THE SPRINGBOK WINS

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 377, 11 June 1928, Page 8

THE SPRINGBOK WINS

CLOSE on a quarter of a century ago, R. T. Gabe. the famous Welsh footballer . his classic remark about New Zealand football: "In my country, Rugby football is a business: in yours, it is a religion.’" A member of Bedell-Sievwright’s British team of 1&04. which tasted defeat against the Immediate forerunners of the famous 190-5 All Blacks. Gabe himself knew som--thing of the effectiveness of the distinctive New Zealand formatioi with forwards packing 2—3—2 an extra man playing on the fringe of the pack, and two five-eighths as the pivot of the attack when the ball came out from the scrum. From 1904 onwards, the progress of New Zealand football was one long triumph, broken only by the MVlsh defeat of 1905. when the Welshmen paid the All Blacks the compliment of altering their traditional formation to counter the Ail Black tactic-. One result of nearly 25 peers • i almost unbro-ker. sueoe-se- against -he best teams in the world has been to encourage the belief that the All Blacks were invincible. Not even the temporary cheek administered by the Springboks ; 1923. could shake tbe confidence of *he average New 21eaiander in the All Blac-ks. and the ------ . _ tom Britain in 1924 furnished the climax to this exuberant belief. Within the past week or two, however. New Zealand has had ample proof that there are equally brilliant exponents of her national game on tbe football map. In four matches in Africa, the All Blacks have been twice defeated- The victory of Transvaal on Saturday must remove any lingering doubts that the defeat at Capetown was in the nature of a “fluke:’ Saturday's win was clear-cut and decisive. It is on the cards that other defeats will come the way of the New Zealanders before the tour is over. We have already had a healthy shock to our Rugby pride tin many cases, almost an obsession), and it will not do any harm for New Zealand footballers and spectators to realise that there are others equally killed in what is after all only a game—a great game undoubtedly. hut still a game.