With the New Zealanders at Home.

Southland Times, Issue 19727, 30 January 1906, Page 4

With the New Zealanders at Home.

THE GAME Wim CHESHIRE. from GREAT STEAME& GARONIA. YORKSHIRE BOUNTY AND KINDNESS. NORTHERN UNION OFFERS : £SOO AND £3 10s A WEEK. THE WELSH MATCH, WELSH EXCITEMENT't TRADE PARALYSED. •A i‘ DO OR DIE " ENCOUNTER. NEW ZEALAND SCORE DISALLOWED. (Specially written for the Southland Times by Mr W. J. Stead, vicecaptain New, Zealand Team). Leaving Cheltenham at 9.30 a.m. next day, wo had a somewhat tiring iround-about journey to Birkenhead, arriving at New Brighton at 5.30. The latter place is a quiet seaside resort within fifteen minutes of Birkenhead ami twenty-live of Liverpool, .the two latter cities being Connected by a tunnel, which dips under the Mersey, iu addition to many line ferry services. Here the Cheshire Rugby officials and players were indefatigable and untiring in their eflorts to afford every facility for our seeing round and enjoying ourselves. On tho Friday (December 8) .the day before our match, we proceeded early to Liverpool, where, by the kind invitation of the President, wo were received at ami shown over tho Corn and Cotton Exchanges, places of renown throughout the whole Commercial world. In both places we had to ‘ ‘ shew ’ ourselves to a crowd of about fifteen hundred, and it fell to my lot to respond on behalf of the team to what, though perhaps not the largest, was certainly tho most critical audience I had yet'faced. Having read up full statistics ot Liverpool’s inward and outward .trade, in so far as it concerned N.Z., I was able to do justice to my subject, and, as the President afterjwards assured me, 1 had given .them nows and information known to very few’ of the audience. At t p.m. we lunched, and at 2 o clock proceeded to the docks, whet e, by the kind invitation of the President of tho Cunard Steamship Company, we were shown over tho " Caronia in dry dock. We spent what was, to most of us, the most profitable and interesting two hours we have yet put in, wandering round this Atlantic flyer. She is 876 feet long, ”1,000 tons, 21.000 horse-power, lias a speed of 31 knots, and from the bridge to tho keel is a depth of 1-" feet. Her two funnels are larger m diameter than tho Mersey tunnel, and would allow two trains to iuu sido by side with eitso, oveuing we were tho guests of ibe Now Brighton Amateur Operatic Society at a performance in the Tower Theatre. Tho word ” amateur’’ did not. tend to create within us any delightful anticipation, and the unexpected certainly did happen as we, one and all, voted it the finest musical treat we had ever listened to. Once more I had to stand before an audience (some two thousand) and respond to their kind greetings, nor would they be satisfied till I hail called oa the team for the " war cry.” It had been asserted by many local papers that the .Cheshire men were confident of keepnfg our total below double figures, so that, instead of " finessing ” and spelling several of our men, we put iu a much stronger team than we originally intended and ran up a total of 31* points to nil. It was a beautiful open* passing game, played under the best possible Conditions, and was the means of sending hundreds, who beforehand were inclined to a belief in a decadence in Rugby football, home happy with a renewed confidence in their pet game. Leaving Liverpool, which we would gladly have seen more of, wo sped eastwards to Leeds, where we were to meet THE ÜBIQUITOUS YORKS LUKE MAN. We had all along been assured of the bounteous splendour of the hospitality we would receive in the laud of the “ Tykes,” and on arrival we found ourselves besieged ou all side.-, by persons anxious "to do’ us well. With a population of half a million it is one of the finest cities in the world fur the great mass of the people who have made it their home, as it depends on no- one particular form of industry and manufactures, any and everything from a pin to an anchor, and everyone willing to work can always get employment. We (were "boused" at the best hotel we have so far " put up at—the "Hotel Metropole." On our ’• lazy ” day (as we always cull the day preceding a mutch; w*- had a splendid run to Harrogate, the party being divided over six motor cars, kindly pressed into our service by prominent residents of Leeds. At the former place, I had the pleasure of meeting Dr Bob. Watson, of Forth street, Invercargill, and one only has to be reminded of any such similar meeting, far away from the scenes of childhood to know what great pleasure it was for us to meet. A tremendous crowd gathered for our match at Hedingly Park, a place famous for its many Test Cricket matches. All tho surviving veterans of the Yorkshire team which defeated tho Maoris were specially catered for with reserved seats as also were the committee of the Northern Rugby Unionists. We were somewhat ■” shepherded " from these latter gentlemen and their tempting offers, some of which I know for a fact were worth £SOO bonus and £3 10s a week to certain of our members. The game was a ” soft ” one for us, and wc ” totted” up forty points to nil. Lord Hawke and tho Hon. F. S. Jackson, of cricket fame, to whom I had the honour of an introduction, were present and greatly enjoyed our exhibition of Rugby, which they hoped would derive the same benefit from our visit as English cricket had from former visits of our “down-under” cousins, the Australians. From Leeds wc travelled down to Cardiff where wo were to meet tho WELSH INTERNATIONAL team at Newport. , Some dozen miles from the Welsh metropolis, we got a fair idea of what kind of a recept iou awaited us. The station was simply rushed by hundreds, curious to see us—a curiosity which evidently affected the railway officials just as much as the outsiders, for they jostled and fought just like the others for “position” in the front rank. Shall any r of us ever forgot our arrival at Cardiff ? Some of the team have said : " Never in a thousand years !” and certainly I never shall, at all events, so long as I have the sweet pleasure ol memory. It seemed as if all of its two hundred thousand population had compressed itself Into the three or four streets which led from the station to the Queen’s Hotel. In conversation with some of the shopkeepers they assured me that our visit had paralysed trade for -the week, though they hoped to make it up again on the morning of the match. On “ lazy ” day we were honoured with an official reception by the Lord .Mayor at the City Hall, and presen- I tod with gold emblems as mementos of the occasion. Tho ground, which is a splendid one and in an ideal position—it is within a minutes' walk of our hotel—had been covered with straw all the week and the nr-

