THE ALL BLACKS.

Hokitika Guardian, 6 February 1925, Page 4

THE ALL BLACKS.

MATCH AGAINST WALES. j THE DASH OF XEPIA. M i.-GREGOR A XT) COOKE “ WONDERFUL.”' ! The Sydney “ Sun’s” special correspondent writes about the Welsh international match:— | McGregor must have been a tired man after the Welsh match. Tlie .n----jtiiv to Xieliull.s throw some extra work bit him. Ilis tackling was som;thing to write borne about. Brit-li writers complain the Welsh wings didn’t get enough of the ball. M.- ; Gregor attended to that. In a gamo that was noted for mild manners, ha took everything that came his way, 1 big and liktie. ’The parting in b*s . hair was not quite straight at the cue of the match, but tlie Welsh hacks | must have known that someone on out side knew how to take ’em low.

Xopia is the popular idol of the crowd tis a rule. On tltis occasion l.c offended them greatly. A dribln.-ig rush approached hint. lie gathn-d the hall, crouched to the ground, and at a distance ol about a yard diie.t into the oncoming hunch ol ward-;. When the debris was cleared away two Welsh forwards—one the captwn were found lying about. On anot.io, occasion tlie 'wing-three-quarter approached, swinging the hall hack and foi-tli as if to' offer Xepia a dummy. Xepia hurled himsell body and soul at Aliy' Welshman The Welshman was found among the spectators in the ringside seats. He must have suspected that lie was hit by a motor-car. 1 *”n sure he will be able to tell his -hiblren’s 'children about his encounter with Xepia.

(’boke was a star of the first magnitude. He did some Wonderful things that dav, hut nothing finer than a dribbling rush. Wales' was putting on some pressure in the second spell. 'I he ball rolled on the muddy ground towards Cooke in a way that made it impossible' tor him to take it. He started to dribble in his own twentyfive, continued the movement through both llio forwards and backs right up to the Welsh twenty-live. Here ho overran the hall, came round, to kick it. from his opponents and went on. Here he was joined by Parker who got over, but was called back.

A VERY CANDID CRITIC. illy a Rugby 1 nleriiational.) Play In the All" Blacks match against Wales rail very much along the lines anticipated 'writes 1 A Rugby Into national” in the London “ Fvciu.ng News ”). There were no new lessons to be learned from the game, but theories already formed were emphasised i,..ire than ever. The contest demonstrated very clearly that it is a verygreat mistake to attempt to adopt the Xew Zealand formation ; also that il the All Blacks are to be beaten it will have to be by eight powerful forwards who can control the game throughout - especial I v in the seriimliiages. SKY LX FOR WARDS WEAKNESS. The upper hand in scrummages is particularly necessary in view ot the fact that captains may find it necessary, as Wetter did on Saturday, to take scrums instead of line-outs because a great proportion ol the All Blacks’ tries originate from line-outs. [Note:—When the bull goes in touch it belongs to the side opposite to that last touching it in the field of play, except when a player is forced into touch bv an opponent. The side ou|mng the ball may bring it into play either by a line-out or a serum ten yards from the touch line at the point where the ball went into touch.] The playing of seven iorwards against the All Blacks is, Lo my-mind. a sign of weakness, ft means that, the initiative inis been tnrown an ay, and that the intention is to be strong in defence rather than resourceful in attack. In short, it is playing into the hands of our clever visitors. MIXING IT. Turning from tactics and points of play, there were in Saturday’s match many undesirable incidents. 1 am afraid they appear in these days to he inseparable lroin matches in nliicli Wales is engaged.

In recent matches in which Wales has been beaten, undesirable incidents have been particularly noticeable. Very flagrant was the rough and even foul play against England last year. V ith an adverse score against them, the Welsh forwards proceeded to “ lay out ” English players in a distinctly deliberate manner. I have it Horn an authoritative source that the “laying out ” business was actually planned.

