NOTES BY "DODGER."

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11724, 27 November 1905, Page 3

NOTES BY "DODGER."

In view of the trenchant remarks made by Bedell-Sivright when out in New Zealand last year with the British team concerning the prospects of the New Zealand team in Great Britain, the victories over both Scotland and Ireland afford a deal of satisfaction. It may be remembered that when asked how the New Zealand team would get on in the Old Country, Bedell-Sivright, who, by the way, captained the Scottish team, said that the New Zealand team might defeat a few of the clubs and counties, but would be beaten by the representative teams. "By England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales the New Zealanders will be whacked back and forward.' The results in the two test matches so far played prove Bcdell-Siv-right to be a very poor prophet. It can be looked upon as a certainty (says a London correspondent) that each of the Welsh matches will be witnessed by from 30,000- to 50,000 spectators.

"There are those who think that the Welsh clubs can outrival the New Zealanders in smartness and accuracy in bark ,play, but to do this,' says the Athletic News, "they will have to be at their highest form, for many of their movements were conceived and executed in a style which is only rarely seen in an international contest in which Wales are concerned.

"Tlie game which the New Zealanders have brought to such a pitch of perfection is delightful to watch, for it contains so much open and individual play, and the men chosen to represent that portion of the antipodes which emperor Seddon sits on are all fine athletes who have made an exhaustive study of the possibilities allowable under the rules. The roving for • ward may- be thought to be 'a nuisnnce by some, but he is there to get the ball away to his backs, and stop his opponent from doing likewise- It is by their back division rather than by great forward operations that the Zealanders score. True, their scrummagers are also dx-ib-blcrs, nay, they were even better, for they can in a moment, given the chance, operate with all the expertness of threequarter backs."