THE MAORIS IN THE MUD.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 18894, 8 January 1927, Page 11

THE MAORIS IN THE MUD.

—♦ — BLACKHEATH BEATEN. , A GREAT VICTORY. (SPECIALL7 WBITIBB fOB THE PRESS.) (By Dr. A. J. Harrop.) J/ONDON, November 23. As far as weather is concerned, the Blackheatli ground is an ill-fated one for New Zealand teams. Few who saw it will ever forget that match in December, 102-1, when the All Blacks played London tor the second time. It nad rained, for days. The ground was a quagmire and the spectators were drenched. But the New . triumphed over the conditions and overwhelmed their opponents by passing rusließ almost as swift and sure as if the ground had been dry. History more or less repeated itself 011 Saturday when the Prince of Wales and Mr Coates were among fhose who braved the elements in order to see the Maoris in action. It was a great occasion in spite of the weather. There was much cheering, much clicking of cameras, and much merriment when the Maoris gave their haka, while the Prince of Wales himself received, of course, a great reception. Ho seemed to enjoy very much his little tour of the Maori team, shaking hands and exchanging a few words with each man. Doubtless, as he listened to the haka, there was vividly present in his mind the memory of-another day at Rotorua, when Maori tribe after Maori tribe did homage to him as the son of the Great Vfliite King. Preliminaries' over, and the rain mercifully stopping, the game began amid a roar of cheers and countercheers for the two teams. The Maoris, ever-popular, had many supporters besides the colony of New Zealanders present almost to' a man—and woman. From tho kick-off, Blackheath were quickly in the Maoris' 25, and they stayed there for a long time. They were getting the ball with almost monotonous regularity, and A. T. Young, the International half-back, was making good openings for his backs. 1 hey were kept out, however, by resolute tackling, and we breat?ie"d a sigh of relief when at last play tame for the first time into the Blackheath half. It was the kind of day when spoiling tactics paid, and kicknig through, from "the loose was as likely as not to find the slippery ball eluding the. opposing backs. The Maoris tried this method with considerable success, but Blackheath,. although they employed it at times,' were usually content with the orthodox method of heeling out to the half and allowing him to set the backs in motion.

It was a long time before this policy uroduced any fruit, but eventually Young made a good opening and W E. Tratter., a Blackheath forward i yoored a good try which was converted' This reverse did not dismay the Maoris, and indeed, seeing that they were playing against the wind, tliey had done very well to _ keep the Blackheath backs out for so long. DevTtt, one of the three-quarters, w'as always dangerous when he got the ball, hilt lie wt>s well marked. Fhilf-time came with the score,- Blackheath 5. Maoris 0. Maoris Attacking. The opening of the second half was in one sense a repetition of the first, I but this time it was the Maoris who were attacking. They pressed with I amazing'vigour', and the Blackheath defence was nearly crumpled up immediately after the resumption, Bell intercepting a pass, from Young, but,

I being called back for a knock-on. Encouraging each other • with their Maori cries: "Be strong be brave," which sounded weirdly thrilling in the gathering gloom of the November day, the Maori forwards pressed their opponents back. Mistakes they made, mainly through over-eagerness, and at other times solid tackling kept them out, but they were not to be denied. After a furious .scramble on the goal-line, Manihera dashed over amid deafening cheers from the crowd, Avhich seemed genuinely pleased that the strenuous Maori efforts should at last reap a reward. The kick at goal, not very difficult, failed, but the Maoris, whose energy seemed to increase rather than diminish as the game proceeded, played up with a spirit worthy of their race. Could they n/iss Blackheath P At times it seemed certain that they would. At others, a breakaway by the Blackheath backs seemed to presage disaster. But always Falwasser or Phillips or Potaka. would overhaul his opponent and avert the threatened danger. Thrill After Thrill. Thrill succeeded thrill as the ball was rushed from one end o£ the ground to the other. But there was one sign ominous for Blackheath.' The Maoris •were beginning to get the ball regularly and were all over their opponents in. the loose. The forwards were surpassing themselves, and they met with a somewhat delayed_ but well-deserved reward when Dennis got over after Kingi, who played well throughout, had made a good opening. It was a typical All Black try, with the backs making the opening and the_ forwards up to take a pass at the critical moment. Again the kick at goal failed. The score was now Maoris 6, Blackheath 5, and it was still anybody's game. But while Blackheath were growing progressively wearier,, the Maoris went from strength to strength. There were often still mistakes which made their supporters hold their breath, but the Blackheath breakaways were but flashes in the pan. Again Kingi started a movement and again a forward, Rika this time, was up to take a pass and dash over the line. The try being again unconverted, there was yet time for Blackheath to avert defeat, but their backs were very tired and contented, themselves with finding touch when the only hope of victory was to keep the ball in play and force the Maoris to make a mistake with the greasy ball. As ."The Times" remarked, "on such a day, at such a time, the wildest long punt ahead would have spelled more hope than a kick into touch." The Maoris were quite equal to their task, and as vigorous as .ever, they left the Geld popular winners by 9 points to 5.

It was a .great victory against one of the best club sides in England, and the Press comment on the Maoris' display in the mud was very complimentary. Newspaper Comment. "The Times" said: "The Maoris obviously were in the frame of mind that rises superior to a very earthly thing like mud. Their hand-shakes with the Prince, their Ijaka—the best of the tour, led as it was by the inimitable Llaiipapa. even though he was not playing in the match —and their splendid [ recovery in the second half all went to prove that they had no intention of failing to rise to the big occasion. And most certainly they did not fail." The "Daily Mail" critic wrote: Maoris were going full steam ahead right till the end, and everyone in his own way played well. The dash and pace of A. Falwasser were once more impressive; T. Love played a quick and alert game at half-back; and the act-ing-captain, R. J. Beil. who is no darker than the average Englishman, "shadowed" his man with the effectiveness of a detective straight out or fiction.'' Naturally enough, all New Zealanders present were delighted with the Maoris display.