THE BRITISH RUGBY TEAM.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVI, Issue 192, 18 August 1904, Page 2

THE BRITISH RUGBY TEAM.

MATCH IN TARANAKI

PLAYF.D BEFORE THOUSANDS IN RAIN AND SLUSH.

A GREAT STRUGGLE.

GAME ENDS A DRAW—NO SCORE BEING REGISTERED.

•"A draw I"—" only a draw!" Such were the exclamations heard on all sides after the finish of yester-

displeasod with the exhibition, which in view of tho circumstances named, was surprisiiiigly interesting.

day's great and memorable match, in which the athletic Bona of TarattakL were arrayed against the pick of t Great Britain—footballers who have i corned for themselves a reputation 1 throughout the whole world by derouting everything they have encoun- j terud, with the exception of the se- { lect of New Zealanrl-i to whom th-jy hwd on Saturday to bow submission. J And, really* tliore was some justilication for these exclamatirons, tin- t gtd as they were with not a little disappointment, for, impartial critics must acknowledge, if ever a team deserved •« win, tlntt terim uildoiibt- \ wdly was Taraiiaki's of yesterday. 1 But we must not anticipate things. - Let us halt. jj A ItEt'UTATION AT STAKE. 'I lir saying thai great interest had ; bean and was manifested in the trial, of ytreagth between ISritain uivd Tai'a- ] I naki, we are employing no mere plat- - •tuide, Greater interest could not j lia.YO'b«o(i shown. Heallyi it was 5 stupendous ! The province was all. ] agog over the mutcii ; we could Buy.'j in fact, with eciiial truth; that the J interest o'f the whole colony was cen- i tred in it. l'or is it not a fact c that Taranaki is a province that has 1 not been beaten this lust two sea- 1 sons ? And is it. not a fact also that i its ill avers a nd the Aucklanders are ! the only ones that defeated Htod- ! dart's crack team of ISSS 7 Tnru- [ uaki was looked upon us possessing the strongest pruvincial team in tile colony, and tflierefore its chances of ; succuss' against the liritinhi'i's were! considered particularly gnod. Anil this opinion was strengthened by last Saturday's happenings, when it was ' proved beyond doubt t.hal the vis'it-1 1 ors had not as .much up their sleeve nB till had been led to suppose, or, 1 having it, had 110 opportunity of eun ploying it to ally material effect ! when pitted against men with dasili, resource ahd strength. And these' 1 attributes, it was commonly held,' Taraiiaki representatives possessed 1 ih equal—or almost equal, lo bo more Correct—proportion to the New J /.ealandors. A I'KDI'LE GOA'K MAD. , It has been said by cynicivi () b- 1 ;crvers, who look upon any form of iithh-tk'iMn as a medium fpr inis.[lending valuable force and time, j that i\ew Zealand has goii(o quite mad during tlie last couple of weeks since the advent of the iiritishers, having suboiidinitted every other i matter to football, an d though we I would not care to go so far as to 1 say tluit the cynics were right, it 1 must be conceded that a wave oi en- I lhusi a sm has swept over the jiopu- | lace, or the great majority of it,', and tho Taranaki people, noted as , they always have been for their keen , interest in football and for theii ' sue- j t •ess at the game, have not escaped . the wave. IIIOATiXU Til 10 " OLDK.ST , l-N'IIAIUTANT." < Yesterday, anil for a day or two ' past, the people (locked into New ] Plymouth—from the nortlh, from tlie south, Irum every lown ami hamlet. . ' within et sy distance. The trains j ;>n the Tuesday cvming were large .incl filled to overflowing. The trains , ne\t morning were tremeiudouKly long , and also lilled to their utinosl ca|>ac«ty. Tho 7.80 a.m. train leaving ' llawera started oil' with a full ; coniplonienit of piissenigers, and to j make room for the thousands lined up at the other stations large 1111111- , bcrs of extra carriages had to be , put on, and even with these great t numbers of excursionists had to be left behind until the next train. The towns seemo(l to have emptied them;elves. llawera was empty, Mana.ia —tlie home of tlie redoubtable Waimates—lvaponga, i'lltham, Stratford, inglewood, Wuitura, and all tliu other towns ol the province were the mine. And by tivelw o'clock New t'lymouth boro an unwonted appear- ' ■ance of animation, the main tlior- f oughfare'being; in places and at times 1 coinijletely blocked, so great was the congestion, it was a scene that 1 interesting person, the "oldest in- * habitant," says lias never had a pre- ' cedent. 1

