THE ALL BLACKS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCVIII, Issue 18084, 19 November 1924, Page 11

THE ALL BLACKS.

WONDERFUL f.PI/A Y‘

(By Dr. "Teddy” : Morgam-Welsh International.)

The All Blacks’.first match in Wales was flayed -at St.- Helenas’, under the fii&st. ideal ..conditions, and witnessed by a lings and oxtraSrQifiarily enthusiastic crowd. Both sides rose t-o the occasion, and treated the spectators to a wonderful display of football; not only from a flaying point of view, but also from a:sporting, aspect. . .. ... After tfid match tlio All Blacks-were loud in their praises of everyone., and everything; freely stating that their reception was easily the best .thti'S fain , tp - .what,. < a .display._ 1 .6 f foo that 1 they ’treated Vus! We saw a. typical Welsh gathering, their emotions early stirred by the. sti‘aihs of "Hen AVlad, fy, •jfhadbu” aifd "Cwfc Rhondda," applaud to the echo the wonderful allround ’play. of tiio All;Blacks] and that in spite of thd kben disappointment at the one-sidedness.; of the match itself. The recent criticisms of ,our visitors'-so- - - widely divergent• -.-served only to create the keenest interest in Wales. To day Rugby ■; football in Wales-is at a. very low.ebb, display ‘6f one’;'Of! the ‘ jSreihier J 'Welsh ichifi sides showed our back play to' be only-a shadow of its old self. However, I firmly believe-that in the course; of three or four years - Wales will come into fits own again. There 'is. young material at; Brecon, LlahdoVcry,, Swansea, , v and district, ... - Carmarthen, and Neath-only.-’td mention West, Wales —which,! if; developed pro, 'pferlyij - will- place Wales in' its .proper position where 1 Rugby football as concerned.:. tio:."" _ t.--.

‘ . ALL-ROUND SUPERIORITY. ‘ Tlio result —New, Zealand 1 39 points, Swansea ’ 3 points—speaks' ' for itself, and let" it be understood that , our visitors vVerd fulTtvaliiei fqr their points. .All tlio . scores. were obtained by the iriost 'brilliant' passing, in which forwards. and backs participated. It was typical 'of Welsh football 20 years ago. WA.saw . a. t.e,a.m ' of, men„' physically superior, much fastef,'and ihuoh more finished in theiy,movements, individually and collectively, overrun a stubborn and-plucky; opposition;; : .Up -to halttime the Swansea men stood up manfully to their opponents, and on more tlianone occasion might easily have crossed their fine,, but;-long .before tho end weight, pae'e, ..and cleverness told its tale,. though Swansea played des-perately-Jo the bitter end.

WHAT DO CRITICS THINK NOW y It had; been freely stated tliat SwanNeyp.ort, and Llanelly were likely clubs", to lower the colours of the Allv-Blacks. The same critics had already decided, even after only four games.-in the West Country, that the present teafn'was not to be.compared with that of 1905. I wonder if they still hold the same opinion after witnessing their first display under favourable conditions.'

Most of us will agree that it is qiaqy .years since we have seen such football'as that of Saturday. If their play arid their methods continue throughout their tour as we saw it on Saturday at Swansea, they will becomo universal favourites in just such a way as the South African side of 1906.

ALL BLACK FORWARDS SOLID. ,At forward the All Blacks proved themselves-■ a very solid proposition. Their line-out work was exceptionally ctreotivc, their tall men time and again taking the ball brilliantly, either to break through on their own or else tossing it back quickly to their fiveeighths or three-quarters. Their following up on the dry ground showed them to be exceptionally fast, in- spite ol their size, and their wholehearted tackling was a joy to see. Their scrum work was hot so convincing, and their heeling was c-crtainly not up to the •standard of that of the 1905 side. This, defect, ,1 understand, they themselves are well aware of, and is due to the fact that their back rankers were not doing their share of shoving. The .Swansea forwards, pushing wholeheartedly, were almost their masters in hceiing the ball, but on several occasions they lost it again owing to the extra weight of the All Blacks when trying to recover the ball after first losing it. I understand that Saturday’s pack is almost their best, but that their reserves are almost, if not quite, as good.

ÜBIQUITOUS POUTER. , Porter again confirmed in.v opinion' of his skill that I formed at Gloucester. Here, there, and everywhere, he , was always in the picture, and I would place him as the most versatile player in the side. At Gloucester lie and tlio. referee had many differences, but air Swansea neither the referee nor a most critical crowd could delect anyiliing to cavil at in the methods ol Hie wing forward play. Free kicks were impartially given, hut only for irregularities fhat occur in every game,, end out of the first thirteen penalties... New Zealand were awarded .seven and Swansea .six. At inside-half Dal lev was again in splendid form, although not so individualistic as in the mud at Gloucester. In Mill they have another inside-half 'who is, perhaps, his superior in attack. THE BACKS. Amongst the backs Cooke and Steele wore the . ! "'ning lights. The former should In iime In' a . worthy .successor of the groat .Jimmv Kii" 1 ■■ "y bandl, <d splendidly, cui fl> ' '">•■ it'i-l-again, and had a baud in of the [ scores.- • Ntcycle ran delerminodlv and’j -should get many tries. N'cholls, an-

other brilliant .five-eighth, was seldom out of the picture. Brown, also did his part in both attack and defence, passing the ball -most unselfishly. Lucas, on the deft, wing, did not have the chances that Steele had, and I thought ho slightly, overdid tlio inside pass. Nepia-made, a lew, more mistakes than at Gloucester, but oii the, whole ins play, Was great, liis right foot kicking was long and accurate, and one run of 1j is right down .the , middlo of the field was ,a splendid effort;-,'Here, .again, a little .more ..variety in liis play would stamp him as ope of the •greatest tww sai.d the finest full-back that Wales lias ever possessed. ,r ' ' - As a team the present All Blacks ate not quite the eanals of those of 1905, but being blessed'with youth they may develop during this tour.

ABjQIIT THE SWANSEA PLAYERS. The Swansea team playeu' just as well as 1 expected, and although overwhelmed thoy stuck it manfully to-the encL Tiiey are the first side to score against Hie All Blacks, and on a couple of occasions they might easily have scored lhbfo points. '"Rees was plucky and hard working. Smlthaiii, as 'usual; was splendid in defence, but as a pivot I would urge liim to try''and forget'.that'kicking is the sole aim of. an outside half; The three-quarters had no chance in attack, hut they ail tackled well, especially Watkins oil the'right wing. Lloyd was the shining light in the back division;- his kicking from; every 'angle compared most favoiirably with his rival’s, and With a little more experience and Variety! of methods lie should develop into a. first-class full-back.. I still adhere to’my first opinion that iio ciiib Side wilt beat the tourists, but Twickenham may be their Waterloo.