THE ALL BLACKS

Gisborne Times, Volume LXI, Issue 9850, 31 October 1924, Page 3

THE ALL BLACKS

INITIAL MATCH OF TOUR

ALL BLACKS ON DEFENCE MOST OF SECOND HALF.

To Mr. W. 11. Rangi, of Gisborne, who is touring with the All Blacks, we are indebted for a copy of a Plymouth newspaper containing an account of the first match of the tour— • that against Devon—which reads as under:—A

By restricting New Zealand’s winning lead to a mere 11 points Devon’s dingliy fifteen at Devonyort Beetovy not only confounded -the critics, but surprised their own best friends. It would serve no good purpose to blink at the facts as they were before the match. The All Blacks bad come to this country with a reputation equal almost to that of their famous predecessors of 1905, and, remembering that on that occasion Devon, then in its prime practically as a 'Rugby county, was bady beaten, inqst people thought that the scratch fifteen that had been selected to oppose the Colonials would meet with an even heavier reverse, if such were possible. Instead, Devon surprised everyone, and no one more than their opponents. And it must be Sdded hero the All Blacks surprised Devon. True, it was the first match of their tom, but it was patent that they were a long way behind the IPOS team in skill, though in speed and weigh!, they were fully the equals of the fifteen which 19 years ago defeated Devon hv 50' points, and in fact, sustained oniy'ono defeat during the whole of their tour. Tho Colonials won, hut, taking everything into consideration, it sce,med to he the general opinion of the 18.000 spectators that the honours went to Devon. Both sides adopted the five-eighths formation, and. in the first half, which w.as contested in delightful weather and on an almost perfect pitch, the All Blacks had considerably the best of matters. Faster in almost every department than Devon, they had tho county penned m its own half within a few minutes of the start, and but for occasional loose Lreak-aways kept them there. DEVON’S DOGGED DEFENCE. It was a ding-dong battle between attack and defence, and the position resolved itself into one. of how long the county side could hold out. Had it cracked somewhere, the- result would have been fatal*. 1 But it refused to crack anywhere. Every one ol : the backs gave every ounce of skill and strength he had. got to keeping the invaders out, and for awhile they had to content themselves with that and that alone, lor it was practically impossible for them to launch an nli-tar-k themselves. for fully half an hour this went on, and then from the centre the All Blacks for the lir>t lime really got- one of their quick passing movements i»o----ing. It was ol quite the stereotyped order, but it found its mark in the corner, Svensoit, their speed" right winger, running in past 'Baker with a pnss_ from Cooki*. Against the wind Nepia failed to goal, it was a clever effort, and-for a moment things went badly with Devon. , But still the defence refused to waver. Time and again the Ail Blacks j tried to find a weak point in the centre, hut they had to go out on the wing again before they could got through once more. Again the ball went bobbing along with short, sharp passes to the wing, a player never holding on to it long enough to give the defence a chance. I

Again Svenson got it, but this time instead o!' attempting to pass Baker, he drew the latter, and finished off the movement with a smart inside pass to Cooke, who had come up on his left, and had a clear run in. It was a brilliant- example of how effectively the reverse pass can he exploited by fast hacks who know one another’s play. This time Nepia goalee!, so that tho All Blacks were now leading by eight points to nil. But Cooke’s try proved to,he practically the last of the visitors’ outside movements. Devon now took up the attack wit’ll more determination than at any stage hitherto, aim had there been nynono up to take a great cross-kick by Garrett, after the Services’ centre had carried the ball almost to the line, a score musthave been recorded for Devon. As it was Nicholls saved, and with it nalfthno arrived. COUNTY ATTACK.

It was, however, in the second half that Devon won their spurs, although they did net score. Rain had set itf and with it the All Blacks’ superiority in handling disappeared. For ton minutes play hovered more or less m midfield, and then, benefitting by a knock-on by one of the home hacks, they went away on the right once more, and Brown was able to run in with an unconverted try.

After this the game veered around in favor of Devon. Time and again they swept tho heavy New Zealand forwards off their feet, and only wonderful marking by the hacks, which effectively nipped in the hud any attempt at passing, prevented Devon from penetrating the defence. The first half pressure on Devon’s line was hardly to bo compared with that which the county exercised on their opponents during tho latter part of the game. The lingo crowd roared their encouragements, and the Devon men did their best to respond. il he fierce pace of Hu- opening half appeared to have left not the slightest mark, and the All Blacks had' to use all their best resources to keep them out.

It was during this period that one saw the brilliance of Nepia, the Maori full back of the visitors. He was like a rock. Scrum followed scrum in close proximity to the All Blacks' line, and both Nepia and Lucas were compelled to touch down to savo. It was Knapman who eventually brought them relief by being off-side at a five yards scrum a few minutes before the end, play going to the centre with the kick. There it remained until the final whistle went, leaving the All Blacks winners by the. comparatively narrow margin of 11 points (1 goal 3 trios) to nil. FINE WEATHER TEAM.

How much the rain meant to Heron it is impossible to estimate. The New Zealanders were certainly to be commiserated with upon the fact that the weather of the first half was not also the weather of the second. But it showed that at the present time, at any rate, they are a fine weather team, depending upon the speedy handling of their hacks to carry them through. The stress that had been laid upon the skill, weight and pace of then pack on Saturday’s form was hardly justified, for pack for pack Devon were more than their equals for the most part of the game. The county men heeled at least four out of eyo y s : x scrums, and in the loose, especially with the wet ball, they could give the All Blacks many points. With the ball dry, too. the Blacks’ hacks did r.ot prov:.tk those lightning attacking movements of the 1905 team though taken as a whole they were generally better than Devon’s who were not nearly fast enough. The men behind the Devon pack deserve every commendation for the r five defence, but . they failed to get their passing movements going as quickly as they might have done. . ■ But in fairness to both sides it is a little out of place to attempt any (pose criticism of the players. Iho All Blacks have obviously not found their,;-feet yet, whilst in the case of Devon some of the players had not only' not played together, bdlore, hut one or two had -not played in a serious game this season'. - Because of that fact the county s’de is deserving of additional congratulation. To a man they did extraordinnr.ilv well, and to attempt to individualiso would be invidious.