LEAGUE TEAM'S TOUR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19480, 9 November 1926, Page 13

LEAGUE TEAM'S TOUR.

VICTORY IN FOURTH MATCH. ROCHDALE NARROWLY BEATEN. NOTES ON PLAYERS' FORM. (From J. R. O'Shautrhnessy. with the New Zealand League Team.) Harrogate, sept. 22. Leaving Harrogate on lucsday, September 21, the New Zealand team travelled by train to Rochdale, passing through Leeds en route. The game took place on Tuesday, that day being the local halfholiday. Originally we had been scheduled to play Castleford 011 Wednesday, September 22, the alteration being due to the fact that Castleford desired the game to be played later in the season, and it has been set down for January 3. We can count ourselves lucky 'o have beaten Rochdale. After the defeat of the previous Saturday at Halifax, our team was out to win and thus disprove the somewhat pessimistic criticisms that at once appeared in the sporting pages of the English newspapers. The New Zealand team was as follows: —Gregory, fullback; Desmond, Davidson and Parkes, three-quarters; Cole and Brisbane, five-eighths; Hall, halfback; Devine, Carroll, Herring, Mason, Mouat and Avery, forwards. The Halifax team was:—Wild, W. Evans, Walker, Langshaw, May, Heaton, Harris, Millard, Hinan, Catterall, Edwards and Tetlow.

On our side, Parkes on the wing, and Gregory at fullback, were making their first appearance on this side of the world in Rugby League football. That leaves F. Henry, J. Wright, "Pip" Webb and H. Thomas yet to play their first game. This game was the fourth of the tour. We have now played four, winning three and losing one, and scoring 60 points against 53. Trouble in the Scrum. As an exhibition of the code, this game could not be classed as very good. There were few redeeming features of the first half, and half-time came with the score against our men to the tune of seven points. But in the second half, in this game ks in all our games so far, our boys seemed to put more vim and spice into their work and thrilled the crowd with flashes of brilliant play, both back and forward. The scrum of the Rochdale team was a good deal the superior of ours. Nevertheless our front row men obtained the ball a good many times. A decided improvement seems to have come over this aspect of our forward work. Our men have realised the value of getting down quickly when a scrum is ordered. But even so, when the six did get down, one frequently saw a head forced up and as a result this player was, for the time being, out of action. The packing seemed somewhat loose and the ball was hooked cleanly only on infrequent occasions. A great share of the blame for our faulty scrum work, in this game as in many of the games, may candidly be laid at the door of the English forwards' methods. I thought it had been decided that the front row men must not go down on their knees to get the ball in the scrums, but Millard, the Rochdale middle man, was a great offender in this respect, and this led to a lot of bad scrummaging. The Rochdale men had a great many scoring chances in the first half, but always at the critical moment a New Zealander managed to save the situation. The Rochdale men indulged in far too much kicking, the New Zealanders giving them a good example in this matter by preferring to pass generally. Rochdale might have equalised the scores in the last minute of the game, when our men were penalised in a fairly good position for May (Rochdale) to attempt, but his shot went wide.

The game was not very old when Rochdale was penalised and Mason kicked a good goal. Then our backs indulged in some fine passing, which was ended by W. Evans intercepting and going through to score an unconverted try, right in the corner. Rochdale kept up the attack and a forward rush had New Zealand in trouble. Brushing aside some weak tackling Langshaw (Rochdale) went over for a try again in the corner. . This try also went unconverted. A few minut.es after, Rochdale were over again, this time as the result of some judicious short-punting over the heads of our inside backs, who had to stand up close to the scrum as the result of our forwards not obtaining the ball. This try was not converted and the interval came with the scores: Rochdale. 2; New Zealand, 2. A Brilliant Recovery. New Zealand quickly got to work after the interval, and in a typical New Zealand forward rush our men swept down the field. A penalty against Rochdale gave Mouat a difficult chance and he kicked a great goal. Thus heartened, our men kept up the pressure. Then Davidson, at centre, who in all the games has been delighting the crowds by his brilliant play with quick bursts and superb defence, slipped, and thus missed a fine scoring chance. Play then swung back to New Zealand territory and our defence was severely tested. Gregory, who was playing his initial game and playing very well indeed, at this stage saved a dangerous assault on our line.

Then the finest piece of work of the whole match just failed to end in a score. With head thrown back, Parkes made a great run from his twenty-five, only to be pulled down within a yard of the Rochdale line. Nothing daunted, New Zealand returned to the attack, and five minutes later, following good work by Hall, Avery and Herring, Parkes went over for a try, which Mason converted with a ver\* fine kick. This made the scores nine all. Close on the call of time a penalty against Rochdale gave Mouat a chance and, amid a breathless hush, he kicked the goal, which put us in the lead and won the game for New Zealand. In spite of the desperate onslaughts of the Rochdale men, we managed to retain this lead and ran out winners of the fourth game by 11 points to 9. Individual Performances. This was Gregory's first game in England and he played very well. He proved very f;vst and nippy and, moreover, he believes in opening up the game for his backs. His tackling was all that could be desired. Avery, the captain, upheld his reputation and played a very good garue. Mason, Devino and Herring were hard-working forwards who caught the eye and Carroll, in the tight, and Monat in the loose, while not so prominent, played a hard game. Hall, at half, again experienced some difficulty in getting the ball in the scrums to the satisfaction of the referee. His passing was well-directed and his tackling good. He is proving a great favourite with the spectators here, who appreciate to the full his tricky and elusive, running. Cole, at first five-eighths, made some strong runs and his tackling was a thorn in the side of the Rochdale forces. Davidson, as usual, played a very fine game and was prominent throughout. Desmond and Parkes on the wings did well what was asked of them, but did not get the opportunities they deserved. The attendance was over 8000 and the gate receipts £590.