INTERCOLONIAL FOOTBALL.

Gisborne Times, Volume X, Issue 971, 18 August 1903, Page 1

INTERCOLONIAL FOOTBALL.

DEFEAT OF AUSTRALIA

By Telegraph—Press AssociationCopyright. SYDNEY, Aug. 17,

Estimates of the attendance at Saturday’s match range from thirty thousand to thirty-five thousand.

The Herald says .the game was a hard one all through. In the first half the Australians fairly well held their opponents in the scrums and tackling. In the second half, the visitors ran clean away, and won in every department, in condition, In line-kicking, in pace, certainty of giving and taking passes, and goalkicking. The Herald adds : “ New Zealand can reasonably claim to ho the headquarters of Rugby in the Southern Hemisphere. Australians have a great deal to learn, but the visits of the New Zealanders are so few and far between that it is doubtful if that learned from the present tour will remain permanently, .with us.” The Daily Telegraph says : “ Play on both sides in the first halt was brilliant. Afterwards the Australians went ofi, and excepting perhaps on the line, their forwards were beaten all round.” The ‘paper gives special praise to the New Zealand backs, and adds : “ The fact is the better team .won, and it was in the matter of combination that it was most effective.”