SPORTSMEN ALL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22225, 27 September 1935, Page 15

SPORTSMEN ALL

SAYOY HOTEL LUNCHEON r MANY NOTABLE GUESTS SPEECH' BY MR. MEREDITH r [from our own correspondent] By Air Mail LONDON, Sept. 7 The 1935 All Blacks received a tremendous welcome at the luncheon given the team by the British Sportsman's Club at the Savoy Hotel. The 200 sportsmen present representing every branch of sport in Gr.eat Britain accorded the New Zealanders a reception they will remember for tho rest of their lives. Behind the main table hung a large Union Jack side by "side with the New Zealand flag. Tables Avero decorated cleverly with ferns, while the menus, tho work of Tom Webster, well-known cartoonist, pictured a scene of the English Lion merrily dancing a welcome haka.

Among those present were Lord Decies, chairman of the British Sportsman's Club, Viscount Bledisloe, Sir James Parr, Brigadier-General A. C. Critchley, Sir Harry Preston, Mr. C. B. Cochran and Dr. R. Cove-Smith.

After the Loyal Toast, Lord Decies read apologies from several sportsmen who were unable to be present, including one from the Earl of Lonsdale, who greatly regretted his inability to attend, but who hoped during the tour to meet the team both collectively and individually.

Lord Decies then presented Viscount Bledisloe, who was greeted with considerable applause on rising to speak.

" As .1 sort of liaison officer between our most distant Dominion and the Homo land," said Lord Bledisloe, " it gives me exceeding great pleasure to extend a word of welcome to the team, and I hope that the five months the team has in my country will be as happy as the five years I had in theirs." First Visit Recalled In proposing the health of the New Zealand team, Mr. J. E. Greenwood, president of the Rugby Football Union, said that in England Itugby football owod much to the visit of the original 1905 team, who put fresh life into the game, and had given it impetus, which, after thirty years, they were still feeling. He described the appalling condition of grounds and stands when football was played in those days and how the 1905 team, in playing in their first match against Devon and Cornwall —a side which was supposed to have been a very strong combination at that time —shocked the English Rugby world by winning by 55 to 4, and thereby scoring in the first game more points than they had scored against them for the whole tour! Then the 1924 team had conquered all beforo them and now the 1935 tourists were the honoured guests, not only of the Rugby Union but also of the whole of tho English people. Loud applause greeted Jack Manchester, captain of the side, in replying to tho toast. "I sincerely thank you on behalf of the team for the kind and enthusiastic welcome we have received since our arrival on Monday," ho said. "We have been overwhelmed with kindness on every side, and again to-day by such a fine gathering as the British Sportsman's Club." Whatever the results of tho matches would be, he concluded, they intended to play a bright, open game which they hoped would prove popular with tho English people. He also said how proud they were to have "Tori" Reid with tbem representing tho Maori race, which was so highly "honoured in Nfew Zealand.

Here for the Joy ol Playing .Replying to the same toast, Mr. V. R. Meredith, manager of the side, delivered an ideal speech. He extended thanks for the very fine welcome and said that although New Zealand was the farthest away Dominion, it actually was not so far, as it was bridged by a structure built on sentiments and loyalty of firm foundations, comprising common love for the same great flag and the same great Empire. "We come here," he said, " primarily to play football, the game our forefathers took with them when they left these shores many yeara ago. Now we are returning to the cradle of llugby, and do so with some degree of humility," as he outlined the previous traditions and records made by previous teams. "I want to assure you that we are not bore solely to win every match or to break records. We are here purely for tho sheer joy of playing football and making friendships. "In New Zealand, tho Maoris have a motto that whon a fern dies down, a new curling frond grows up to take its place. So it is with this team now, and we hope to leave behind us happy memories of thp rew frond of 1935. We hope by tho res ults of the toiir we will not prove unworthy of the welcome you have given us. In New Zealand, writers call England 'home.' Now, we have had the opportunity of receiving such a wealth of welcome that we appreciate more than ever what our fathers meant by 'home,' and we inddfcd have ourselves como 'home.' "