THE HUDDERSFIELD MATCH.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 53, 26 November 1907, Page 6

THE HUDDERSFIELD MATCH.

: ; v r HOME TEAM;, COLLAPSED AT.FINISH. .'- . .SMITH AND. TODD IN FORM. PLAYING AGAINST A STRONG WIND. (By A. H. Baskcrviillo.) Now Zealand ;-... 19 Huddersfield .... . .., a Huddersfield proved opponents, but wore beaten by. : l9 points to,:8. - ' Some idea of'tho huge contract taken up by the new "All Blacks" was picked lip'at , Huddersfiold .to-day. ' ,Two matches have oriabled us to realise how great is tho difference between tho Northern'-'Union code and our''old' rules,' and' 1 also to'judge the calibre of our future opponents: Huddersfiold aro stronger than thb majority; of- teams in the •Northern' Union; We cannot.'allow for the fact that they wore fighting- "with - ill fir back to the wall," becausb - all our futnre opponents will be doing the samo. Wo listen to outside spectators "though, who stato that the importance. of the occasion spurred .them to a greator offqrt than usual, .so that they'played tho game; of I their lives. Wb all admit that thero will 'be some strenuous contests in future, if we keep. these facts in'view. "LAYING FOR US/'.. There is no getting away feini tlio truth — these Northern Union'clubs-play grand-foot-ball. Th?y aro all...preparing..'and laying for ,us, and in a professional club you know what 'that/means. -"^No-stone' isjbeing loft >un-, turned about our downfall. Wo arc hot dismayed, but' tho New Zcialandors cannot shut v their eyes to : the' fact: that if they arc to repoat the 1905 performance, their efforts will have to "bo superhuman in'-some cases. The opposition provided at Huddersfield was'good'.until ivo'secured.:ihe.lead, then it foil all ,to. pieces:- that this is a charaotbnstic. foaturo-pf . their play. iTh'oy'appear to fall away, at.' the finish, so, 'perhaps"the'..'majority. of;,o'ur. matches will bo won: in. the last fow-minutes. '• These conditions/ are not very sootliing. : to the feelings . of' interested Now Zealand liko myself, for instance. ."' However,, they proVide' cnbugl) excitement-for'iNprthern Union barrackers, sand th'at : .'is : ; what, wo' are hero for.'-'. ' . ,' I '• . H ■ " FREAk." - BALL. 1 '• I nover sav;: a crowd, in, such a state of nerve tension i as that- at .Huddersfiold on Saturday.-, .They aro sports,'-though—after the match'is over—and ■ although I know a section' of' .thoiii' did hot- relish defeat, most of the onlookers'congratulated; us, and were prepared to admit th'a,t the-honours 'of tho match.-wont.,to the,more-descrying side. The Now Zealanders triumphed over Huddersfield as decisively, as-, they : !d,id ovor Bramloy in the-first match. -~ .Two i circumstances combined; to keep the "score low—a gale of wind, and a freak'.ball,,: which appeared as rounu as- an 'orange." The Blacks could not propel-it against the-wind in; the first spell, nor pass it with the wind/in the second. Again, Messenger could. not, under any circumstances find ■ the ''goal owing..-to its unusual proportions'.' Wrigley'had'a fow shots, and his physique enabled him to get two oven •" ''' HOME TEAM HAS THE WIND. Huddersfield won tlio,'toss, and elected to play with the- behind them. Tho Rev. Frank-Chambers,, an j old player and enthusiast, kicked off Jor us,; and retired in haste to tho pavilion.. The. wind soon began to make , itself felt:. >t -fow scrums tookplace near the- centre: of the...field, in which the honours were,.easy. Soon Huddersfield secured,, an,d piloted high. The'breeze carried tho ball well down, and Smith marked. A stronger gust than'usual made Messenger's punt almost a\ minus quantityand the ball was rushed over our,line. - A New Zealander forced. -Tho wind again prevented tho kickout .from -being very',,'effective, and another force, was,.tho result .a few. minutes later. Tho.:Bln.cks,;had a narrow escape just after. Their 'opponents secured in a sorum, and R. Wynyard, eager to nip in tho bud a threatened passing attack,..-.infringed the offsido rule, Luckily their kick, at goal failed. ; NARRO^|ESCAPES. V Huddersfield '-tried/ to gain an advantage by putting the ball-unfairly in tlie; scrum, but this was penalised. The free-kick relieved "the" "All Blacks" for a while, but the wind aided the efforts of our. opponents, and once more our lino was threatened. Turtill had v 'a return punt -charged down, and the ball just rolled ovor''thc idead ball line. This was a-narrow/escape,, as also was another - incident a few.minutes later, when Huddorsfiold secured from a scrum, and essayed, a passing, attack. I'd.? then headed a rush for some distance, and. our forwards rushed play-' to tho 'opponents' territory. Johnston-later on : gained-.more ground by a ■fine dribble;.