Tllli (I A 111'} A tfOMVAIIIJ ONE. Forward for the nioSt part it naturally was, though the backs tossed the leather about a good deal, kicking uiul handling it with a skill that would have been considered excellent were the conditions opposite to what they actually werb. The local vanguards, the pride of the land of " milk and kunii-ikumi," acquitted J themselves with distinction, breaking tlirdugh their opposition time after, time, gettihg the ball iu the scrum, and in the line-outs; and geherally displaying the " devil " without which no forwards caii achieve any maimer of success. Still; we don't mean, to allinu that they had things illl their own way. To say that would he departing from the truth. For the Ilritishers played a sterling g'anie in the forward .department—ami I right through for that matter. Their forward play was a decided improvement on that shown by them in Wellington last Saturday. Perhaps it i was that tho conditions suited them better. Anyhow, they "got to it" gamely, and seemed to be quite at ■ home in tlie. mud; Their swift-niov-'ihg, alert and resourceful ciiain of I backs, however, did not get way mi 1 iiioie tlnn ohce ol' twice. The Tainnn-ki-iteS played li similar igame to that bf tlib ft ew Zealaliders. They entrusted the wingers, Guy and Thomas, wi' li the looking after thai, box of trick:i, Puslf, wilh his clever conl'ieie i Vile, and these two men did tlu.ir I work well, though the heavy ground ; was very much again.si iheiu. still , U>e ball went but frequently from' the scrums to the JJriU:.hw-s ; in regard to hooking the bull the amberattired players excelled. lil-NTKIt I'LAYS. At the last moment, it was decided Ito (day Hunter, who had been irou- , with his bad leg, instead 0 1' !•',t----«U1, and though in some respects it , was unfortunate that the chawe was , made ui the late hour it was " I here |;s no doubt bin that the mo , e was olle ill the right direction, lor it in 1 , n,'!i' n*" y Uml h ' t,llu tur- | pcdo-like p.iece 01 humanity that hui : li on, llaweiu had not been behind th. , scrum, the local team would not ! Wave put up tlie successful light, (hev ! in. Ihrough his inslriiintulality the 1 ai'anuki backs got on some maginihccnt rushes at times-rushes that seemed lor the nonce as if they would end in a score, which, once o'r twice, as a matter of fact, they nearly did. BACKS IfIXCEL THEMSELVES. The local back division, indeed, put in some yreaL Work, This was surprising, considering the quagmire in which tliey had to flounder. Their, kicking was capital, as was the Britisher,s—the line kicking indulged in by bo 111 sides was a feature of the !proceedings. Another feature was t lie a mazing way in which the Taranaki -backs handled the bull. No matter how the ball came at them—from the pack, ruck, punts from the opposite side, passes (long or short, quick or slow, high or low)—they took the oval cleanly and almost invariably disposed of it to good advantage. The Britishers, especially Bush, used the line frequently and successiully ; they punUd much moie than they did <m Saturday, when they mostly dropkicked. They also detailed men olf to do what was practically wing work. On s\tch a day and ground the innovation—to them— proved successful. "Only in such weather is your system of forwards any good," said Sivwright to the writer alter the match, "as they are able to slop on to the opposite backs who cannot handle tlie ball with any facility." 'I hitt is no doubt the reason why lii.s men adopted it on this occasion, and possibly lite knowledge of the foot with which (JallaJier on Satuixi'av smashed up tlie work of their halves irom his position on the wing may also have been a contributing lector. SO.MK EXCITING IXCIJUOXTS. Guy, who played magnificently, got away Iroin the line-out on one occasion, ami made a great dash fur tlie line, getting past everybody but the full, before meeting whom lie throw the ball over his shoulder, where it was snuppod up by Thomas, who, however, was not close enough up to receive it to make the beat use of the pass. Guy's run was very similar to Wallace sin the New Zealand jnatel/ and ended in a !,}«.• way—unsuccessfulJ,\. beioiT that, the same player, Guy, was responsible lor another good bit of play, in which Stalker and Abbott participated, the latter .Hist being up-endul when a try looked 1 witinn his grasp. Glenn just afterwards punted high, nmr following up, got on to the British full, who just saved his bacon by kickiug over the dead ball line. For the succeeding lew minutes the iieds had a sultry time of lit, registering three forces in almost as many minutes.

