THE ALL BLACKS.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18232, 17 November 1924, Page 9

THE ALL BLACKS.

A BRILLIANT DISPLAY. | COUNTIES BEATEN 31—6. RESISTIBLE TEAM WORK. . mBSS ASSOCIATION'—COrTEIGHT) ■¥jiS£x&> S.B. CABLB ASSOCIATION.) (Served November JGth, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, November 15. ~ narrow victory against ie University, the All Blacks "•& next match showed a wondcrt, r turn i 0 lornh and V "' Cnt CVCn ■ I for in defeating London

£' a 'strong team including players, by 31 to *! tourists gave their most exhilaJl assptey »d the best cxposi**L have bo far afforded at * Tho back division, especially, Jirtooslj' superior to their oppon'iin finesse, variety of attack and "j e The London team was quite Showed. Tho forwards, too, .Brilliant, and outstandingly uschi were ■»• , _ . m Stewart, and Irvine. JueoJar play there was in plenty, setting the whole back tojj motion to carry out beautiful «J vfCll-oxecntcd rushes that pierced m most stubborn defence the Home p <ould offer. jrtry man in tho All Blacks' rear-j-ri shoffed versatility individually „,jllas in combination. fle team was a strong one, eonipria- *"" Ncpia. jkrt Cooko Svcnson , MeGrogor Nicholls - ■ Mill Parker ' '.lrvine- Donald Ijltrtjeit Masters M. Brownlio ' Stewart White fa ibis' occasion the -weather was fatUigfc dull, and tho turf -was soft ul.euy, conditions which apparently visitors admirably. flrtv thousand people attended the jjfcl, which was the, first to ! bo playd it Ttfckenkam. v»fv '-In thn frame London showed

jßly w 100 game ijohqou buowuu At is a strong attack, their forwards liking (headway with fast dribbling mieL iho New Zc'alanders retalieffective back play, but lie Canity men soon, were within itrlHa|cdifllance again, and it was ulj bj a narrow margin that Eichardm (londOB) missed scoring with a inpldci, *hich ho slightly misjudged. Jtyiateliefetl the position, end with |b}> transferred to London torritory, lit All Bliidts sorely tried the homo tain's detente. then Hart cleverly marked near the smtacl <B attack in -which M. Brownift'iftlied over by sheer pace and converted. '" W ''il'Blacks .. ..5 ij.Jgjtaii Obtmties .. 0 Ijjpist score was not gained till topM-lid been in progress twenty kick-off, Lawton, a Wrote,' started a fine passing which finished in at the corner, but the WjgfA converted. >;Jfflfcsttl« "[ 3 -

;i««srag.aiHHrward3 Wakefield picfcyr'ft loose, and passed to the <the movement again .Wlftth, Millar, who put London of a fine, pieco' of try was not converted. h $&!&■ Comities .. .6 , I j&*BStaly the second occasion MSjktae visitors have been led, *|jP»i , tlme being in the game ii^f 6 *^ I ** ut *"*■ tk* B w *s not held long, as by hard forward fiwfrli *^ e Bcene n territory, where M. 3jE&Wtosed under the posts, converting. Coumties' ].' 6 further score by halfthe superiority lIPISW! Zealandors' combination 9raSs% more and more apparj|||3l|. fcacks were playing with though tho foriSlf* 6 >tlU faced by a vigorous

|||P!»iwuhi m tno scrums and m SfefcteTul, Parker played improving by checking and efforts to score backs. scoring commenced alParker cross-kick-Cooko secured and ||sß»'to Svonson, who' finally to Cooke, and after a very iJlP&combined work, the fast BBsF{ scored, it wa3 the gem '.'. 6 Hs!' (AU Black) then fielded line, and passed mISf* 8 ' scored, after M. and Svcnson had Nicholla .ocrjiin fniled

IKjf- T again laueu was Richardson's, as a opening work by |P$» *nd Nicholls, the lastnow in chargo of EggS *t only was a matter lip joints they would win llpidweyor, did not let up,

but the visitors vastly improved their style of play, -which was too effective for the home team. Taking a flying pass at top speed, Nicholls cut through, and ran almost to the line before letting Cooke in to finish under the posts. Nicholls goaled. All Blacks .. ~28 London Comities .. 6 From a weak kick by Lawton Parker secured, and from half-way started a run which he finished under the posts, for Nicholls to convert. All Blacks ..31 London Comities .. 6 There was no further score, and the game, in which delightful form was shown by the All Blacks, ended in their favour by a margin of 25 points. AMONG THE ELECT. POSITION OF NICHOLLS. (srzciAL to "the rnEss.'') WELLINGTON, November IG. By converting M. Brownlic's first try hi the match with London' Counties on Saturday, M. Nicholls, the Wellington five-eighth, put himself into the array of players who have scored a century for New Zealand. Nicholls, who did not gain his International cap in 19ii3, had 40 points to his credit when he was selected this year. These consisted of only one try, 17 conversions, and a penalty goal. In Australia Nicholls, who did not play in the first Test, kicked four points against Metropolitan, and scored a try. In the third Test against New South Wales he converted three tries, and left for England with 53 points to his name. When he goaled from Mill's try in the Cambridge match his score stood at 99, and having kicked five goals against the Londoners he has scored 56 points in the Old Country. These consist of one try, 20 conversions, three- penalties, and a potted goal. His total 13 now 109, and he joins the Tanks of Jimmy Hunter, T. W. Lynch, E. W. Kobcrts (Taranaki), B. J. Roberts (Wellington), and W. J. Wallace, all of whom hold their centuries. Wallace's total stands at oG7, and next come Hunter (141), Nicholls (109), Lynch (107), E. J. Roberts (104), and It. W. Roberts (101). Duncan MacGregor, -who is worthy of mention, scored 97 points for New Zealand teams, and of Wallace's! huge total 227 -were gained in the 1905 tour. Twenty-two tries were included and 72 conversions.