rangcutents, for seating; and safeguarding tha huge crowd expected, I wpre perfect. Little did 1 think, as 1 watched the expectant spectators" pouring into the ground (you can look down into the ground from tho I Queen's Hotel), and with memories of a very similar occasion in Wellington, Aug. 13 ( 11)04, that history Was going to repeat itself, let hero, with a brilliant sequence of 27 wins, wu met our ilrst defeat just as the liritish team had met their Waterloo on that memorable occasion. Forty-five thousand people from all over the British Isles bellowed forth their delight on the appearance of tho teams on the playing area. Before giving you my opinion of tho game 1 will try and indicate to you the conditions under which both teams played. \VV had long since recognised this ma'gh as n "do or die ” encounter. Determined, if possible, to try and maintain our unbeaten record it took the selectors over two hours to decide who were to battle for tho honour of our colony. Studying the condition and liluess of the men both physically ami with regard to their playing abilities, wo placed the best possible team, in our opinion, that wo could get together. They were all iu the very best of Condition and keen us a knife-edge. On the other hjuvd tho Welsh team had been selected a mouth previously, amt had practised together us often as possible. You kuuW find the ihrec-quarler line playing together iu Loudon, the halves in Wales, the forwards elsewhere, any where, any mutch, iu whidi they could get any one division ‘'going” together. They wore all tried internationals, men who could be 'depended oa to keep their heads. Anti it was just iu this ” vital ” point that i think we, as a committee, erred iu not having one or two bucks proof against the infectious excitement of the crowd and the importance of the occasion. To proceed ; The Welshmen were lighting on their native heath, with a referee picked against our expressed wish and protest, with an acquired knowledge of our game and wiih an intense love for Wales anil the best traditions and records of Us Rugby football —a love which we, in our defeat, have all admired ami would like to emulate. A Welshman can bo depended on to burst into song under the strain of any undue excitement, and it must have thrilled every stranger us it did me to hear the populace, on tho conclusion of our Maori war song, join In with their team and sing, in their own dialect, their national anthem, ending up with the words in English translation :

Utiles ! Wales ! Fondly 1 love old Wales ! While rolls the sea and hearts are free, Shall live the sweet tongue of old Wales !

’I he game, though full of •..•xeilenient as alt ’’ egg is of meat," was too keenly contested to lie brilliantly open. Uur forwards played brilliantly, but were badly supported by our backs, all of whom, excepting Roberts, who played the best game on the ground, were much below ordinary form. The attempts to find the line, give or lake’ passes and even to hold a ball, were absolutely painful to watch. Never ou this lour has our back play fallen lo so low a standard, ami it was quite evident lo us who know tin* men that they must, have been a prey to the same nervous excitement that affected our rear division in the above-mentioned Wellington ratfish game- tin the oilier hand the Welsh rose lo the oc’casiou, and playing as never a Welsh team ever played U have tho authority of old internationals iu saying this; I hey got the score iu and then kept it as ■■ close ” us possible. On the scores it should have been a iry i-ueli. its, midway on in the second spell, Itcuns grounded the hall on the line but the referee (he was a Scotchman) vviould not allow it- Oabe, Che man who collared him, admits that a try was gained, as does Ids capaim N’icholls.

Still we have admitted our defeat and taken it like sportsmen. We meet practically the same team in our Glamorgan game on 31st December and you can take it we will do our utmost to reverse the recent, defeat. Two hundred police were requisitioned into service lo control I lie gules and the crowd and the result was a marked success. I shall deal with the after opinions ou the match, etc., in my letter by next mail. L am appending a list of the number of games played by members up to and including the Welsh game. 38 GAMES PLAYED.

Xu. games Including Internationals Huberts 25 4 Hunter 22 ■1 Gillott 22 4 Stead 22 :i Tyler 21 4 Glasgow 21 4 Seeling 20 4 Gallagher 20 -'5 Wallace 19 4 Casey ... 18 4 Smith 17 2 O’Sullivan 17 4 Cunningham ... 19 2 Mynott 15 2 McDonald ... 13 4 Deans 16 4 Newton It 2 McGregor 13 2 Nicholson 10 ” Corbett 13 — Johnstone 12 — Booth 11 — Glenn 11 — Harper 9 —■ Abbott 6 — Thomson 6 — Mackrell 3 —