THE ALL BLACKS

Hokitika Guardian, 18 December 1924, Page 3

THE ALL BLACKS

irsTUAntAN AND N.Z. P'.DLE ASSOCIATION. ENTERTAINED BY HIGH COMMISSIONER. LONDON. Dee. 17. Sir James and Lady Allen gave a reception and dance in honour of the All Blacks at the Great Central Hotel. Fifteen hundred guests were present, including most of the resident New Zealanders, officials of the Rugby Union. the captains of the Louden teams, and main* notable plavers. ANGELS OF RUGBY WORLD. LONDON. Dee. !(!. Prominent members oT the Olympic Association, with Lords Campden and Caledon, General Kentish and Mr 1 Inrmsworth, entertained several of the All Blacks at luncheon. General Kentish described the All Blacks “as the angels of the Rugby world.” Tliev behaved like angels on and off the field. Their extraordinary prowess amazed everybody. There had been overmuch criticism, and too little eulogy of their fine sitl'*. The All Blacks attracted thousands everywhere. They had not lost one iota of their fair name, which was worth all the victories in the world. Mr Dean (manager! said that he refused to reply to criticism. It would not benefit Rugby, and the least said the soonest mended. THE KING’S INTEREST. LONDON. l)ee. 17.

King George sat with Sir James Allen at Saturday’s match, at which Jlis Majesty revealed that he possessed a complete knowledge of Rugby. Ho picked out the individual All Bl."*ks. and was particularly taken with the physique and line play of Nepia.

HAM I’S HI RE DEFEATED. BY 22 POINTS TO 0. LONDON Decemher 17. The match resulted: All Blacks 22 Hampshire 0 GAME DESCRIBED. LONDON Deem her 17. The match between the New Zealanders and Hampshire was played on the Association ground at Portsmouth when there was a crowd of fifteen thousand which encroached within five yards of the lines. The New Zealand team was:—Nepia. Hart. Lucan, Svensoii. Cooke. McGregor. Mill. Parker. Irvine. Donald. Harvey, M. Brownlie. West, White and Cupples. The All Blacks lost, po time in penetrating Hampshire's territory, setting up a hot attack on the home team’s line right from Parker's kick off. Twice McGregor nullified tho All Blacks’ chances of scoring by dropping passes and it was not long before the Hampshire forwards spiritedly took up the challenge ami carried play on to the All Blacks' line. Twice Mill relieved critical situations h.v finding the line with long kicks. Then after these early exchanges of despera to attacks had died down, play became slower, mainly owing to the heaviness of the ground, anil resolved itself into a dour and dogged struggle between the packs of Jorwards. In the first half ol the spell Hampshire held their own, and in several attacking movements the old international half. Kershaw, was conspicuous. Once the international wing three quarter Hamilton Wickes. made a brilliant run. gaining mtieh ground, and till'll the Irish i ntenialional, Stephenson. similarly threatened to break through the New Zealand defence, hut Nepia was equal to the u-.Vc. Alter half an hour’s play Mill set tho New Zealand backs in motion and the ball went out to Svenson. who passed in to Donald and the All Black hooker got over. Nepia .failed to convert.

All Blacks •> Hampshire 3 Just before interval. Cooke and Parker figured in a brilliant dribbling rush and the former crowded a splendid effort which White 1 (inverted. The score at half time was All Blacks s Hampshire So far the play had not I ecu brilliant. as a whole, hut very hard find vc*i*v ' lose.

When play va. iv unci alter • !"' interval Hampshire set up l"<> valiant ni tacks an-l carried play right en l-» the New Zeniund line, hut alter a splendid encounter, they were repulsed and Cooke, breaking through with the bull at his toe dribbled fifty yards down the centre of the field, and ns a result of the advantage thus gained, .McGregor got over to score in a good position. White missed with the kick. All Blacks 11 Hampshire 0 The New Zealanders’ combination now began to assert itself mill Hampshire were compelled to piay a defensive game. Cooke narrowly missed drop-kicking a goal and Hampshire were next in danger when their forwards were penalised for iiiT-sidc play. Nep-ia kicking a magnificent goal, almost from tbe touch line. All Blacks M Hampshire 0 At this stage a heavy fog enveloped tbe ground mid it was exceedingly difficult to distinguish the players. The game continued to he fought on the Hampshire line, the All Blacks never letting up. Mill sent out a swift pass t„ Svcnson on the blind side of the serum and the Wellington three-quarter dashed over in the corner. Nepia faiiod with the kick. All Blacks 17 Hampshire Th" next score was the result of a delightful interchange of | asses bet ween Mill. McGregor and Svcnson. McGregor eventually scoring a try from which Nepia kicked an excellent goal.

All Blacks *■'- Hampshire ® Towards the close the fog increased in density and it became ultimately unite impossible to pick out the players. Several times- the hall was lost and play was momentarily held up. bor that reason there was no further score, the game ending AH Blacks - ? - Hampshire The All Blacks unfailing combination was the deciding factor of the game, hut Hampshire performed well individuallv. The visitors wore penalised only twice during the whole game. White who captained the AH Blacks retired in the closing stages owing to •\ rocurmi'v cjT hi* *lu>ubh'r trouble, after playing n magnificent game. Among others who were prominent were Donald. Cupples. Brownlie. C’ool; McGregor and Svcnson. In this match the All Blacks massed tb« aggregate ol COS points of the Ist. African team in 1900 and their record is now second only to their predecessors of 1905. RESULTS TO DATE. Following are the results to date (with scores of 1905 team for purposes of comparison) and matches to he played bv the All Blacks: 1924. 1905.

v. Devon 11—0 55—4 v. Cornwall ... 29—0 41-0 v. Somerset ... G—0 23-0 v. Gloucester ... G—0 44-0 v. Swansea ... 39—3 4-3 v. Newport. ... 13—10 G—3 v. Leicester ... 27—0 28—0 v. North Midlands ‘10—3 21-5 v. Cheshire ••• IS—o 34—0 v. Durham ... 43—7 1G—3 v. Yorkshire ••• 42—1 40-0 v. Lancashire ... 23—0 — v. Cumberland ... —41—0 — v. Ireland ... 6—0 1.5—0 v. Ulster ... 28—G — v Northumberland 27—4 31—0 v. Cambridge Uny. 5—0 14-0 v London Counties 31—G — v Oxford University 33—15 47—0 v. Cardiff ... 1G—S 10-8 v. Wales 10—0 0-3 v. Llanelly ... 8—3 — v East Midlands ... 31—7 — r Warwickshire ... 20—0 — v. United Services 25—3 — v. Hampshire ... 22—0