BEATEN AT THEIR OWN GAME. COMMENTS ON THE MATCH.

Otago Witness, Issue 2784, 24 July 1907, Page 61

BEATEN AT THEIR OWN GAME. COMMENTS ON THE MATCH.

SYDNEY, July 18.

The Sydney Morning Herald says: — " The New South Welshmen fought like men possessed, but all the time played consummate football., and thex invariably got

the maximum of effect. To the forwards , belongs the honour of lowering the historic banner of the silver fern." Describing the New Zea landers' efforts to relieve the posi-« tion, the writer says: "If they played " strenuously before, they did so doubly now that they realised the task ahead of them, but they also realised that the* game simply had to be won. With all their glorious traditions at the back of them, they bent? every ounce of muscle and every iota of brain power ; but ' they counted without their hosts, and die ifowd went well-nigh' frantic when they realised that the Blues were showing themselves a better team, and that the dreaded second-half runaway] of the mighty All Blacks w«^ not to. be, and thenceforward the match went on amid continuous cheering. There has perhaps never been seen on the ground such enthusiasm as when the conquerors of the great All Blacks returned to the pav-ilion." The Telegraph says : "It was a sweeping victory. The Blues raked the enemy) fore and aft. was a contest in which the strong man at last found his hold on his reputation weakening and the grip o£ confidence weakening as against his adversary, and the end of it all was that th« spoils went the opposite way. The game - was contested in an admirable spirit. - From tlie outset it slowly but surely went/ the way of the home team, whose cdtnbtna< - tion was sound, the tackling deadly, tK«; " line-finding accurate, * and the judgment ;- excellent. And what of the losers? Thejs ■ showed as much skill «s . on the previous >. Saturday and played as vigorously up to ft certain point as ever ; but -they \vere\ outs ■ generalled, even as they had previously^ out-generalled others in the past, and out* played in all departments of the game.. The one thing that stood out in the visitors'' play was the grit they showed in the faod of adverse circumstances. That they lostf was due to no want of energy or persever-* anoe. IJ *

Murnin, the New South Wales captain, attributed the victory to their line-kicking.

Mr Wylie, the New Zealand manager, congratulated the Welshmen on their victory, which, he said, they honestly deserved.

Hunter, the New Zealand captain, de- . clared that every New Zealander would » admit, that the better teafti had won. - - " Mr Wylie, interviewed, admitted that tha New Zealanders were fairly and squarely; beaten at their own game. He had never, seen such an exhibition of beck play by New Zealand or in interprovincial teams. The New Zealand backs, were at sixes and*, sevens. Their forwards did not las£ as ' long as those of New South Wales, and their backs did not support them.