THE ALL BLACKS.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18423, 2 July 1925, Page 15

THE ALL BLACKS.

ONAL MATCH OF TOUR. THORN'S SIDE DEFEATED. u T ««*-!>*"» ASSOCUTIOS-COPISIGET.) V -\ • (SXDHT "SCK" SEBYICI.). (Received July Ist, 9.35 p.m.) SYDNEY, July 1. Xbe AH Blacks played the final game of their tour against a team picked by v J Thorn, captain of the N.S.W . in,* at Manly. The team consisted of- Sydney and a few local players. Ike ground was in good order. After ago od hard game >"ew Zealand won by 24 points to 9. Lawton, ' tho Queensland Rhodes scholar, who played for London against the All Blacks, was a tower of strength in to-day's match. By good following up he time and again extricated his side from danger. Wiso was undoubtedly the best plaver on the ground, and gave a sterling exhibition of wing play. Though he scored only once he was responsible for some of tho others. The Blues in the first spell played against a strong sun, which sometimes prevented accurate, handling. Both sides got about the 6ame amount of the ball from the scrums and line-outs, but the Blacks made tho most use of it. McCormick, Righton, Finlayson, and Walters were all prominent in bright forward movements, Rightons dribbling rushes being a feature of the 'game. Harris, at hull-back, played his usual sound game. D. Johnston, who has not participated in many games on the tour, snowed himself a player of class. Throughout the game the Blacks were superior, (but did not hare things all their own way. They were several times hard pressed, but the Blues' tendency to kick too hard spoiled most of their likely movements. The New South Wales practice throughout the tour of the half-back putting tho hall into tho scrum proved a hindrance to the backs getting going. When New South Wales got the ball out cleanly and quickly it had to lie there till the half got round to it. By that ..time the Black side- row men were on to it. For the - Blacks, Wiso, Lomas, Wright, Righton, Dickson, and Finlayson scorod tries, L. Johnston converting three. Lawton scored a try for the Blues, and Doran kicked two penalty goals.

SECOND TEST MATCH SUPERB GOAL BY HARRIS. (raoit otra owh cobkesponpeht.) SYDNEY, June 22. In spite of the heavy rain which had fallen,' the Show Ground was in very good order for Saturday's match. A fairly'strong breeze' blew up and down the grpund, and tho backs playing against it were a good deal hampered at times. New Zealand faced the wind in the first spell, and in the opening Stages; made it a forward game. It 4 TOB"Tjod£" evident,'"libwev.er," that 'the . home team was not at its "best, and the Black backs were let loose' and play was open and fast. The home backs failed to gauge the strength of the wind and kicked too hard, and as a result New Zealand frequently forced down and obtained the advantage of a ' tlear kick out. Added to this, George, , at five-eighths, handled the ball badly nad the visitors, taking advantage of hi 3 mistakes, had as much of the

game territorially as their opponents. Tie home backs were doing a lot of lofty lacking into play in order to bring their forwards into the game, but the'estching of Donald and his backs was too certain for them, and from the resulting marks the Blacks usually gained ground. Both teams -were collaring well, and any attempts at passing rushes were soon stopped. The. only effective means of gaining ground was by medium of forward rushes. In this respect the Black vanguard was superior to the home pack, and it was mainly owing to their effective work that the advantage given by the wind was nulli-