ADVENT Ol' TIIE KAIN. Hut tit mid-day the rain that had threatened on the northern- side of the lnouniain began to fall, and as Uie day wore on then- w<us no improvement ; in fact, the reverse was Mie oane-. Wien the teams drove up to tiie grounds thu rain was pretty steady, ami any hope that might have been entertained as to its clearing up was thoroughly dissiiKited. TIIE CHAMPIONS KXTEIt TIJJO ARENA.

On entering, the largo crowds covering the hillsides, and wlut had been patiently waiting for several hours, in the line and wet, mostly wet, cheered the two teams with considerable gusto. Arrayed in their war paint a number of natives (rom the surrounding- pahs\ under IWorere, a wellknown character, as soon as the iirit.ishers stepped on the ground, gave a stirring and pictu resujue welcome haka, which impressed the visitors not a little.

1 hell the llritishers took a hand, and it was at this period that the plucky, granite-limbed Hunter proved his inimejite worth. Eew men in New Xvaland could have done what he did. Even Harvey and Wood, the men behind Saturday's wonderful pack at Wellington, have not it in them to play the game he was called upon to play, " Hood 011 you, Jim]l|y,'.' yelled an urchin just behind the press gang, and the expression about, describes Uie feelings of those who had the |iJc.asnre of watching him getting down to Hie strung rushes of his opponents, putting in screw, heel, and straight kicks/ and collaring the übiquitous Hush and the cannon-like Llewellyn.

lly korry !" iV .soil of darkness said lo Sivwright, I ho Uritiuli captain, aft the latter shifted to another part, of the fioltl : "You're pinny kui rawa, lilu* ti Tap (Jap.) hut kahore you beat our Taranaki fellow ; him all right. Nana !" Anil subsequent events proved that the Maori was not far out in his calculakions. HKITON A(!AI\'ST iUUTOX. As wo paid at the outset, Tar.maki deserved to win. They had a decided advantage throughout. Not only an advantage, but several splendid chances oi' scoring, which, however, were not availed of. With no intention of disparaging the efforts of the Hritishers, who gave a tustc of i he Kind of metal they were made of, it cannot he said that the visitor?} were really dangerous on more than two or Olive occasions, when the superior,'defensive tactics of llio amber coloured men prevented their efforts from materialisimg. A UltOIWI) Volt " AU'DDJUO OAFS." The ground militaUMl against any brilliant exposition of the game. It was ili a terrible wtale. Pand had been |iut down to absorb the pools and solidify th(i mud, but after the Held had been, us*xl a little the slush and mud weiv considerable. In places it was live inches deep, and in no place wan it less than three inches. So those who did not see tlio match will havo an idea of the conditions under which tho was fought. Notwitlwtanding this great disadvantage, and (Juit it was raining continually during-, (die course of tho afternoon, there are h>\v who, as far as th« gaiue itself wus concerned, are

M'llu lil'St Spell WilK, oil (Ik- whole, CH'lllj contested, tho home ti'a in pel haps having tho advantage, 11101*0 particularly at thy latter end. The second liulf was bristling w j t j, incident. Till. speculators were kept ill a I'.oiiKl.iuiL state of exci loiiicnt. AO Wonder, lor (heir nirn " all Iml " did t1,, ; trick. The Yellows forced matters and kept t.lieir opponents on i •'<"• I winty lid minutes, cluring which Guy murte |vis ..ensiitional dasli .before alludwi to, Mil .lean ~s t .|, lu .p,. T | H ,„ Ah|)oU »u, ly shot over, or at least scorn! loi he aciually d.d cross the line IL liappenwl thus. Jlunter smuvd possession, sent It OH m Hie slipperv M... nul l, " transferred t u Abbott, al l lie, running us if old Ajrk hiiu•j "f u . dow ntt«Kla«ce, stivtchtrilhi ™<' of Juj? j! S f," 1 0n thu "Ut-of-bounce line. 'l"ln. , Britain cleared. (Mi Unit we.nt lip after Abbott grounded was deafening, loughUic had (Ikuvi, bl„o ( |, and the I 10 II J W its UItODHC. ! Kucceoding this „| WI . of work the ■ Klislimon goi lo , liammeiod at Taranaki's defence wilh vigour. but every i„ch tl«™l r'r%, ti "" ••hot through from the ~,r ki ~j (J Ma'.kerlumly. They swept everythiEjr ix'foro them. The full-buck

