FIRST RUGBY TEST

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22517, 7 September 1936, Page 8

FIRST RUGBY TEST

The first test match with the Australian Rugby team ended very satisfactorily for New Zealand; but the accounts of the game show fortune to have been on the side of this country. The visiting team was short of several outstanding players, minor injuries and sickness having taken their inevitable toll from a touring party. With that factor, and the depressing result of defeats in earlier fixtures, against them the Australians still managed to extend their opponents thoroughly, to be the first to score, to lead at halftime, and to give a display which inspired the comment that a draw would have been a better indication of relative merits than the actual victory which came to New Zealand* At least this has to be counted on the other side,, that the day was fine and the ground in good order, conditions which suit the visitors far better than those they faced in their memorable first game at Auckland. Still, the upshot of it all is that New Zealand has by no means proved complete superiority, and the second meeting next Saturday should be correspondingly interesting. If those players absent from the Wellington match as casualties have recovered by then, if weather conditions are reasonably good, Australia may easily reverse the result, judging by Saturday's form. The New Zealanders, of course, will have had the advantage of playing together, and the selectors the chance of remedying any weaknesses they may have discovered. So the struggle for the Bledisloe Cup remains an open one. In the Wellington test match the tone for the most part does not seem to have been that of a grim and desperate contest to win the trophy at all costs. Its description is rather that of a game of footbajl. If the tour ends on that note it will be a success no matter which side holds the cup.