RUGBY VISITORS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22504, 22 August 1936, Page 12

RUGBY VISITORS

The Australian Rugby football team which will play the opening match of its New Zealand tour at Eden Park to-day is representative of three States of the Commonwealth. The day has gone when a Rugby Union team from across the Tasman was exclusively from New South Wales. The game is now firmly re-established over a much wider area. It had its lean time, but that appears to be a thing of the past. In Australia the help given by NewZealand when fortunes were low has always been gratefully acknowledged. It has also been repaid, in the best sporting way, by the defeats which Australian teams have inflicted on the All Blacks. There could be no better testimonial of gratitude. Such happenings of the past add a great deal of interest to the present tour, which is given even more point by the expectation of a visit from the South Africans next year. Auckland has the first match of the tour, the privilege of seeing the visitors in action at its outset. They come with a reputation for pace and dash, two qualities usually conspicuous in teams from Australia. They have also declared their wish and intention to play the game for its own sake, without too much concentration on the honours of it, or the trophy which is in dispute between the two countries. That is a spirit to be welcomed, one which should sharpen the public anticipation of to-day's game, even though it has no bearing on the future location of the Bledisloe Cup. It is unfortunate that the conditions which suit the visitors best, a dry, fast ground, will be lacking, but they can be trusted to accept and make the best of whatever fortune offers. The sport-loving public will be ! unanimous in wishing them a good beginning and an enjoyable tour.