BEFORE THE MATCH. (ATJeTItALUN ATCD JT.Z. CABLE ASJfOCUTION.) LONDON, November 14. The newspapers are keenly discussing the New Zealanderß' first game in London to-morrow against the combined London Counties. The critics express the opinion that the home side will have the best of the scrums, but that the tackling and speed of the visitors will be a counterbalancing factor. The indications point to a . soaked ground, in which caso .the critics will not be surprised to see the visitors beaten after their close escape in the mud when playing Cambridge on Wednesday. TWICKENHAM GROUND. "FINEST IN THE WORLD." It is claimed by the London Press that, with tho completion of improvements which were •in progress six weeks ago, Twickenham —where the All Blacks won on Saturday—will bo transformed into the finest Eugby football ground in the world, and will accommodate nearly 70,000 people. It was expected that. the work would hardly be finished in time for Saturday's game, but everything should be in readiness for tho handling of a record crowd when tho English international is played on January 3rd. Already tho Twickenham ground represents a capital investment of over £30,000, and now another £30,000 is being spent in the erection of a great new pavilion of steel and concrete behind one of the.goals, and the construction of 3000 additional feet of terracing, equipped with crush barriers, in front of the two stands which flank the ground. And in the near future another new stand is to be erected behind the other goal. When this is finished tho whole circumference of tho ground will bo under cover, and it is estimated that there will be accommodation for 67,000 people.

CANTERBURY'S DAY. THE MIDLANDS MATCH. (By A. J. Karroo, Special ItepresenW tative of "The Press.") BIRMINGHAM, October 8. The match against the North Midlands was a day out for the Canterbury representatives. McGregor, Dalley, Parker McCleary, Masters «md Stewart were all playing. RobUliard, tho only absentee, was still Buffering ffom an injury received in an earlier .rame Parker hftd a very successful fSrooon, soopng five tries but about f, quarter of in hour from the end ha hacTto retire hurt. Having peered a 'previous that he find a Tilace in the first team. a suggests the overwhelming Superiority' of «the All Blacks in this wmo, there were certain disquieting Sires about it. The New Zealand tnfiklino- Wis not as deadly as it should liTv© been. Several men were going very high and letting their man pass out whSn the Wl should easily have been smothered. The backs were also inclined to run too much across th© Jicld instead of indulging in the etraight lushes which characterised the first <rames and earned them well-deserved praise. They appeared.to have emulated the example of the sides opposed to t iK»m.—a most disastrous practice. Some Experiments. Some of tho disorganisation «nd comparative laok of finish of the .-.ttacks was probably due to the new combination adopted in the backs. Badeley u-as rdayod for the first time in tho tour and did not got really settled down though occasionally he mado some' promising movements. Cooke was played at centre in the first half, hut it was soon evident that he was not very toppy » this position. Accordingly the backs were later rearransjed. Oooke went back to second five-eighths. Svenspn went to centre, and Badeley played on the wing. Even this arrangement did not work particularly well, tho wmgs almost invariably

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being crowded, in marked distinction tp what hapnened in the early games of tho tour." Much, of the. credit for this state of Affairs- must be given, to the Midlands" backs, .who were quickly on their men. This was tho really disquieting feature of the day, for if a3'oung inexperienced, £eam could thus upset the .AIL .Black machinery an International side might be to put it out of action' altogether. Fortunately such logic does not usually work out in practice'.' Tho AH Blacks will probably" play much better when they know that every effort to avert, defeat must' be made. Those last few minutes at Newport when disaster snared them in the face convinced me that the team has the right temperament for big occasions. The Cross-Kick. As far aa the actual game is concerned, the chief feature of" the* openting' quarter of. an hours was the splendid defence of the Midlands team. Parker got the first try after several promising attacks had been smothered by brilliant tackling. Then for the first time a characteristic New Zealand passing rush got well into its stride, and Cooke was able to score -without the necessity of passing to Steel, who was lying handy. The next excitement for the large crowd was a promising movement by the Midlands, a splendid cross-kick, and a timely save by Dalley. This manoeuvre, which the All Blacks will meet very often in the Internationals, is always dangerous, and it might be adopted more frequently by the New Zealanders themselves. They do a good acal of kicking to their wings, but the reverse process is usually more effective. Donald, who has the faculty of boing where he is wanted, was responsible for the next scoring movement of the All Blacks, and Parker soon added another try. Nepia's goal-kicking had been very poor up to this stage, only one try being converted. Soon after this the Midlands secured their only try, Nepia boing beaten for the touchdown after the ball had been kicked past him. It was rather a lucky try, but as the home team were very unlucky not to scoro on other occasions the encouragement was deserved.

Parker Outstanding. After tho interval, though . the All Blacks continued to crowd their wings and Steol scarcely over got the ball, Cooke Bcored a second try and Parker added threo to his tally at regular intervals. Nepia made some wonderful dashes, but I think I would prefer better ground fielding and less fireworks—it would be loss exhausting for the spectators, at least. Parker was the only outstanding player in the side. Svenson has not been playing as well as usual lately. Ho does much better work on the wing than at centre, where he has frequently been played. All the forwards worked hard, and McCleary, making his first appearance, appeared very successful in getting the ball in the scrums. Tho scrum work was very much better than in many previous matches. The referee was Mr T. H. Tile, who is considered the most efficient in the country.