ALL BLACKS ARRIVE

Chronicle (Levin), 14 October 1949, Page 5

ALL BLACKS ARRIVE

r Press Association)

Tour Was Most Interesting, Says Manager

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wellington, oet. 4. Looking fit and well, the All Blacks arrived 'in Wellington by jthe Dominion Monarch this mqrning. "We have had a most interesting and strenuous tour," said the mgn(ager, Mr, J. H. Parker. "As a matter of fact, the tour was as strenujous as any sporting team could undertake. We are not bringing very much home with us— I am more concerned about what we left dehind. I am deiighteh to know that we left -in South Africa a jofiy good name. i , "Before we left I received hun^dreds of letters and telegrams from all over Africa expressing pleasure at having met the All Blacks. I feel the tour has been a very great success. The receptions we have had wherever we went were simply wonderful, and I hope ihe people of New Zealand will also appreci.ate the excellent games these boys put up against South Afriqan teams, even though they lost the tescs." Benefits From Experience. '"We are going to benefit very greatly from the experiences we had in South Africa," continued Mr. Parker. "We are certainly not going to make a habit of losing the test matches every time against South Africa. When the time comes for them to visit New Zealand they are going to have an experience similar to what we had, and I am sure it will be of great benefit to them." Referring to the strength of the opposition encountered, Mr. Rarker pointed out that in three visits to Great Britain New Zealand teams had lost fewer matches than in the course of two tours of South Africa. The results, however, could not be considered completely unfavourable. The general run of play right through South Africa was stronger than it had been in the past, even if the Springbok test sides -did not differ greatly in strength from those of previous years. "In South Africa today there are at least a dozen strong unions and every one of the 24 matches played by the All Blacks was a tough one." Mr. Parker pointed out that the defeats had unsually been suffered by a margin of only about two or three ^points, and in almost every game the ^tourists hadf>played the final result was in doubt right until the end. It was extremely interesting lootball all the way.