THE ALL BLACKS

Southland Times, Issue 20499, 30 May 1928, Page 6

THE ALL BLACKS

Conditions will be against the All Blacks in the first match at Cape Town, and it will give no indication of the team’s prospects in South Africa. The team has been sent from New Zealand to battle with South Africa for what people are pleased to call the Rugby supremacy of the world, but it is necessary to remember that strength in Rugby football rises and falls, and that it is impossible to effect a meeting between two fifteens unless the game is played on neutral ground, and each has the same handicaps in connection with travelling and preparation. Two styles of Rugby will be exploited in the test matches and the out’ come of the meeting will have an important influence on the game, but people in this country prefer to think that issues of far greater importance than the determination of physical skill in Rugby are at stake in South Africa. The All Blacks are representative of the young men of this country and they are in Africa as the accredited representatives of New Zealand. Win or lose, they are rubbing shoulders with their brothers of the Empire, brothers they have all too few opportunities of meeting, and they are assisting to bring the two countries closer together for mutual benefits under the flag of the British Empire. Naturally every New Zealander hopes to see the All Blacks emerge victorious from this trial, but it is of more concern that these young men wearing the proud livery of New Zealand’s Rugby representatives should win well, and, if necessary, lose well. On the sporting field the bonds of Empire can be cemented, and we look forward to the time —the close of the tour—when the South Africans will be as proud of having entertained the All Blacks as New Zealand was to have sent them.