I work cut out ia defending their line,, ( : and after some rapid work off-side ■Milay gave the Yellows a free kick in | a dangerous position. All eyes turned on t",o kicker, Glasgow, and it wnfl thought that n score was curtain. OiK'o again, however, he show|ed thai his goal-kicking wan a thing lof other days, ami the l>all full • | short. The Hod backs fumbled, but got the leather shifted down the lield a bit, but the Amber and lllilckH j churgi-d ogai*'*, Mynott, <!losi ?ow, ami O'Sullivaji playing splendidly. The. attack was again staved < off by liusli, who, by a free . kick, R,nl. the hall whizzing along to tlio 4 liome Hag. The defence ol the 'lVanaki bucks resisted the o»s slaiight of the Hritish forwards, who were playing hard for a score, but L a slip by <mo of the local tliiveiiuarters let. the ball awuy to j Kookes. Is ho going to take it I aßk(uii some of those who had loudly - I -:oiidemiie<! the Tuknpa rep. 's ijiclus sioh ih the l >m. Next minute the r ball sailed away to thp toiucii-liiie, t makinig good ground all the way, -(the attack was slaved off, and the -jspeedy Tara-tvaki forwards shifted the rivcene of operations to their oppone ents' territory. In returning a long j kick of Hush's, I'ookes found the line near lirltaiiu'H fortress, arid , v lively attack was kept up until Harding lifted the oval high into the air, landing near the 25 Hag, and gplng out. lludh, Llewellyn and McKvidy h'tiluteil a passing rush, but sent Ihe ball almost straight across the lied without gilinitlg any great advantage. Kookcs collared llcEvedy after i.v had transferred to i!u»h, <ind the latler kicking over the line, 'IV amiki was forced agailv. In iheso few ininutcK the British team looked more dangerous than at any other portion of the game.

was tho only ono to moot. It was i an exciting momunt. Umbrellas were ' waved, people held their breath, 1 othc'Sß yelled out to the full extent of' their lung power. Would they get through? That was the question. The trio continued, and Stalker was now in tho van, and'the ball was u few feet only from the goal posts. The Jlritish full-back' rushes and he flops right on to the ball, and hugs it. The Yellows shake him, and try to got possession. But it is 110 go. The referee gives Tarauaki a free kicks I'lie excitement «t this was equally great. Thompson took the kick, which was an easy one, hut it was u dismal failure. There were not a few faint hearts in tiie crowd %when this sphndid chance of winning was> lost. There were a few other rallies, but they did not fructify. "TOll£jH SNAGS." Klvwright stated that (lie Taraliakites were tliti toughest snags lii.'t men have yet encountered on their tour. They played 4 he said, a great game, ami fully deserved the reputation they enjoyed of being the champions of the colony. In some respects they played better than the Kew Zealamlers at Wellington. A TIIOHOIKIII CAME.

It was a hard game, though not rough, good feeling characterising the pluy throughout. At about twenty minutes to call of time McJlinn, who had been doing some excellent work, met with an injury to his knee, the cartilage being displaced, and he had to ibe carried oil' the Held. The lou,s of his services made no appreciable difference to his side's phly, which was just as successful after the occurrence, the local nieh evidently feeiiiig that in order to win they would need to exert tlioir greatest efforts.

With the Tananaki team of their jilay there is nothihg to carp about. Hie forwards to a man proved themselves to be what tlbeir supp-oriers held, vi/.., toii-jiotcher.s. iMcM'inn and Wilson hooked tho ball almost all t ' f' uie I the line-out the latter rendered great service to his side. Glenn, the lock, never performed better m his life, which is saying a groat deal, in view of his success at Wellington on Saturday. O'Sullivan s sturdy figure was in front of everything, except the ball, all dav and in Thomas, GUy, Douglas and McKay lie had gotwl sup])orters. r J he latter more than justified his inclufi'ioii. p lbs ddhblillg powers were a great -help to his side ; his collaring \vi\9 deadly, ahd his following up iirst-raU*. Taranaki has never biin more faith'iully served than by him. Glasgow was an good form, being strong in tho attack, and broke right through frequently.

