IN THE WAR YEARS

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 32, 30 April 1927, Page 10

IN THE WAR YEARS

MAORIS AND N.Z.E.F. TEAM NOTABLE RECORDS OF PLAYERS Maori representative teams have made trips as follow:—1888-89, Native team played 74 matches in Great Britain, winninfi 49, losing 20, and drawing 5; in Australia 14, winning them all. In 1926-27, the New Zealand Maori team played 31 matches in France, England and Wales, winning 22, losing 7 and drawing 2. In 1910, 1913. 1922 and 1923, Maori teams toured Australia, the 1922 team winning two out of the three tests against New South Wales, whereas the All Blacks of the same season only won one test. It was on the return of this team to New Zealand that a match was staged at Wellington between the New Zealand Fitfeen and the Maoris, the former winning 21—14. This past year has seen another tour of the Maoris, this time to France and Great Britain. The tour of the New Zealand Army team 1a South Africa in July and August, 1919, is also worthy of record, as it was up to New Zealand representative standard. Their record reads: Played 15, won 11, iost 3, drawn 1. Points 170 tc 69. The following hold the record for number of appearances in the 84 international matches:—W. J. Wallace 21, F. Roberts 20, A. Wilson 17, J. Richardson, A. H. Francis and C. E. Seeling 26, M. J. Brownlie 16, F. Mitchinson 15, and M. F. Nicholls 15. In these 84 international games W. J. Wallace is also top, with a record of 77 points registered by him (7 tries, 18 conversions, 2 marks, 4 penalties). M. F. Nicholls has still a chance of beating this, as he is second with 73 points to date (23 conversions, 9 penalties). Next to these two, but far behind, come T. \V. Lynch. 39 points, F. Mitchinson with 36 points, E. Roberts with 34, and D. McGregor with 33 points. A total of 324 men have represented New Zealand altogether, and of these 16 failed to play in any of the international matches. WALLACE'S WONDERFUL RECORD In all the 195 matches for New Zealand, Wallace heads the list of scorers in an almost unassailable position, wPh 367 points (34 tries. 111 conversions, 2

marks, 9 penalties and 2 potted goals). Others who have exceeded the century are:—M. F. Nicholls 208, J. Hunter 141, T. W. Lynch 107, E. Roberts 104, R. W. Roberts 101, while Duncan McGregor reached 97 and J. Steel has 90 and G. W. Smith 93 (31 tries). The most tries were obtained by J. Hunter 47, W. J. Wallace 34, T. W. Lynch 35, D. McGregor and G. W. Smith 31 each, and J. Steel 29. New ealand has played international games each year sine e the resumption after the war in 1920, and this present

season will make a break. W. J. Wallace, J. Steel and J. Richardson have each represented New Zealand in five different seasons. In dealing with the international matches only the following points stand out: The biggest margin of success was in 1893, when New Zealand won 36 —0 at Brisbane against Queensland. The biggest score by New Zealand was 38, which was registered in three matches: 1906, v. France, 38 —8; 1923, v. New South Wales, at Wellington, 38 —11; 1924, New South Wales, at Sydney, 38—8. The highest score against New Zealand was New South Wales, 26 —20, at Sydney, in the first test match last season, one having to go back to 1893, when New South Wales won by 25 to 3 at Sydney for the next highest. In the match against England in 1905, Duncan McGregor put up a great performance in registering four of the tries out of the score of 15 —0 in New Zealand’s favour. England played a seven-scrum, with an extra back to stop New Zealand’s backs from getting away, but McGregor remembered the blind side, and so secured his four tries! In the first match against Queensland at Brisbane in 1907, New Zealand’s score comprised 7 tries, 1 converted, 23—3. F. C. Fryer got four of these tries and A. H. Francis, a forward, three. In the second match three days later, New Zealand won by 17—11, and F. C. Fryer made history by registering the whole five tries. Queensland had cause to remember the speedy Canterbury threequarter. Peculiarly enough, although he played in all the seven matches on that tour, and also in the second test against the AngloWelsh Fitfeen the next season, those were the only points Fryer scored for New Zealand.

T. W. Lynch, the South Canterbury wing-threequarter, scored four tries in New Zealand’s win of 26—5 against Queensland at Brisbane in 1914.