N.Z. TEAMS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 116, 22 June 1914, Page 3

N.Z. TEAMS.

RECORD OF MATCHES.

MANY VICTORIES—FEW DEFEATS.

A history of New Zealand Rugby, the representative matches in which Dominion teams have competed is necessarily a history of conquests punctuated with .but few reverses. From the day of the first New Zealand team to the present year the tally of wins is such that the Dominion can well afford to *drop a silent tear with Alexander. It was in 1882 that an all New Zealand team first battled for its bayleaves and from that time to this the wreath has been growing. There are records of the doings of these New Zealand teams, but the following, compiled by a SUN representative, is complete and accurate. It does not purport to bo anything but a, record, but as such football enthusiasts should find it valuable for purposes of reference. In the,year ?882 a New South Wales representative team came across the Tarnnan and removed the. ashes, winning four matches out of seven and scoring 42 points, as . against ,40. points put up by the New Zealanders. Then came New' Zealand 's turn to visit the New South Welshmen. In 1884 a team from the Dominion routed their former conquerors. Out of the eight matches played our men won the lot and registered a score of 167 points to 17 points. The return games brought the visitors no better luck, for again they were defeated, this time by ten matches out of the twelve played. The points scored by our men totalled 130, as against 22 by ; the. losing side. In 1884 Shrewbsury and LilJywhite's team paid the Dominion a visit, and played nineteen matches, winning thirteen t drawing four, and losing two. The Englishmen scored 82 points against 33. Then came a break, and the next fifteen to cross to Sydney was the "policy team" of 18'j;!, so called because it was the first representative team organised under the new-born New Zealand Rugby (Tnion and because it contained players from each district under that body. At this time Otago, Canterbury, and Southland were not under the new body, and there were consequently no men in the team from those pi*ovinces. However, of the ten matches played New Zealand won nine and New South Wales one. Our men scored 168 points to 41. The next year, back to New Zealand came the New South Wales team, only to again find defeat its lot in eight matches out of the dozen played. Amongst the four the visitors did win, however, was one against New Zealand, and this is the only time that our representative team has been beaten on its own ground. There were 1.57 points sc9red against the visitors' 107,

Then in 1896 came Queensland, and they also went down by six matches and 125 points against their 38.

'ln '97 New Zealand sent another team oyer to Australia, and this time we only lost one match out of the ten played. Against Vhis 'fifteen there was a total of 73 points put up, as against 228. Came New South Wales's turn to visit us, and out of .the seven games played the Welshmen lost six. They scored 42 points against 102. It was not until 1903 that New Zealand returned tlit* call, and she did not stand on the order of her coming,-but came at once, and wou all of the ten matches played, scoring 276 points to 13. It is also worthy of note that seven last points- were scored when New Zealand had only thirteen men in the field, in the match against Western district. This was also the first Occasion on which wo played a'combined'Australian team, and the result, 22 to 3 in New Zealand's favour/was satisfactory. In 1904' occurred the memorable .visit of the British team, which toured Australasia previously, and had a practically unbeaten record. While here the visitors played live matches, won two, lost 'two, and one was drawn. The games were thus undecisive, but in the points tallv New Zealand led by 33 to 22. < *

In 1905, before going to England, some members of the "All Black" team played in Sydney. Of three matches they won two, and one was a drawn game. The New Zealanders put up 49 points to 11.

Then came the memorable tour of Great Britain, in which 32 matches were played. Of this total the New Zealanders won 31, and only lost one. Their total of points was 830, as against 39. During the time that this fifteen toured England an Australian team came over here and played seven games. Despite the absence of all these football stars, the Australians only won three ovit of the seven, scoring 51 points as against 83.

There was yet another series of wins for the Dominion,, in 1907, when our fifteen toured Australia, playing the return matches. This time the Australians won one match out of the seven and one was drawn. The New Zealanders' total of points was 96, as against 47. This was the first occasion on ,;Whicli the country matches were omitted.

The next series of oversea matches was when the Anglo-Welsh team, captained by Harding, visited New Zealand. The in.vaders played in all seventeen matches, and out of this number they won nine, lost seven, and drew one. Of the three test games they drew the second and lost the other two. Wellington defeated them by 19 points to 18. In a match with a Maori representative fifteen the British team won comfortably.

The last series of . matches New Zealand played in Australia was in 1010, and out of the seven games they lost one only, scoring 112 points to 61. Harking back again. to the earlier games, there is the visit of a New South Wales team in 1886, and this was of particular interest as far as Otago was concerned. The southern province played two matches against the visitors, putting two entirely different teams in the field. In the first game Strang, Thomson, and Morris scores tries, and Bee converted all three. Bee also potted a goal, as did Miller. This game was won by Otago by 2,'! points to nil. The second match played was won by the southerners by nine to nil, Sliepard scoring a try, which Drabble converted, and Hope pottiug a goal. The first match played in the Dominion by outsiders was at Auckland, when a fifteen from that province met a touring New South Wales team in 1882. The Auckland team is of interest, and it was as follows:—Fullback, Webster; three-quarters, J. Warbrick and Sibbin; half-backs, Wood, Whiteside, and "Darby" Ryan; forwards, Arneil, Biggs, Croxton, Spence, Henderson, Sinis, O'Connor, M'Kay, and Jewitt. The visitors were defeated by 7 to nil, Sims and Biggs scoring tries and Ryan converting one. It will be sceu that they played in those days three halves and two three-quarters, and sometimes even two full-backs. Happily the breach with New South Wales has been healed, a*ul we can again put a Dominion team into the field. Last year an Australian team came to New Zealand, when nine matches were played. Australia won four, scoring 118* points as against 134 scored by our men, who won five matches. During the coming season a New Zealand team will tour in New South Wales

and Queensland to play the return matches.

Perhaps the most astonishing record ever put up by n New Zealand team, or by any team in the woild, was that compiled when a Dominion fifteen visited Columbia last season. One must necessarily take into consideration that in these two States Rugby is practically a new game, and therefore the victories must be discounted to somg extent. At the same time, it must be remembered that the teams against which the Dominion men played were coached and prepared for the invasion to an extraordinary extent. This record could scarcely finish more appropriately than with the scores of this tour. Fourteen 'matches were played, and New Zealand won all of :them. They scored 610 points, and against this tremendous total only two tries were scored, one in the match against all California and the other in the California University match.