lOklng out, Taranaki played up vigorously, attd immensely pleased J t'ne hundreds of Buppbrters by slow- ■ ly gaining ground i,n u series of scrums, until Guy got away with t.h.' ball. -lust More ho was tackled he managed to rid himself of the 'ball, passing to Abbott, who whipped it on to Stalker, from whom it was being returned to Abbott when '-'ne wily Hush intercepted and saved his side from wihat appeared a sure score, the crowd applauding mightily. A vigorous exchange of kicks followed, and Mynott over-reaching, Kno';es was calleid on again. Eludilig (lie iilnible Red forwandß who -•lmrgi'd <lowti oti him. 111' made a i.trbug lim up tiiii field, n)KI the forsvauls t'.vh titnk up Iht game, McMihn and Thoiii a s bit-aking away, bul they were called Imck for a knock-on. They were determined, howexer, and xxith tlie assistance of Hunter, xvlio xvns playing really brilliant fo o tball, compelled the Britit'h full-back to force, Thomas showing i up we!! in tli>is piece of work. Britain kicked out, but the Taranaki men "came again," and tmo lleds were forced again a minute later, us the result of forward play. liesuniing, Taranaki was penalised ■or olt-flde play, and Ilobson kicked down the tield into touch. As tho result of a great forxvurd rush, hooded by Thomas and O'Sullix'-an, xvith McKa.v, Glasgow alvd Glaivn supportitig, the 'last named player got possession, kickod and bore down on the full-back, who was forced to kick over the doad-l'i'ne. Three forces in a few minutes made the British chances look anything Hut promising; and the success ex'Ukntly ",ad a rotifiiiff efl'ect on the Taranaki men. Axvuy tlu-y went again, o'Sullivan and Guy hunting in pairs, aiul 'lliiom a s and O'Sullivan viema with them, whilst Hunter and Mynott did somo pretty work. From a line-out in the visitors' ternitory, the ball was sent to Fookos, who kicked high across the line, and Britain forced again. Now the grout concourse of iieople grew frantically excitod. " They must score soon," said hundreds. Old nun and young craned their necks and shouted themselves bourse as Mynott stopped a long dribbling rush initiated by O'Brien and Thomson, following up this xvith a fine run again put the visitors at work defending t,heir line, l'lay hung at tliei 2i5 line for a while, until the Britons xvero awarded a free kick and relieved tho pressure. Guy renewed the attack, bursting his way through the visitors' vanguard with seemingly irresistible dasli, but lie xvns beautifully collared by Vile. Steadily the ball came uxvay now, scrum succeeding scrum, McMiirn hooking the ball xvith almost monotonous regularity, but tilers mis no open play. Llewelh n put a different complexion on nlTuirs by kicking out of bounds. Mynolt on the one side and Bush on the other now loomed largo in tho public eye, showing out ns tho most brilliant, the former, frustrating the attompts at back play of the visitors by appearing at most inopportune momenta—for them. J

Of the Taranaki backs, the sliiirn; star was Hunter. Fotikes was a complete success at full. lie made absolutely no mistake. XT-is kickim* wiwbrilliant and his' collaring suie. lily 110 It was never in better form] One Englishman remarked that lie was* the best live-eighth he ■ lind plavctl against in the colonies. A greater compliment to his prowess could not be uttered. Thomson did splendid work. His dash o u ciUn i warm admiration, fts also did bis kicking. Stalker, though i-ather nervous at lirst, played up to the best form, and quite justified Ids selection. No one vas disappointed wilh Abbott, win I lowed Ins lability t„ play as well ' » !t ilirty duy as oil a day chosen.