• -v ' , THRILLING FOOTBALL. Tho Huddersfield forwards then took a hand, and returned with a rush, only to bo driven out by Lilo and Wright again. Thrilling football was' tiio order. ■ of the day for a while, .the'' Bla'cks' battling 'their way to the half-way lino against strong-odds. R. Wynyard, our lialf-back, secured from a scrum, and made a good opening tifforo passing to Todd. Tho latter delighted tho spectators with a strong run bot'oro -handing on to Wrigley. Tlio burly' Wairarapa man made tracks' for the. corner; and'. bumped a few opponents out of the way,; but was just pushed into'touch;• A'serum ensued, and Huddersfield secured. It was vory disheartening . to!'see tho ball punted high, aud the wind .carry it well down into'our 25. Rowo stopped a rush bravoly, and staved off their attack' for a while. ; EXCITING FIVE MINUTES. A thrilling/'incident'?then occurred. Huddersfield',rushed tho ball'over our line, Geo. Smith.'snapped.it upland*.-dodging around behind bis own goal-posts, sprinted up the field, through a .knot' of 'attackers. Ho passed' to 'Messenger, who repeated tho pert'brmauge n before lie;.,waf tackled. Lile and Wright carried it-on .with a. forward rush to we naif-way line.'"l't' was r tho most exciting few minutes of football I ever, witnessed. The,' New had .the strongest wind of the day to contend-.'w.ith just then. Tlioy were facing strong odds. Again Huddersfiold pressed them, and'secured at length a hard-earned try by a passing rush from the scrum. . ... - )> . A JRy,TO,/EACHI SIDE. ' The try was converted; and five points were, hoisted-opposite Huddersfield's name on the ' took't'wenty : eight minutes' :strenuous fodtball' to'soeilrp'this lead. Tho play so'fur-had-been brilliant on both sidos. 'Huddersfield .fought like demons to establish .a margin of points while atmospheric conditions favoured them.- -New Zealand had takon things'more and ocyasionally roplieu to their opponents' attacks with swooping, far-roaching forward rushes, of a 6ort which delight the spectator even more than a combinca passing nlovemcnt. Tho high wind spoiledi'tho kick-off, and play hovered about tlio half-way lino until Todd secured tho leather. : He opened up tho play, passod to . Wrigley, the latter to Messenger. Messenger ran strongly to Huddorsfiold's tw*)nty-fiv©.- but, - finding himself hemmed in on the lino,"hb puntod high. The Home team, with a lucky kick, found tho:touchlino; and a scrum was ordered. Now Zealand secured therefrom; and R. Wynyard f passed out to Todd. Tho elusive Aueklandor i took the pass 'at top speed, and, with a fine I dodgy run, got ovor noar tlio corner flag. • His efforts to get around behind the'goal--1 posts woro frustrated; thus Messenger failed ' to' convert -from • the- difficult '-'position. : HOME TEAM'S SECOND TRY. Now started a Eattio royal. Both forward i toams woro fighting for. their lives. Hudder6fielf|:"m as tared the scrumSj but the Blacks

ran all over thein when tho play becamo open. The kick-off was carried well down t-lio field. Turtill returned t.ho ball well considering the breezo, but it was marked in close proximity to our goal. Their placekick, though a good one, did not alter the scores. Play still'hung noar the Blacks' lino for a while. At longth Rowo presented them with a lucky try. The wind caused him to misjudge a high kick, so that ho missed fielding it. Ho raced Back and secured, but by this time tho onomy wore upon him. A flurried punt was charged down. The ball rolled back- over his lino, and a Huddersfield three-quarter—Bartholomew—fell on it. The attempt to convert the try failed, and New Zealand was loft only five points in arrear. SMITH PROMINENT. Tho "All Blacks "• wore now on their mettle, and made the pace hot. Byrne and Johnston tenaciously kept on the ball, following it'like greyhounds after tho quarry. 1 heard a spectator remark that wo could not stand tho pace. Aftor events proved him wrong. ' . A' thrill of excitement was next provided by Smith, who ran well. 11. Wynyard failed to-accept a difficult pass .in a good'position,' and n likely-looking chance .was spoiled. ..Back came the play to New Zealand's twenty-five, this time for Messenger to retaliate with a strong run. Ho reached tho half-way line before being stopped. WRIGHT LACKS CONFIDENCE. Wright then secured, .and ran clean through the. opponents. -Ho reached their twonty-five, and had a clear run in, but he hadn't confidence in his sprinting powers, so preferred to pass to a faster attendant back near by. Tho latter, however, failed tn accept tho transfer. Half-timo sounded immediately after, with tho scoro still Huddorslield 8, New Zealand 3. No one begrudged Huddersfield their load at tiie interval, not oven our breathers in' the enclosure. They earned it, and thoroughly deserved their scoro. Wo know Now Zealand proclivities for second-spell surprises, and confidently awaited developments. I fancy Huddersfield' barrackors were a trifle uneasy, as our men returned to the fray as fresh as daisies. CHANCES LOST. With tho advantage of tho strong breeze, our chances looked rosy indeed, as its presence was manifested by tho Blacks keeping up a continued attack on their line. A brilliant piece of play by' Todd was continued, after a pass by Messenger, who raced