fied. With Elvy not plaving, the Blacks made few attempts to use their wingers, and any handling, by the backs usually ended by Blake finding touch "When compelled to kick into play Harris showed good judgment i u putting his forwards on side, and in the closing stages of the spell they gave the home backs many anxious moments During the spell Thorn, the home captain, had to leave the field owinr to the recurrence of an old injury. °H e was. of course, replaced. With no score against them, and the wind in their favour; it -was confidentlv : expected that the Blacks would have an easy -win. The home team, however found its form in a surprising manner' and playing with great dash, had none the worse of the second spell. The play was extremely fast, and ranged from goal-line to goal-line every f cw minutes. Incident followed incident in rapid sequence, and had the crowd on its feet, the play being carried on amidst a deafening and almost continuous roar of cheering. It was Rugby yt its fastest, and both sides appeared glad when a halt was called through a player being slight ly hurt. The home pack was gaining possession in almost every scrum, and their backs attacked vigorously, but the visitors' defence was solid and, helped by over-eagerness on part of the a trackers, successfully stood Ihe strain. Inside his twenty-five, Finlayson broke away with the ball at toe, and headed a fine rush for 40 yards, where Wise picked up and made a strong run to almost the corner-flag, where he passed in to Lomas. who touched down. The pass was palpably forward, however, and the try was disallowed. It was a splendid effort and had the pass been in order, a score could not have been averted.' Xothing daunted, the T'.hics came again and again, but failed to put the finishing touch on their efforts. The Blacks worked play back to the Home twenty-five, where a weak kick was taken by Harris just inside halfway. In the coolest manner possible he "settled the ball for a drop, and potted a splendid goal from fully 4~> yards out. The crowd recognised the merit of the score, and the cheering lasted till the homo team kicked off again. There was no slackening of the pace, and only well trained men could have kept it up. The next sensation was provided by Matson, who picked up in the loose and made a dashing run for fully 50 yards ere he was pulled down within a few feet of the line. The Blacks were now having slightly the better of the play, and Wise had a fine chance to score which was lost through Blako trying to do too much. This was tha last chance either side had to score, and the game ended soon after with the Blacks at the home twenty-five. Neither side deserved to lose, and a scoreless draw would have been fair to both teams.

As in the two previous games, the Black forwards played, finely, and.except in the matter of gaining possession in scrums, were superior to the Home pack. Finlayson was again the nyoat outstanding player, and was sel(lonufar away from the ball. Ho was not quite so successful as usual in lineout plav, but taken all round he proved himself a great forward. Knight, who made his first appearance, was a good second to him, and was always on the ball, while he collared most effectively. Walters was perhaps the next best, but where all played so well it would be safer to say that outside the first-men-tioned two all were at their best. Donald was as quietly effective as usual, though ho was a good deal hampered by the vigorous attention paid to him. In the second spell he received a left swiug to the jaw which he saw, but the referee unfortunately did not. ~ Later he was illegally charged while waiting to take the ball, but the resulting freekiek did not make up for the shaking he received. Except that the fiveeighth play is not up to the best Xew Zealand standard, the backs did splendid work., Harris gave of his best, his fielding, kicking, and tackling being very fine, while his few lapses in taking the ball were quickly rectified. Blake, at centre, was cool and safe, but marred a fine display by trying to beat too many men. In the second half Law showed improved form, and was very sound in defence. Wise maintained his good form, but got too little work, mainly through Blake hanging on too long. In this way he lost one certain try. Matson and Johnson, at fiveeighths, and Wright, at half, were starved for want of the ball, but did their full share otherwise. It must be admitted, however, that neither of the two first-named is a Wood or a Hunter in attack.

Mr Irving again handled the game very ably, and never lost control of it. *ln view of his capabilities and performance in the first match', it is hard to understand why he was not the sen for the second game. THE FINAL TEST. N.S.W. OUTCLASSED. i ' | GOOD RUGBY ON MUDDY FIELD. (FROM A SrBCIAL COEBESPOKDENT.) SYDNEY, June 24. Except that there was a dry patch in front of each goal, the ground for Tuesday's match was in a very bad state. The bulk of the playing area was a sea of soft mud, and in addition there were numerous pools of water on it. In the circumstances, the Blacks played extremely well, and by their ability to adapt themselves to tho conditions dominated the play throughout. There were, of course, many instances of inability to hold the greasy ball, and several tries were lost from that reason when the defence had been completely beaten. The home team, were a beaten side from the kick-off, and'only on five i occasions did they seriously threaten the visitors' line. For this, the poor play of their forwards was mainly responsible, and their frequent breaches of the offside rule gave the winners a large number of free-kicks, from which they invariably gained ground. The Black forwards played splendidly, and their loose rushes were something to enthuse over as they swept down-field in a compact mass. The backs, too, were at their best, and never failed to go down in fearless fashion to the dribbles of the home pack. Corkill, who played five-eighth, and Blake, at centre, were particularly effective in this respect, but, generally speaking, the same could be said of all the backs. There was practically no wind when the Blacks kicked off, and at once invaded the home twenty-five. The '< forwards had the better of the first fewscrums, and Wright made good use of the then.dry ball, and worked the blind side effectively with the aid of Law, who at once found his form. The home line was continuously attacked, hut the fine defensive work of Eeid at centre . and Boss at full averted a score. Perj sistency told at last, however, aud I Wright, taking a quick heel-out, pent i Johnson away, anu the ball travelling '■ via, Corkill and Blake, to Law, the la£ J tor went strongly for the line and scored ; a good try close to the corner. The kickoff gave the home side no relief, and the' Blacks were soon back in their territory, and, pressing hard, several tries were , missed, by narrow margins—once when Wright made a strong dash but slipped I when a try seemed certain, and again when Donald went across but was refilled, fe a knock-on, ' Knight,

