A FAMOUS TEAM.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 3710, 29 October 1927, Page 1

A FAMOUS TEAM.

UNBEATEN RECORD

ALL BLACKS OF 1924-25. SOME REMINISCENCES. .W. W. Wakefield, former captain of England on the Rugby field, in reminiscences of past seasons, gives some interesting views regarding the now famous 1924-25 New Zealand team, which was great, he states, because it pushed every opportunity to its furthest limit; Of the great match between England and New Zealand at Twickenham, the ex-captain of England states that it was a remarkable game, and he had determined before is started that the New Zealanders should not assert a moral superiority over his team. He thinks that it is not generally understood how many of the New Zealand team’s matches were won by the assertion of this moral supremacy, and as an instance, he mentions an incident in the match between the All Blacks and Hampshire. One of the Hampshire forwards had the ball when he was tackled hard by Irvine. Immediately Irvine, who was the aggressor, turned round and said, “\Vhat the devil are you doing? Can’t you leave go of me?” The Hampshire forward apologised. “All right,” said Irvine, “be more careful next time.” After the game Irvine mentioned the incident and said, “That forward’s no good. Fancy apologising for being tackled!”

Wakefield, writing to the “Evening News,” continues: This story shows the definite policy which the New Zealanders adopted of establishing wherever possible a mental superiority over their opponents; and there is no doubt that it could be very valuable in practice. As I knew this I made sure that before the English team went on the field they had definitely made up their minds not to be so treated. Moreover, we felt that we had everything to gain and nothing to lose, where-, as our opponents had their great unbeaten record at stake. THE THICK OF IT. The result was a very hectic ten minutes at the beginning of the game, when we were pitting our mentalities against theirs. After live minutes had passed, Tom Voyce, who had not previously played against them, rolled up his sleeves and said, “Come on, chaps. It’s getting good fun now. I didn’t know they went' as hard as this! and lie went into the thick of it with a crash. Here, I suppose,’ I must say something about that most unfortunate occurrence wheat one of the New Zealand team wa.s sent off the field by Mr. A. E. Freethey, who refereed the match. First and foremost there is no getting aay from the fact that Freethey had warned both sides three times, and it so happened that a New Zealander was the next offender, and thus had to pay the inevitable penalty. It might just as well have been an Englishman, though as I did not see the actual incident I can say nothing of the rights or wrongs of the case. In New Zealand, I am. told that it is sometimes the practice, when a man is sent off, for the captain of the opposing side to ask the referee to allow him to return to the field. 1 did not do this for most decidedly such a custom is unheard of in this country, and if a similar situation arose again I would certainly not intervene nor feel justified in so doing. Such action clearly undermines the authority of a referee, and it is the captain’s business to support a referee’s decision ,at all costs, whether he agrees with that decision or not. If this is done, a referee’s authority is gone, and it is one of the basic rules of Kmgby t.luit a referee’s decision is unalterable. SOME FINE TRIES. \ There were some fine movements, and 1 shall never forget the beautiful combination between 11. J. Kit-* termaster and ,R. H. HamiltoaiWicklcs, which resulted in a try by Kit.termaster for England, nor tlie extraordinary dash of Steel, th e New Zealand wing, when lie wen.t down the touch line, brushing off would-be ladders like flies. Another similar try was that of Maurice Brownlie, who was one of the greatest forwards I have ever played against. England started the game at a rare pace, and very soon V. G. Davies broke through in the centre and was almost over. Then came a dash by HamiltonWiekles, another by Gibson, and eventually, relying on my experience in the Loudon match, we wheeled the serum and went through for Cove-Smith to follow up and score.

From then on the New Zealanders played with great lire, and determination, and actually were

leading by 17 points to 3, twenty minutes after half-time. The game then swung round in our favour; several times Gibbs kicked ahead when the slightest luck in the bounce would have meant a penalty goal. S»on after that came 1 Kittcrniaster’s beautiful effort, which ended the scoring and left England beaten bv 17 points to 11. It was a great game, and the All Blacks undoubtedly won on their merits. GRIM DETERMINATION ■ Although I had opportunities of studying their tactics at close quarters, I must confess that J could learn little from them. My impress sion was that in this country we had plenty of players as clever and as well built as our visitors, but we lacked the final thrust which made them a great team. * . j They were great because they pushed every opportunity to its furthest limit, and because, as the result of! playing so much together, they had developed the instinct of combining in the most efficient way at the right moment. They were remarkably adaptable, for they won their matches in all sorts of playing conditions and against greatly varying types of players, but, above all, they .produced a stronger kind of game than ours. I noticed that same spirit of grim determination in the Dominion sides which took pari in the inter-ser-vices league at the end of the war, and I think there is no doubt that they take their Rugger more earnestly than we do in this country. BACKING UP. A feature of their game which cannot be overlooked was their wonderful backing up; no player ever broke away unattended, and no movement ever started which could not he carried on by man after man, with the result that their attacks were prolonged and concentrated, unlike the single-handed thrust which so often characterises English tactics. i A great deal has been said about their seven forwards and eight backs formation, but I do not think that won their games because of that formation, but because of the earnest spirit in which they played, their intensive hacking up, the care they took to keep in perfect training, and their unrivalled combination. In my opinion they would have won all their matches with whatever formation they chose to put into the field. GREAT PLAYERS. Their tour was undoubtedly a really great achievement, and they had with them some outstanding players. As, I have said, I thought Maurice Brownlie a magnificent forward in every phase of the game, and next to him came Jock Richardson, a fine player with a charming personality, for whom I have the most sincere admiration.

The directing intelligence of the ilhree-quarter line seemed to me to be M. F. Nichols, and his capacity too* swaying the direction of attack an d for discovering the weak points in file opposition’s defence was amaz’ing.

A. E. Cooke, also, was a fine attacking three-quarter with great speed off the mark, and J. Steel and K. S. 'Svenson were both unusually powerful runners on the wing. There- is one member of the team; however,, who deserves special mention in any record of the tour, and he is G. Nepia, the full-back. Ncpia took part in every match, and though I only saw him in action three times, he seemed to me the best full-back I have ever watched or played against since the war. Dan Drysdale, of Scotland, is a very good second, but Nopia’s exceptional physique gives him the first place. His perfect catching of the ball, his kicking, and‘his amazing power of breaking up a forward rush by whipping the ball off the ground and charging backwards into and through the oncoming forwards marked him out' as the player of a generation.