SUCCESSFUL KIWI TOUR

Chronicle (Levin), 5 April 1946, Page 2

SUCCESSFUL KIWI TOUR

• 'apnfs3:::Ai r-lliuHhiil »Sir G rali;ipi(f '."Dq nald-,; cliairman of tlio Intcr-Sijriddcs hvugby/ Gommittec, ANqw ^ealiyiil Army tourin^ trtliir af a Brxf^li^ ^pbrtsmen's Club luiiclieon to £ tlfe*l'euiii,^ki,id. tlie Ki!t>:ji.^;-;.to:4i; had 3 he.§n| jiiglily . .sne-j cessful for tliree main reasons. Firstly, it hasLigiyen greqt pfei^sh're" to many thoussteik displays of keen, open and|^|;tra|t-i^e. football. Seeondiy, it had 'a^i\''en mlnglish „.fchao Bghj® w i _ -J u ay .Kugby,. .Tlin-diy.. it h.ad.^iven BrltLsli -Rngbjg .^mitdi^aoded^ostwar "liiiip--; «. The Governor-Generaii©feajgnai;e r of New Zealand (Sir Bernitrd i'rcrb'erg) , supporting the toast, deseribed how, ueeding a guarantee of several tliousand pounds, he had cabled the New Zealand Government and received an afiirmative replv the folloiving day. He pointed out that all the niouey taken at the turnstiles benelited the Services and eharities. He paid a tribute to the way the team had carried l out his instructious. ■ Birth of Scheme. Colonel A. H. Audrewsj the team's manager, deseribed how tiye idea of I the (eam'.s- 'tour was born when the' New*® Zealand Division ' was fightifig'piil North Africa. He said that wliile Gen-1 eral.Freyberg w'lis .Avvaiting the sur- j render .of tlie ltalian General Aiessei aftef'flie" fafl- 'dF-Tuhis'h'e 'saFTtr the*! caiubvn.n-.with. General ...Freyberg ...who i talked of nothing but Rugby. — --A"iT>Ma;f^tak^&aid.dn;.':d,eB.iti,i.bed."-;kow,.t in August of 1945, he had received i General Frevberg's direetive and had j found that he had only eight weeks in j which to obtain and select the players? of the team. The Army, he said, re j ceived 3(50 applicants fronf soldiers who tliought themselve^''ca|5-abie oF-gdiiii tig a place. This nuiub'er was sil'ted down to (50 a fortnig'ht before tliey were due j to play their first match and the required 30 were obtained after a series of trials.

All Black Sides, Colonel Andreivs, coniinenting on the eomparison by Air-Alarshal Donald of the Kiwis with the .190(5 and 1924 All Blacks, said there could not be any compar.Lson. Thos.e teams were selected from men who were all specialists in positiohs where 'tliey had "played lirstclass football for six or seven years. The Kiwis played a dift'ereut game. for five or six years before tliey were chosen. General, Frevberg's direetive that the teanr'-slibiild* -f>la\ "open aiiil attractive football, irrespective of vvliether tliey won or lost, had 'been carried out. The cJub's chairman (Lord Aberdare) i stated that th"eV.-Klug? fiir . r^ply --to' a j loyal telegi-aiii^..frppr' ,'pii® W'.cllibjj-yi had ! vvished good liTclc' fo thti ' 'sucdeskful j and popular team." The cartoonist, Mr. Toni Wcbster, 1 presented the teani/Sj., captaxn, -Maj^rj C. K. Saxton, with .an' origrnal cartoOnJ | fronting a nienu, entitled, "Greetingsl to a Magnilicent Bj-i d » «t\. Passagc/ ' | and showing a Kiwi, in'foo'tball cl'ollies.' j with an egg lalielled " Loyal ty" behind it with the caption: "Following those great New Zealand teams of 19ug and 1924, the Kiwi has laid auother egg — and not a dried oue either."