Righton, and Finlayson each missed scoring by very little, but the greasy ball beat them, and th'e spell ended with tire score 3 to nil. The Blues showed their best form at the opening of the second half, but soon faded away. During this period, however, they obtained their only score by the medium of Ross, who kicked a fine penalty goal from about 3o yards out. From then on the Blacks dominated the play, and the Blues rarely got ueyoud half-way. 'lhe second score was a result of a sweeping rush by the visiting pack in which the backs joined, and some quick short passing enabled Wise to score in a handy position. Play then slackened for a little while, and the backs exchanged a number of kicks, which had.no effect on the game till Harris, with a tine effort, landed the ball into touch in the home twenty-five. Prom the ensuing line-out Finlayson broke away, and quick and accurate handling by the forwards enabled 'Walters to.get over. Johnson was.successful with the kick, and the scores stood at 11 to.'). A good line kick by Biake brought play back after the resumption, and the Blacks retained the upper hand till the close of the game, which came with play at the home tweutv-five.

There were practically no single-hand-ed efforts by the Black forwards, their combined work being vcrv fine as they •swept along in a compact mass. As > result, it would be unfair to single out individual players, though in justice to Knight it must he said that he was the beginner and leader in most of the rushes. Even Finlayson was dwarfed by comparison till in the last twenty minutes the latter showed out, and from then till tho finish played in the manner which has earned him the name of being the best forward in the team. The backs played finely, both on attack and defence, and their nursing of the forwards was judicious and effective. Harris was magnificent, and no other adjective would justly describe his play. His fielding, kicking, and tackling were up to the best standard, and when following up to put his forwards on side he never went too far. On the few occasions he had to go down to a rush he invariably got the ball safely. Law showed much-improved form .to what he did ■in his first game, from which it would appear that he suffered from lack of confidence on fiat occasion. He got plenty of' work, especially at the start of the game, and was never found wanting. He took the ball cleanly and ran strongly, while his tackling left nothing to be desired. Blake at centre was cool and effective. He kicked strongly and accurately, and thus, gave his forwards very material help. Wise very seldom got the ball in a concerted movement, and almost the only time he did so scored a good try. He was in a hand}' position to come to the assistance of Harris hf d it been needed. Corkill and L. Johnson both adapted their game to the conditions existing, and did not attempt any of the usual methods of their position. Both went down to the forward rushes in good sty]?, and usually stopped them at their inception. Wright got plenty of the ball, and passed out cleanly until the ball became sodden, when he wisely kept possession and broke away to start his forwards off. He played his most effective game of the series. The home team made a bad start, anc 1 afterwards played only as Well as they were allowed to. The forwards were lacking in dash, while the backs defended very weakly and did not relish going down to the Blacks' rushes. Ross, at full, was a notable exception, and he, with Reid, who, by the way, learnt his football in Auckland, stopped many promising movements. Altogether, the side gave the weakest display of the series. Mr Irving again acted as referee, and as in the previous matches was prompt and accurate in his decision.