THE FIRST MATCH. A DECISIVE WIN.

Otago Witness, Issue 2623, 22 June 1904, Page 57

THE FIRST MATCH. A DECISIV E WIN.

SYDNEY, Jiwe 18. The first match botw«?n ths British team ■ of Rugby players at present touring- the colonies and New South Wales resulted in a win for the British team by 27 points to I nil. The teams were as follow : — j Great Britain.— Full back, C. F. StangerLe;.thes (Northumberland); three-quarters— E. Morgan (Guy's Hospital), A. O'Brien (Guy's Hospital), R. T. Gabe (Cardiff), W. Llewellyn. (Newport); half backs— F. C. Hulnic (Birkenhead Park, a-nd P. Bush (Cardiff); forwards — D. R. Bedel l-Sivwright (West of Scotland), A. F. Harding (Cardiff), R. E. Edwards (Malone), S. Bevan (Swansea), B. J. Swannell (Northampton), S. X. Crowther (Lennox), D. H. Traill (Guy's Hospital), F. M. Saunders (Guy s j Hospital) j New South 'Wales.— Full back. Verge; j three-quarters— Wickham, O'Donnell, F. Futter, V. Futter; half backs — Manning and Bapter; forwards — Burden, Clarken, White, Wright, Murnin, O'Donnell, Bulge, Harris. There was glorious weather, and au attendance of 25,000, to witness the opening match of the Englishmen's tour, which was played on the Cricket Ground. The visitors, who took the field at the conclusion of the* Tei Ante College match, were accorded an enthusiastic reception. Judging by the initial exhibition, there, were good grounds; j for tho high opinions expressed of the team. I Certainly to-day they outclassed their opponents. Tlie featuros of tho play were the pea-feet combination ; short, sharp passing, clever and accurate line-kicking, without ' tho semblance- of pointing. " Medium-sized " | describes the majority of the team, but they are clean-built and weil-set-up. The back division is -especially clever— Gabe. Morgan, and Llewellyn making a very formidable attacking party. The forwards generally are a good lot, dribbling and following up well. O'Bri&n and Bush, as goal-kickers, got in some fino work. Tho visitors won tho toss, and, with a strong wind at tho:r baiks, made thing;

lively from the jump. Bush providing an early sensation by packing up from a scrum aaid potting a beautiful gcal. Superior linekicking kept New South Wales on ths defensive. Wearying spells of this were relievod by ooeaeionr.l clever play, wherein ■Wickham and the brothers F utter were most prominent, but several opportunities were lost through want of timely support. Th&i 1 ' unselfish combination, ably assisted by Gab©, Bush, and Morgan's lightning sprinting, Tarought the Britishers' scc-e to 12 points to nil when the first spell ended.

Early in tho second spell the visitors placed another goal to their credit, chiefly as the result of fine sprinting on the part of Bush, Gabe, and Morgan. Wickham had a shot at goal from half-way, Gabe relieving. The local men at this stage were showing improved form and kept the •visitors at times on the defensive-. The visitors were' penalised, but Wickham failed to convert. The local men were evidently tiring, as their tackling became very weak. Verge had a ehot at goal, but failed. The Britishers later on easily increased their score by two goals — O'Brien adding one and Bush the other, — the game ending : Great Britain ... 27 pts. Isi.S. Wales ... Nil.