THE CONTESTING TEAMS. ! I..IUSAKI (AiuJht nn<l lilick.) 1 li. 1". I'ookes *r ' 11. 1). Tli .neon j/Mulkur IJ. X, Ab'-.olt H. Mjiiott J. IJnnt.T W ' A - fi "J J. Thomas J'" Glasgow \\\ iicK-ij' J- 0' ulliva.i w, Glenn It Dju s liu A. McMinu U. A. Wilson O , B. I. Sw nuoll A. llu nin,' 8. N. clo.lli-i It- W. I'llu-arili T. S. ltuvnn li. J. ltuil 4 »is 1). I], Trail y. JJobao ' T ' Vi,u I'. C. Dual, o'lirien Gate il wolly, Jlcveiy Sfuugcr-Luithcs linn m (Ho.l, W1.i1,., m,,,,;. WEIGHTS AND NUMIIEHS. L Taranaki. 10 Eookea 7 11 Thomson It)!l2 lii Stalker 10 7" 1? fi bljoLl ' 13 ' 4 II Mynott 114 JO Jlunter t< o W Guy ... ... y TlioinaH 127 7 Mcilinn Il]j2 (5 Wihson jjj i) O'Suliivan 7 4 Ulenn ... ' ... la ;„ J Douglas 13 j '■i Glasgow m o 1 McKay j;j ;j (V\erage neigilits : Hacks, J1.7 ; lorrf'ards .18.7 ; whole team, 12.5 Croat 11 l*i tain. I Swa.nilell .- ... jo .p 13 Harding j;j o <! CrowlhiT x;j ,| ■1 Edwards ... j-j u i £> llevan ~, 12.U ti Itogers jo y 7 '-IVuil I! 13 8 Dobson - py.4 9 Vile 10.7 ' , It) Bush 11.0 11 McEvedy J2.-1 .12 Llewellyn 10.(3 lil Oabe 12.10 11 O'llriea 12.1 l."> Stiangor-Lcathes ... 13.7 AvePn.no weights: Hacks, 11.11; forwards, 12.13 ; whole team, 12.6. THE I'LAY. in teeming ruin Harding kicked off 'or the British team, and .Mynott relui nod Hush, who kicked again to iMvnotl, and the latter sent, the ball out of touch just at half-way. In U,M line-out Wilson broke away, but play returned to centre, where a neruin was ioniietl. ' Who is to -jyet tlie hail ?" was thei (jnest'ion. Oown wc.nt tlie visitors, any order, first nian up lirst <lown i , whilst tho Vellows packed with system. CJlenu vnd O'Sullivaji through with tlie ball, aii/d »tint it out ol' touch in -Hritain's territory, but Llewellyn by a smart run and kick, transferred operations to the other t-m:l I the field, Turcuiufci being placed on the defen.sdve for lx time. It was only inomcntary, however, and the Yellow l'orwards in a de a <lash, iK'ing topped once more by liush, lifting >ut of touch, speculating at the rolling ivaU. jAleMinn was igivcn oH'-MKle-'ll mi-d-fu'ld, and from the penalty the ball was aguiin sent out of •My. The visitors were now attackin £ vigorously, the 'ball remaininjr near the home team's yands line. Mu.sh ran rou,nd u scrum as tlie ball shot out at the side, and lifU'd the. biill tf> Fooke.s l , the latter player punting out of touch. From the i throw-in the Yellow vanguard broke away with the bull at the, t„e, ami ; pic-kino; up sent U out to Mynott. who was re-called for hand-ball, an infriiißVinejit tlie locals were penalised, niul from a free kick bv YiU> Tai'fuiaki was forced.

I'ln.v was centred and forward tactics were employed for sonic time, until liiiHh screwed h kick well over tin' half-way mark. HunU'r, kicking well, once more took tlu- play into t.li»! vif:itors' ground, nnrt tlie "Tailback just had time to giet in his kick when the black jerseys npiiearod u hove him—lie was down, bitt hail sayed his sWle. (Ilenn, mid O'Sullivan, not heeding the whistle, played a little game agaiiiHt four Britishers, equally oblivious of the fact Hint the referee had ealli'd a truce on account of an 'nfriiinvment, and com pc-tli-il the Urdu lo tourh boliiml (lit' line. When the hall had come hack to (lie teams, these men cunie 011 a.gain, hut lluwli was t here, ami the rush was checked. Hard play followed. There were 110 '>eg pardons. ' It was no.iring half-time, and tire Yellows meant to score. Presently there wan an opportunity. Mi not t not the leather from Hunter, and kicked softly to l:t>a< his man. A try seemed the simplest thing m t| K > world, hut Stalker, playing o(T-siide, cut in, nnl Airanaki lost Hie advantage that they had so justly and the opportunity \va» gone. Hush kicked down the line, and the lmll went out. ,I„hL then the l>ell sounded half-time, without either side having scored.

