THE N.Z. FOOTBALL TEAM

Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume V, Issue 1483, 16 November 1905, Page 3

THE N.Z. FOOTBALL TEAM

Bedford Match Presj Aiacciatton.-Oopyriibt. London, Not. IS Thb New Zealand footbailon defoated Bedford by 45 points lo ml. ENGLISH PRESS COMMENTS. "WALLACE THE PRINCE OF ALL RUGBY PLAYERS." Frew Anooiataoa.—Copyright. Btdhit, this day. The following are tho latest English newspaper oommonts on the Now Zealand footballers'Tiio Daily Mail, referring to the Durham matoh, saya:'" Tho New Zoalandore go on from victory to victory with Biarlling regularity, and ruqby foothill oiroloa ore becoming alarmed at their continuous ronto, Thi English-picked fifteen and Wales seem ro be our only hope, and npn ion is by no means unanimous that the /Welshmen will be ablo to hold thoir own wiili, th" formidable colonials. In the H ihkpio! match the visitors doßzled the crowd of nearly 20,000 Teesiders With the most biillnst display of rugby ever witi nc3S"d in the county of Durham, or, for that Laattor, any part of the United Kingdom. Old Internationals, who have seen and taken part in many atirring struggles, to . watch the Now Zoalonders' amazing exhibition of spoed, strength and cleverness with sparkling eyes and bated tiroa'li, The game from beginning to end was a succession of football pytoteebnios, so brilliant and so varied as to defy description, The paper denominates Wal lace as tho prince of all rugby players. Two old Internationals deolared him to be the finest full back who ever won shoe leather. The Daily TtUgraph says: "Forthe first quarter of an hour Durham played two mon short. In tho first half tho scoring was equal, and it was only after the ohange of enda that the visitors asserted their superiority. Then tho play was not wholly one-sided, tho homo team becoming dangerous sufficiently often to demonstrate tha', brilliant as the New Zealandera are, it is not impossible to hold them in cheok, and oven make a close struggle, Not only did Durham make the New Zenlaadnrs battle hard for a comparatively small score, be "ac' ull lly ovorcomo their defence." At HartleP°°li > ftT|tDo TekgraTih, the visitors' c' ovornes3 a °d indefatigab'e energy was ne Tel 866n ,0 moro advantage, The looal m en were completely outclassed, The Doty Chronicltß&ys: "Durham made a good fight in the first half, but in the seoo«d half the visitors wore far and away the better, the superior stamina of the ool> llials ,cllil) g ltß tft, °' Tho Northerners reeoived dio congratulations of the' New Zealandera for their really plucky and clever resistance, but it is difficult to brieve that tho only difference between the sides was that the colonials thrioe got ovsr the lino. The vis'tors obviously did not to the full stretoh themselves." »Tbe Hartlepool match," the same papor says, " was a sensational reminder of the strength of tho colonials to thoss who had regarded the Durham mateh as a sign of deterioration. Hartlepool sought to confound tho Now Zealand methods by adopting the samo formation, bat tho prinoiplo of poison oonnloraoting'poison failed to produce the medical effoot, The colonials at once took oharge of what was destined to become a mere exhibition of the New Zealanders' bewildering npidity in passing, which completely nonpvkd the homo turn. The Daily Eipnss snjo: "At Hartlepool the visitors from start to finish carried ont their traditional polioy of hooping the game warm with bowilderingbulhancy, Every man seemed capabh of springing and taking; oxohange'. The wonderfully olever Smith, Wallace, and Stead we-o tho eolobrmes of tho day and oonquorf d the hearts of the spectators as readily as thoy conquered tho clubmen on the field, ; Major ■Trivol, tho Sportsman critic, declares there is a vory ciinplo explanation of tho New Zealanders' victorios.-namely, at -. all points of the gome they give n better exposition oj rugby.,football than any of pur teams' are capable _of giving. He adds:" Hoarding au opinion or on experience for what it is worth, they aro the Vest players I have seen,"