The above matches give the following total results: — Matches played i.-] >.•* 67 Matches won >.. i. * 52 Matches lost i. * 11 Matches drawn . .■ > •• 4 In all, the New Zealanders scored 1063 | points, as against only 412. ■ Since then | the present All Blacks have been adding J to our international winning record. (To be continued.)