From the kick-out tho ball wont to [Hush, and was transferred iqniick as la flash to McEvody, thence hack for Hush to make on<s of his darting rushes for the line, but Abboft inlorcepted and ran to half-way, where ho kicked out. When the ball r«mc* out again it went smartly to 8t«l!:M\ ttumce to Mynot.t, who executed a neat run and then passed to Hunter, who punt4xl high into tho official stand. Tke licds now bad all their.

This was somewhat unexpected, and the spectators commenced wondering what the next spell would bring torl.li. They were not displeased mo far with the looal men, and neither side seemed to have tired in the leasl. Thr recess was short, standing in (he damp anil muddy fersevs not he'ng conducive to tlie' players' comfort. During the spell it seomed that, a breeze was to mate its appearance in favour of tho Britishers, but It lasted only a few minutes.

The commencement of Uie second spell was i'larked with even more vigorous- play on 1 ho par t of the local forwards. who immediately placed, their opponents en the defensive. Safe as a wall tliey were t o o, scooping up the hall ami kicking toward the touch-line with unerring certain-, ty, though many of them got. a clott'acquaintance with a very wet ami soft Mother lOarth the next moment,, as the Turanakt men darted Inther and thither. 'I'l„. local backs 'delymg weather conditions* and the muddy state of tlw hall, commenced u passing' game, uathwius in. nmmng, and passing an though they were on tt line springy turf. The local t,vtu„ the attack ' I'® 0 r " Kh '"'Wing the 1,1 ' ""Wle tor tile coveted line. Onlv J7 1 '! and the crowd veill,s u dmiriiti. A s ,„ m come now. Hut i hj,. u , for a Knncl- , ' «mMle sotnidod akno k 0,,. amllu , | UK i to e o.ne l''"e'or i "" th<> J " K "'' H '' l "" lul v»na Mnait piece of work bv Ihewilv and Vile, thelatt,;- ~ n "i, g 1 full-back, anil charge ;:,m <•«<>">• ti* -w '■elf w„'i,.i, i ,7 '"''mitcMl hiinr«'.- in r" '" LCk "'»»' n I field" 1 ' UMI ''' UlSo<l ""Hie h. t k'T" 01,1 ' <">«! he . ' " Ciu - V|mll «lasw.w <•.11111 to l/is assistance. lie had Shortly afterwards „ u'; ! hV Hush envied to transfer the scene t'mi. to TnrannM's 2;",' for ilvlirst. in,,,. i„ S(< , rlj p ay by the attnckiiv/ fonvnids kept lu local mm l, usy for a whil^, • ri '"m»s, Guy and O'Sullivan amo»g tine forwards, and Hunter,

Mynott olid Abbott in ti» back division showing tftt 'best form. "Shove, rfnovu," and "foot, feet," yelled tho visitors' skipper, owl they shoved ' all they know." but there was 110 such tiling as panning the home toain in it# own quarters. Guj | and McKay come away, tho latter kicking high, and putting tJie Bed* once inoro on Iho dofensivo. Thomas and Guy took the ball dangerously near the line, but Stanger-1-rt'ntJ I ** relieved with tt well-judged kick. Once more tho same players [attacked, and tho excitement waaiitturise at th£ ball werft out noar thii cornel - (lag, (Jtiy having miss;*! it iij endeavouring to pick it from the mud. From a scrum near tile lino Douglas mode for tho goal, but was I giiassed. McKay, Glenn, ajid O'Suliivun, Myjiolt iukl Hunter, cam'e again and ngain, but tho defence of the Reds was unquestionably sound, and they used tho line with much liejlefit to themsolved, though they were mm bio t 0 got out of thelr owti territory, Hunter took tho ball —it came out <rt the scrums like clockwork and passed to Mynott, who sent it whirling across to Abbott, ami tho latter, taking it on'tfoe fly and gathering in, rouchod the line, but was thrown, out at the cornor flag. This brilliant pieco of play—for to lake a muddy ball with such certainty and to pass as Uio Taratiaki men were doing was nothing short of brilliant, resulted in llritain being forced.