Very much the same thing happened last Saturday. Finding that they acre being beaten, the Welshmen began to phiy = rough and “mix it." It was very foolish of them, lor physically the All Blacks are bigger and stronger, and thev are not the type to tolerate the

" rough stull.’ Indeed, no side can he expected to take this sort of thing lying down, and so the game invariably becomes p kind of free fight when “laying out " is the order of the day. The referee, as a rule, is watching'the ball, and is to much occupied in the performance of his task to see what is happening several yards away.

The Welsh international sides are not as good as they used to he, and no one wants to be down on a side which has struck a had patch. But before any sympathy can he extended towards AA ales she must cut out deliberate fouling. Teams must lose—everyone cannot win. To he able to lose well is just as fine as winning and is the true test of sportsmanship.

blows and kicks. To try and win by deliberately laying out- the other side who are winning because of greater skill is contemptible, and not worthy of a country that has produced such wonderful international teams and players as Wales lias produced in tjie past. It is not to be denied that skill goes to the four winds when loulitig enters into a Rugby game. If the Welshman realised this they would concentrate on the development of the skill they have instead of making up their minds to render the other side hors de combat. There is all the difference in the world between hard play and foul play, hut Welsh international sides of to-day seem unable to appreciate it. There is no justification, when one is tackled hard or powerfully handed-off, for replying with a punch or a cowardly kick when the referee is looking the other way.

Hut blows nml kicks have been com-j non in matches in which Wales lias jeon engaged. A SPLENDID RECORD. A WONDEREI'L SIDE. ■■The New Zealanders depart from Wales leaving behind them a record of fine sportsmanship. They have shown their ability in take hard knocks, and what appear to he unfair decisions, without the slightest trace of ill-feel-ing.”—Tribute by E. T. .Morgan to the All Black team after the Llanelly game. Writing on the All Blacks’ win at Llanelly, E. T. .Morgan says“ The result was a true one, for in spile of a territorial advantage to Llanelly the All Blacks were always the more finished and dangerous side. The .Scarlets played the right game on this sticky ground with the slippery hall, and their opponents would have been well advised to have trusted more to tlieir feet than their hands. The All Blacks are not great dribblers, and time and again their efforts at handling broke down—mistakes which were quickly seized by the Llanuelly forwar.sd and backs, and turned to great advantage by close rushes and dribbling.” The All Blacks found a London champion in Brigadier-General R. .T. Kentish, who was director of physical training during the war. In a letter to the Press he rebukes some London critics and quotes the opinion of W. W. Wakefield, the English captain, after the first match against London Counties. W.nkefieTd said The All Blacks are a wonderful side, and T never enjoyed a game more than that nt Twickenham. I never came across any of that deliberate foul play about which the critics have had such a lot to say, neither did T observe any of those cases of deliberate obstruction. The game appealed to me as a healthy and vigorous contest between men who knew their game.' and I should like to see more of it in club football.

A FEW REMARKS. STEEL’S VIGOROUS PLAY. Writing on the match against the Londoners a critic says:— Steel’s play came in for a good deal of criticism from members of the press as well as spectators. The offences alleged against him were trpping and unfair charging, hut apparently the referee saw 'nothing in his play to warrant even a( caution. Pcrsofiially T saw nothing in the nature of a deliberate trip, hut two or three of his attempts to charge down the kick of the man in possession of the hall were, to say the least of it, badly timed and .night easily have been construed as deliberate and illegal charging of the man, rather than an attempt to block his kick. NVdoubt the state of the ground had a good deal to do with Steel’s •‘miscalculations,” hut it seemed to me that, if his object was merely to block kicks, he infused a good deal of unnecessarv vigour into his attempts which, though failing m their presumed object alwavs resulted in a heavy cannon into the kicker. As, however, the referee perceived no reason to inteivene, it is to he presumed that he accepted Steel’s much-criticised methods as legitimate under the rules of Rugby Shoving in the bark, however, is not Rmdiv football, and. 1 am sorry to sav" that two of the All Blacks were guilty of indulging in this particular offence on more than one occasion. Such little displays of temper arc if thev arc indulged m by a really contemptible in any class ot pi aver and become particularly so condonation of the calibre of the All Blacks.