Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1905. OUR STRUGGLE WITH WALES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 3612, 19 December 1905, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1905. OUR STRUGGLE WITH WALES.

Tin-; Rugby contest with Wales is over, and, after an unparallelled victorious tour of England, Scotland and Ireland, the New Zealand footballers were compelled to suffer the pangs of defeat at the hands of the Welshmen. It was a great game, and, according to the cabled report, the best team of the day undoubtedly won. It was not by a big margin, but by the smallest possible number of points. Still il counted a defeat, and Wales secured the ashes. We would have liked to have seen Cunningham and Smith, the two Aucklanders, included in New Zealand’s team of Saturday last, but slight accidents which must befall a touring team, prevented them from participating. However, we hope the burly Auckland lock and the fleet-footed three-quarter will bo included against the combined British team in January, and it ; may Ire within the bounds bility to expect^rffff"^Zealand to of the tour. Percy "Bush' was rig lit when he said defeat would come from Wales, and no one begrudges them their win, but we feel sure that it is the only victory that will be credited to the Welshmen, and though the Newport;' Cardiff and Swansea teams may be expected to put up noble games, still the vira, vigour and superiority of the colonials should account for all these clubs. Our cables would lead us to believe that Wales had adopted our scrumformation— 223,,3, 2 —and evidently with success. This argument should convince even Bedell-Sivwright that the wedgeshaped scrum should be adopted. It is estimated 40,000 spectators viewed the match on Saturday last, and they must have been a joyous crowd who witnessed the gallant Welshmen retrieve the laurels lost by England, Scotland, and Ireland during the past three months. All New Zealand will anxiously await the result of the concluding Welsh matches, the flrst of which is against Newport next Saturday.