THE ALL-BUCKS'TOUR.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1913, 22 November 1913, Page 2

THE ALL-BUCKS'TOUR.

FURTHER IMPRESSIONS. ONE VERY ROUGH ENCOUNTER. [By one op the Team] [Specially Written for The Domikiuh.] In glorious weather wo sot out oil Tuesday morning, October SI, on a cruise round tlio beautiful harbour on which Sa.u Francisco is situated. Wo wore tho guests of tho Harbour Commission, who had hired: a launch for the day. Tho first place of interest visited was tho Exhibition grounds, whore already thoro aro thousands of workmen engaged preparing tho buildings- for tho Exposition which is to open two years hence. Then we saw St. Quintin prison, which is situated on an island near the Golden Gate. After circling round the island the boat ! s helm was turned for Winihaven, and htfro wo wore' tho guests of tho CalifoTiiian Wine Association, who had prepared a lunch in h-oiiour of our visit. After lunch wo wore shown through tho works—an interesting sight. This company has ton million gallons of wino in stock, and ewnmand eighty per cent, of the wino trad-o in California. At 3 o'clock we started on our return journey, and after circling several warships which wore in harbour in honour of Portola week, wo landed back in town at 5 o'clock.

Against Santa Clara. ■ Next day wo played Santa Clara, and this encounter proved to be our hardest game so far. It was played at the Stadium, in Golden Gate I'ark, m honour of Portol-a Week, and it drew our largest crowd, 12,000 -people being present. The field was a- turf one, so we were quite at home, but, nevertholess,, we did not take our opportunities. The first spell was very even, the Santa Clara men working ivcM and hard, and keeping us a- g-ood deal on tho defensive. Three tries were scored during the spell by Roberts. His second try was a very pretty one, as he beat nearly every'man in tho opposing team. Our place-kicking was again a failure, so tho spell ended 9—o. The second spell was a decided change, £<vr tho whole team seemed to work as ou-c man, the- lia-ssiiig being excellent. Time and again th® ' ball went right across the field, and back again, with the result that Santa- Clara ' m.cn wondered where the leather was rasing next. Tho soorors wero : Lynch (2), M'.Donald (1), Jl'GMgor (2), Mur- ■ ray (1), Graham converting three an<l ;F. 11. &tohr ki-oked a penalty goal. '.Ihe

final scor® was 42 points t-o mi. Our team lined out as follows i—liactss, Stohr, Lynch'. Roberts, IVGregor, M'Kenzie. Gray, Taylor; forwards, Murray, Williams, Cain Downing, Dewar, Graham, -Sellars. As to individual efforts,'it -can only bo said tiinfc Eoberts played, a great game. His one fault is that fe wants to do -all the scoring himself, giving the wings very' little chance. .This was very noticeable in one part of tho g-amo, where J1 Uregor had a clear run in. In this_ case he tried to beat three ffifi. Bo losing a certain trv. M'Gregor played well, Ins lightnmg-i&o daslie's mectulgjvith rntich applause from tho cr<wd. The rest, of the.'backs were at their best, layior aul Gfay'working very well; together. Ot the. forwards, Downey and Murray ptajed best, but tho wholo pack,went well, everyone working hard-, especially in the second half. .. » After the game «'o were tho guests or the Press Club at dinner. Tho principal item of the evening was the tion of Portola ,meda]S„...Tliese,- wero small g-old footballs,' with' a mece of red. and cold ribbon attached, and each man received ono. Mr. Mason, on behalf of :the Now Zealand Union, presented with a largo. bronz6 inscribed. It is for the ISew Uugby tJnion, and I am sure that it wi 1, be prissed v«:y much, as it is a beautiful article.

Rough Tactics atid lil-Feollng, Our return match against California ; College was looked forward to by a number of the boys. The, team did not cress the harbour till the day of the match, on account of it being i 0 1" tola Week in the city, although ye ; were scheduled to arrive there the day beture. Tho day was again beautifully fine, atid the attendance numbered 12,000. The following team took the fieid:—Backs: Cut hill, Lynch, Roberts, M'Gregor, Mitchinsoiij M'KGffizie, lajlor; forwards; Caift, Beivar, Downing, Wvlio, GFaha.ni, M'Ponald, Sellars. This match will .long be remembered by everyone who witnessed it on account of the «iithn-siasm shown when tho college team scored the first point against- us. Unfortunately, tho gapte turned out to be a very poor exhibition of Riifhy. Thoro is no use disguising the faet that- rough and unsportsmanlike tactics were, often apparent,, and, when wo were 'goaded to retaliate, the opposition believed in tho childish fash* ion of refusing to play. At one time thoy had to bo urged on by the committee to continue the game, They then began a game in which thoy met their superiors, aud caved in Very badly. However, the display of tho - varsity in the first spell was a. great surprise for us, as they had improved wonderfully since our match two Weeks before. Right from the jump they -got into the game, and gave us- a good fight. It was a groat pity_ that an unfriendly feeling entered into the match, as I'm sure that the game would have been a particularly fast and interesting one. Thoy held us down to 1 cifcht points in the first lialf, ana. uurin« that time, we were often on the defensive. Our only two tries were scored by Taylor and Roberts, Graham eonverting one.