for tlioir lino at top speed. Unfortunately, lie fell when in a good position, and a glorious chance went. begging. , Tho .wind scorned to prevent all attempts at passing, so Messenger started bombarding their goal posts at long rango. Ho made three attempts at intervals. Tho. attempts wore fine ones, but went, outside every time. Passing between Todd, 11. Wynyard, and Messenger saw the speedy Australian just robbed of a try by being pushed into touch. This was a' near tiling, as also was a concerted movement between Smith arid Rowo a few minutes later. George ran from'tho centre of the field to within ten yards of their line, and passed flurricdly to Rowo, who was unluckily crowded into touch. Wrigley then carved his way by sheer brute strength through all opposition, but was called back after getting over. He-had put one foot into touch. TWO BRILLIANT. TRIES. A series of fierce scrums on the Huddersfield line eventuated. The Blacks hammered away'at them. It was only a. question of time. One could easily sco that Huddors_iiold could liot stand the racket much longer. The New Zealand skipper, Wright, screwed a scrum advantageously, and, rushing tho ball ovor-the line, scored near tho corner. Messenger failed to increase our score abovo six, which left us still two points in arroars. Tho crowd became frantic, and well might they, for a closo gamo under Northern Union rules is a thrilling spectacle. Then came tho debacle, and the spirits of tho crowd became subdued. Smith performed a similar evolution to . one already put in earlier. He ran brilliantly, and this timo passed in season to Rowe, who, getting over near tho corner, battled his way towards tho goalposts, so that Wrigley converted with a good kick. BYRNE CRASHES THROUGH. Wlion this occurred the result was never in doubt. Tho Huddersfield defence then broke down completely. New Zealand, to use a Colonial term, then "crawled all over them." Byrne, who had always been conspicuous, bore a hand next. , He seized the hall ,and, with a dash, crashed through tho thick of them, and over, the lino. It was a splendid feat. Wrigley could not convert tho try, but atoned for his failure a few minutes later by placing a superb goal from a mark secured by Turtill. Only a few minutes now remained, but tliyo wore sufficient to enable Todd to securo tho laurels for the day. Ho secured a final try aftor a brilliant effort. Huddersfield had kicked off after Byrne's try and play started to come back to them with tho wind. Todd started to "dribble" tho ball, near the halfway lino. 1-Ib threaded his way through all opposition, and brought down tno house (the' curtain, also) by carrying it .at his feet right over their lino. Messengor's 'failure at goal marked 1.110 sounding. of tho timo whistle; with ~the scoro being: - Now Zealand 19 Huddersfield , 8 THE HEROES. Local critics name Todd as tho hero of tho match, but I think tlio honours should be divided between him and his follow Aucklandor, Smith. Both did very well. Messenger caught the eye vory often also. His injured anklo handicapped him a little. No surprise was occasioned by his failure to find tho goal posts during the day. The- ball was sufficient excuse. Both ho and Smith will bo spelled <jn Wednesday next against Widnes, in order to give them a chance to recover completely from their injuries. Wrigley played his usual "solid" game. His 'meteoric runs are taking tho iutor.est of tKe crowd. I predict that before long ho. and Todd will bo popular favourites. Rowe did not play with tho confidence exhibited at Bramloy, but still ho. did very well. Turtill and R. Wynyard did fairly well, tho lattor in spite of his experimental trial at half-back. HALF BACK AND WINGER. It may bo advisable to moution now that the functions of a-half-back horo are in very few ways similar to those required in Now Zealand. Wo are just beginning to realise what an obstacle an active wing-forward is. When ho is wiped out by tho adoption of tho Northern Union half-back rule, or other moans, a Now Zealand roforceship will bo a sinecure. Now Zealand roforees ,or members of Rugby Unions, aro strongly advised to securo a copy of the amended Northern Union rules, and study tliem well — commonsense will do the rest.. . VANGUARD'S FORM. The Now Zealand forwards aro not getting tho credit, locally, for our wins. They aro being kept in tho background by the Press. But we (and I fancy tho Now Zealandpufrlic) know all about that. Against Huddersfield all of them did well. Lilo caught tho eye most, and showed promise of developing into ono of our best. Ho was followed closely, however, by Byrno, Johnston, and Wright in that order, while Gilchrist and Trovarthen were always factors to bo reckonod with. Tho Now Zealand team was: — Turtill, Rowo, Smith, Messenger, Wrigley. Todd, R. Wynyard, Lilo, Gilchrist, Trevarthon, Johnston, Wright, and Byrno. Tho attendance was well over 10,000. Tho " gatoamounted to over £405, and was very satisfactory, considering tho advorso weather conditions.