OUR FOOTBALLERS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 5802, 20 January 1906, Page 5

OUR FOOTBALLERS.

THE ONE BLACK MARK. ACCOUNT OF THE AIATCU AGAINST WALES. A TOUGH. STRUGGLE. FREMANTLE, January 19. Etigli-h newspapers jut-t to hand by the Oruma contain particular* of the football match played between V. aie* and New Zealand on the Kith December, which r.hiiil.d ui a win for Wait*, by three j>oint-i to nil. "The Time .'' i —"The New Zealander*' long mypience oi victories had established tiiem euc.h a habit of winning that it i- difficult to realise that they have at last experienced defeat. Malta won only utter a hard Ktrugglo, and even in the kt-t ten niiuutd* uic New Zealander* c.uno mar winning the game on two occaMon*. Two groat factor* of tlio victory were tiie unyielding nature ot tho forward* and tlio accurate kicking ol Winfield, tile tuii-back. It may lie laid down at once that Wale* beat New Zealand at their own game, lor tlio Welshmen not only threw out a dashing flying man, but, abandoning their own particular tour ll.reo-iiuar-lere system, went in for strong individual play. Tiiey set up a wonderful pace at tho stait, maintained it to tiie end, and with a turn uf luck just won. Too game was tiie hardest, imaginable. ana virtually resolved Ueell into a iremeiKlons baf.be between two vets of determined lonvaid.*, for out.sMo the Hcrummugo tlioro was comparatively liulo else titan by play. 'lno Uei.sU fonvard* bad tho industry of tho Scottish team and tlio doth oi tho Irish, und their combined ecrummago work wad wonderful. Oiten they got tho ball, and heeled quiculy. 'iney broke away at once ana loilowcd up, ana lileir tackling w.t* relenUessly severe, 'ifiu Xetv Zo-lamlcra wei'c nut umcii beluud tlieai in pace and Uoennes* or in getting u lair mure oi tho ball, but tiiey woru wot so expert in actual foot worn. Tlio Welshmen, ado, had other advantage.*. They wore splendidly served ny their mil-back, whoso eontudtent length kicking ha* rarely been equalled in ripre.-.eiitarivo matehes, and baa certuuily never been surpassed. Tlio effect oi all this wonderful play on tho part of Winfield was an immou*o economy in tho energy of tlio forwards.

\\ hilo llio Welshmen were t>o well served in this respect, the failure of llio visitors' bucks to do more than tend tbo ball up tho field meant that the New Zeal uid iurwardd wero run off their legs, but thoie were other causes of the failure of the New Zealanders, and tbo most obvious of all was the inability developed by tho livo-eighUcs, MytioU and liunter. to held the passes from Roberts. '1 ho latter played as brilliantly as ever, but neither diyiiolt nor liunter noonied capable of ..Juhng the ball, 'ibis breakdown beiiind tho scrum spelt ruin in attack. Beyond deloiifuvo work, Wallace and McGregor, tbo wing-threo-qnarlcis, lied very littlo until Into in tho game. .Roberts became so weary of fruitlessly feeding Urn live-eighths that in the second half ho took to going on himself with the ball. Tho result was that thereafter tho New Zealanders did a preponderate slmro of attacking. Gil let t tho full-back, fielded the ball b.idlv! Ilia mints up the field would have mined any stele; in short, the Row Zea landers played much below their best form, flioy left the most revere portion of tlie tour tco late, and wore evidently feeling tile eji'ccts of three months’ hard football, to say nothing of having lost through injuries the chief attacking three-quarter. Smith. That, Wales deserved the win on tho run of tho play is beyond question. Tho New Zealanders never [coked like scoring during the first half, during which , the play was only once in the home twenty-fives, and in that case only for ihe moment before the interval. In tho second half the New Zealanders had chances, but there was no fortune for thorn. Wallace crossed the line, only to bo called back for having gone into touch. In another instance a forward p.-uss by Deans prevented the completion of an inevitable try by McGregor. Then, when (hero was n scries of scrummages all along the Welsh goal-line, the expert tackling of tho Welshmen prevailed so that the match was decided by a try, which Morgan scored. For robustness and keenness the game could not bo surpassed. Mr Dallas, the referee, had a very difficult task. Ho administered tbo lawn of the game unflinchingly, and the New Zealanders bad to pay dearly for sailing so near the wind on the question of off side. The many penalties given against them in flic first fifteen minutes obviously affected their organisation and pace and vigour. Tbo Weldi forwards gave thorn no repose in which to steady themselves.