THE ALL-BLACKS' TOUR.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1911, 20 November 1913, Page 11

THE ALL-BLACKS' TOUR.

■ l StANFORD MATCHES. . j ■ . i OTHER IMPRESSIONS OF TRIP, « ! — -. i i [BY One op the Team.] (Specially Written for The Dominion.) On Monday, October 13, the team denai'ted from San Francisco for Stanford Vi.iversity, otherwise called "Tlie Farm." TU-a journey is 40 miles, hut takes only the short' time of 45 ffiirt- j utes' travelling by electric train. Our '• reception was an- enthusiastic one, all / * the boys of the college turning out- to ' moot us, singing - anil giving their ' "yells." Oil Tuesday morning wo trained at 10,30, and in the aftornaoji c all were taken for a, motor, drive round ' the country. This .was our most enjoy- ' able outing so far, the scenery being f yery pretty.. The ears numbered efeht * and. at 2 o'clock we set off for.a stam- I pedo around tho county, which lasted ( over three hours. ' Next day was the day of the match J and tho weather was beautifiiny fine. | Our men gave- their best display so ' far. This was tho first mateli. which' wo bad.played on a turf field, so we were quite at home. The attendance numbered about 4000. Our, team was as i follows:—Backs, Cuthill, Lynoti, Sob- i crts,- M'Oregor, Mitchinson, .M'Kenzie, i and Taylor; forwards, JJewar, Cain, Wil- i . liams> Bruce, Wylie, Downing; M'Donald) and Sellars. .' Tho First Stanford University Match, j With the choice of ends the Stanford ' team started off with the sun at their 1 j backs., It was not long, however, he- .1 fore one. could, see that the' AH iFJacks j were going to display some, of tioir true I form. The forwards started oil in grand j I style, the hall down the field ' I with a great rush, and Williams scored. ' I From .the iiick-ont play was forced to. ; I the College wlicro the ball, coming out I from a scrum, Mitchjnson potted a 1 pretty goal. 7—Q. M'j£enzio now | shone out-, and scored-under the posts, ■ but Mitohinsoii failed to convert. The backs at- this stago were passing with ■ accuracy and putting in some, pretty rims, Lynch scoring our nest try after the ball had travelled from the half' back, Eoberts kipked our first goal. Sfiores tvere now very frequent, the Beds appearing to offer very fittle resistance to our backs, who were- playing real good, football. Wylie, Jlitekinscn, Lynch, and Downing scored in quick , succession. After iralf4ime tlie Reds seemed to liave acquired more life aud went into the game with vigour. We had to fores down for the first timo of the tour. Play, however, had not been long in progress before operations in the Reds' twenty-five, when M'Don-ald Scored. M'Gregor then put in a very good run, dodging several -opponents and placing the leather behind the posts. Our- next t-riea Were obtained by M'Eenzie (2), Taylor, and Lynch, tiros bringing the total up to 24 points to nil. After the- gittno Wo wore entertained at the training house, where a dinner was provided. Afterwards, about '.- 1000 people assembled in front of the- houso, aud gave their college songs and "yells." They also called for nearly all -our men to give speeches; whieh, to my surprise, nearly all did, and some wore worth listening to. Of course, we had to give tho war cries ovcr.and over again before We could get . away. Next morning wo: had the usual ■praetioej and in the afternoon we were the guests of tho Girls' Ciub. at the Alpha Phi House.. This'function!,was■& gretv-t success. Music was given by the ladies, and afternoon tea dispensed. At half-past four two motor vehicles await--, ed us, and we were driven to'the denee of Mr, Schilling, a ¥eauti'ful ■ drive of eighteen miles out -among the : Ijifls. Here wo were entertained at dinner. 'Second Match Vf lth Stanford* ' : Saturday was the day of our second match against Stanford. The weather was very hot, atol the attendance numbered nearly six thousand. Tho team was considerably altered, and all roem- - bers who had, up till then, played in . every match, were given a spell. .These X included Downing, Lynch, Taylor, and I M'Bonaid', so the- team lined out as follows :—Baoits: Cuthill, M'Gregor, Bohorts, Stohr, Mitchiftson, Gray, Loveridge; forwards: Murray, Se.lla.rs,. 'Wil*. liatis, Atkinson, Douglas, Wylie., Graham, Cain. -The game started,off with plenty of elan, but the local men soon lost their dash, and our players steadily ran up 9. good score. In the first half tries were obtained by Leveridge, Roberts, Murray, Wylie. and Stohr &), the spell ertding 26 points to nil. . Stohr kicked three goalß. Tho backs were going in good style, and the passing from the half to the wing was worth looking at, the spectators cheering and clapping on mahv occasions, The second spell saw the fragile defence of the Reds further tested, and the score went up to Tries were obtained by Murray (2), .Lynch, M'Gregor, Atkinson, Mitehinson, Roberts, and Williamson, Lynch, Gray, aud Mitchi-nson each converted a try. As in the game before, no one could bo pointed out'as having played best. The basks and forwards alt Worked well. ' Loyeridgo was unfortunate in receiving; a kick on the ankle, n.nd had to retire, Gray.going to half, I and Lynch going out on the wing, f M'Gregor put in one fine run, raeing through the whole of tho Stanford team, "- and scoring behind the posts. Gigantlp Trass, On Sunday a long day was provided I for us. At half-past eight in the morn■H ing w-e started out for Santa, Cruz, J a beautiful seaside resort. After eatch- | ing the electric ear to Palo Alto, we I awaited the pleasure of the , train to ss conyey us on our journey. After an ~" hoar's run, our car was left behind, so Ithat w© could inspect the large redwood trees. These Were'really monstrous, and some idea of their size'may bo gathered when the following dimensions are -a given: lOOft. around base and 306 ft. '.| high, so goes the largest trees, In I one tree, where a; hole has been' burnt I in the trunk, over forty of our party i , got in at one time. A train took us on a to Santa Cruz, where a •delightful day 1 was spent. The chief attraction was a :| water-ehute in the bath, w-hicli provided | plcntv of amusement for the boys. | We dined at the Castle dclßay Hotel, ff where several toasts were honoured I and songs wore given. I On Monday afternoon we left Stall' I fortl College for San Francisco once ■~ more, where w-e arrived at 6 o'clock. Ie I'm sure I am .expressing the senti■J 1 m<mts of everyone in the team when t is say that thev wore all sorry.'to leave r . y Stanford, the students and author*- ! .S ties there treated us royally, and not ;I1 one minute was a dull one. On our ] S departure eacli meiuhei' was given a av souvenir of the college, in tho form of a 18 book, eontainitig several photographs of the campus. Coaching High School Boys. San Francisco is at present a very lively city, every shop being deeorated S™' for Fortola ' Week, which commenced I*"' to-day. Wo play Santa Crux nest Wed- '• uosday, on the Stadium of the Golden _ .. Gate Park, in connection with Fortola- Week, and expect a great crowd to witness the gamo. Mombers of the- team have been' vorv busy lately ' coiiching several nf tho nigh schools round the district, and the boys are, taking » great interest in the game-. Anything that they are told they seem to „ grasp very quickly. The play in the Hisk School ia not of a high duality, as the

majority of the boys have never played I the game till they' reached tho college, so our coaching has been very much appreciated. The greatest difficulty experienced here is the inability of the hoys to discern when they are eff-sido. The idea of the old American game still remains, and so one sees a great deal , of off-side pla,v. Football is going ahead, here at present, mid everyone is talking about the All Blacks. So our tour is proving aft educational one.