VERY HAPPY PARTY

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 524, 29 November 1928, Page 16

VERY HAPPY PARTY

ALL BLACKS IN AFRICA TEAM MANAGER’S REPORT Press Association WELLINGTON, To-day. The manager of the All Blacks team which toured South Africa, Mr. W. Hornig, presented his report to the Management Committee of the New Zealand Rugby Union last evening. Mr. S. S. Dean presided. Hard matches, coupled with very strenuous train travelling, were responsible for lack of form early in the tour, said Mr. Hornig, and it was several weeks before the team really showed anything like New Zealand form. Several of the team were very badly affected by the high altitude, bleeding at the nose and suffering in the lungs and throat. The slightest exertion made one feel tired. The All Blacks found the various teams very strong, particularly in t.h forwards, and with one or two exceptions, the best available team had to be fielded. The result was that some of the players were showing signs of staleness before the tour was completed. There was an epidemic of influenza among members of the team early in the tour. Hotel accommodation on the whole was excellent. Praise was given Mr. D. H. Magennis, the South African board’s representative who toured with the team. The grounds were not as hard as expected, most of them being well turfed and others being watered and softened. The tour in South Africa was treated as an affair of national importance. The conduct of the team, said the manager, was excellent from start to finish. The players were a very happy party. There was not the slightest sign of dissension among them. The team left Capetown on September 7, after travelling over 7,000 miles by train and nearly 2,000 by motor-car. Mr. Dean considered that Mr. Hornig was wrong when he stated that the conference between the New Zealand and English Unions in 1924 had been abortive. The New Zealand Union had a great deal to thank the English Union for. If it had any grievance it was against the Scottish and Irish Unions and the International Rugby Board. The motion to receive the report and thank the manager for it was carried. On the motion of Mr. Dean it was decided to thank the South African Board for the hospitality extended to the New Zealand team on the tour.