Americans Quit the Field. In the second spell feeling rail high again, and at one time it looked as if the game would have to bo stopped, but, ' tliaiiks to the referee, it continued. The Blacks, seemed to get their stride ill this spell, and put on the points quickly. Graham and Dewar scored in succession, and then the only score against- us was. registered.. ' This, howcver, could have been avoided if Lynchhad got down to it, but he only went haif-liea'ftedlv, and the Collegians beat him for the ball. The remaining points for the AH Blacks wero scored by Roberts Murrav, Graham, Cain, Mitchinson,' and Wylie, Graham converting four. A very unpleasant feeling was noticeable at the finish. Wylio scored as the whistle blew for time, and tho 'Varsity men left the field, leaving us atone on'tho ground to kick tho goal; teit this we did 'not do, as M'DonaM ordered Graham to leave tho ball alone. Of the individual players nothing can be said, as the game was at times a fight' and not football. The forwards bnlio'eked well," and easily held their own, but the hacks were off-colour, showing very little combination. Their defence at times was weak, the 'Varsity men nearly scoring several times. 'Lviich was particularly off his form, his collaring being very bad, M'Gregor played his worst game so far, being out of place, and very -slow at getting down on the ball. . After the match the toitm journeyed back to the city, and leave for Reno on Tuesday, where they play the State of Nevada. This will be our first trip into the. country, and, as wo pass through some very pretty country, tho team is looking forward to it.

THROUGH AMERICAN EYES. INTERESTING REMARKS. Writing under date October 24, in r ..Ca-iilomitttt Ettpor, an Aneriain .writer

lias tho following to gay regarding the All Blacks:— Tho Santa Clara team came en tho field for tho game with the New Zealandcrs buoyed up with hope audi a splendid lighting spirit. The great crowd went wild as tho baints held the mighty men from over tho>wator, to !J points in the first lialf, but it must bo said that tho All Blacks played a rather listless game during tin: lirst half, although Roberts scored twice after beautiful swerving runs. This, however, did dot h3om to produce tlio usual amount of stage fright among tlio Santa Clara men. Meadows and Ybarrando played well, especially in kicking, both making long gains ill this way. taking the play into !New , Zealand. ground, where it remained for some time, and it was here that we had the first cliance to see tlio All Blacks defend, and I might add that they did it wonderfully well. At this stage of the ganw tlto visitors braced and the game wont rattling down into the SaniS Clara end of tho field. Lynch should have scored, but lost tho ball. Everybody voted that Santa Clara had dono nobly wlieu at halftime Now Zoaland had only 6Cor-ed 9 points to nothing, and it was the general opinion that tho prune' pickers wero going to hold ib.o New Zeatamlws down to a small score, and even perhaps scord thorn salves. Tl>/« jSdcaiw hairf soon, dispelled these notions, as tho All Blacks put on three, tries in. about ton minutes, after splendid play, which quite, eclipsed tlio local men. Alto" gcther the visitors totalled 42- points, and left their opponents scoreless, whieli is tho treatment they have so far meted out to all their opponents, _ I. had tho opportunity of meeting many of. tho visiting team, and found tliem a very nice set of fellows, and they are- a great credit to thoir native land. They are all well set up and are true, athletes and sportsmen, in every scbso of the word. They play fast football,.and yosterctsy tlieiro was absolutely not a minute's delay from start to finish, and although the- play was robust nud hard, not a single player received the slightest injury. , Los Angeles ought to feci h.onmired in having this fino body of men as their visitors at BovaTd Field on November 8, and: I can assure all and Sundry that tiicy will get a delightful exhibition of Rugby football. , fetich men as Dick Roberts, Grey, Cutlnll, Lynch, and, iu fact, the whole team, aro a dc«. light to watch,' and tho easy, confident way in which they play, and also incidentally score, will bo a revelation to southern" fans and worth, going a long vax to see, No oitg with &ny protongioiia to a- love of wal sport sliould allow this opportunity to pass, as it wt doubtless be a long tint-e before we shall look upon their equals again.