The Maoris' success was due to their forward play. (Dominion Photograph) THE MAORI-FRENCH MATCH RECONSIDERED by KEM TUKUKINO Many Rugby followers today might be surprised to know that the game played between France and a New Zealand Maori team at Napier was the second of such encounters, the first having been played at Colombes Stadium, Paris, on Boxing Day 1926. Many more might be surprised still to know that Watty Barclay, the Captain of that victorious 1926 team, was Manager of the 1961 Maori All Blacks. The tremendous interest shown by the Rugby public in this match was evident when the Hawkes Bay Rugby Union announced at least two weeks before the match that the ground at McLean Park, Napier, was completely sold out. Again it might be said that the Rugby Union made a mistake in holding such a fixture where the grounds capacity was only 25,000 but it is fitting that the “second round” should be played in the “Bay”, the home of many of our greatest Maori Rugby players. What are these Frenchmen really like? This has been the question most discussed in Rugby circles today. Leading Rugby critics have described them as unorthodox, immaculate handlers, tremendously fast and entirely unpredictable. Indeed their record in International Competition over the past three years has put the Tricolours at the top of the Rugby Ladder. No one can ignore their record on tour in South Africa, their supremacy over the teams from the British Isles, or their grand showing against South Africa during that country's European Tour. Although their record in New Zealand up to the time of this game was not too impressive, critics felt that after the Bay of Plenty game, the Frenchmen were at last beginning to show a glimpse of the form which has earned them the respect of every Rugby-playing nation in the world. This was the team which our 1961 Maori Team were to meet at Napier on Saturday 29th July 1961. The odds against the Maori team seemed fairly formidable, and with the memory of the last Internationals against South Africa and the British Isles still clear in the minds of many people, a win seemed fairly remote. Still, the people gathered together at Napier in brilliant sunshine, each with the faint hope that they might succeed. The tension which had built up during the gathering of 25,000 Rugby fans reached its climax (Continued on page 58)