The Sacred "Springbok."

NZ Truth, Issue 104, 15 June 1907, Page 3

The Sacred "Springbok."

As an example of the petty spirit shown by the South Africans whenever comparisons were drawn as to the merits of the "Springboks" and the "All Blacks," the following letter sent to Mr Blair df the firm of Skerrett and Wylie, solicitors, of ttiis city, by an ex-New Zealander living m Capetown, takes pride of place. The writer says :— "I am quite sure the S.A. team is not as good as the 'All Black' combination, but one must not say so here. I have nearly got myself into , hot water several times by daring to make suoh a statement, and to- show how jealous they are here, I wrote to the "Cape Argus" newspaper giving my reasons for asserting that tfoe New Zealanders were the superior combination m Great Britain. The newspaper people would not publish the letter,, but m the correspondence column they dismissed the matter m the following way :. 'This .is not the time to discuss the various merits of the two teams- ' Now, the tour had ended, and if it was not the right time to draw comparisons, I should! like to^ know when the dickens it was. a Your sporting papers ought to hear of this little incident, as it will serve, to give their readers some idea, of the £ross partiality shown by the South Africans m regard to their football representatives."