Llewellyn showed prominently niter (lie ball had got roiling again, and siieculuting at a rolling ball, succeeded in gaining ground when another forward rush was In full swing. M.vnbtt caught, atxt kicked high to (ItiilH-, who put im a firto line kick, l''rom a lree kick Hush dropped a long one, and 'llhomas, after a smart piece of running, put in about the l)o»t lino-kick of tho (lay. Guy . broke away from a scrum, and, with Thomas, raced away from tiro pack. All thti yelling of tho crowd ceased for u moment, as this mar* vellous "bigMittlo" wing-forward gathered way amd ncared tho line. But such fortune its a score was denied, and Guy was grassed, but not until ho had put tho ball out of play. Taraiiaki renewed the attack, and the next incident of notje was a passing rush between Abbott, Fookes, Stalker and Tliomßon. After somo minutes of hard defensive work, the Hods were relieved by Hush, and play centred. The same player checked a big forward rush munl'dlateljr afterwards. The YolHnvs daphed ugttiii, urixi sooh had the British fullback lit trouble. Wilson and O'Hullivun tried t6 burst through tho ruck, but failed, the visitors meeting t.'.em at their ow'p glume. 'JVmporury relief was obtain- ; ed by Rusili kicking lijgli up the field but Mynott seized tho leather, dodged his mail and kickod into Britain's territory again. Hunter and Mynott were now doing splendid work, taking the ball smartly, and feeding their backs well, and the lair tier threw it about in a marvellous fashion, but could npt got over. At this stage McMiiln Kurt his krioo-eup, UKi had to lio carried from the field. With fourteen men, Taranaki played up even more, and Britain was orced again. The next BCirum saw the local backs away ugftin, but tho run was stopped by Vile. Then Guy got up again, and darted past ■evernl forwards, but Hutili intervened, and was in the act of {tossing when lie was towelled by Glasgow, Stalker, who was (fjowifig greatly improved form lit the second spell, I hen initiated a run in whldh Mytook part, but an intercepted |>oss liott, Abbott, Thomas and Thomson na'ikd the visitors to invade tl'ia local 23's. Tkon ensued some hard and fast play, the Rods playing all they knew for a score, but "Jimmy" Hunter got his men out of the difriculty by getting down to a rush, wriggling through and kicking out of touch. An ojit'ii rush again aduit l<-d the Reds into tiic Yellows' 25'.5, but Fookes relieved and the yellow vanguard sent the ball rattling back to the British territory, Guy :in«t O'Sullivan cont.Afving an excellent aliening of wliioli Hunter and Stalker availed themselves to the full, tho latter dribbling right up to the full-back, who fumbled, and only saved a More by deliberately lying on the ball in Mont of the posts. This piece of work nearly cost his : hido tho go mo, alroo kick being awarded. Despite tho state of the ground, which surely militated against successful place-kicking, tho spectators thought the result of this would place Taranaki in the lead, hut Thomson failed fo find the uprights, the hall lacking force and direction. Britain soranod to got a fresh vigour from somewhere, probably from the great relief they felt when tho kick failed, and TarannW had now to stave off an attack, O'Brien, Rogers, amd Trail playing up well, whilst Bush and McEvedy did yeoman work behind h > paek. This was tho first time that they looked ati all dangerous in theoccond spell, and people "held their breath for a time." In U» lint—ot<t play that followed the Reds more than held their own, and.made ground, though evei.v Inch was stubbornly contested. From a scrum Guy got away, but tho Briton* came again, and it seemed that Bootl•r or later uno of these Bcrum he.l- - must, shoot out or puss to the waiting Welshmen lined across tho lield. But o, little too much power gavo the ball to Fookes, who sent the ball out of touch. A liif; forward tussle, in whicJi Glusgow, inns and Glenn went prominent for the Yellows, enabled Guy to slip away, followed by Hunter uiid Mynott, the pujtter punting into touch. Ti«' local UiTwrtuarUTH took a hand and gavo the spectators a treat in u smart passing attuck, when a throw forward brongtrt them to a itaiidstill. A series of unsuccessful attacks on tho British position occupied the remainder of the spell, end tho ball was out of touch ne*r the Hods' twenty-five yards' flag ivhen the whistle sounded no-sMo, wilh no score on either side. Mr Mackio, of Wellington, gave Uie tfreatest satisfaction as referee. THE TEAMS ENTERTAINED. The teams were entertained' last night by tho Star Football Club at its annual social in Uie Theatre Royal. During the sup|>er recess Mr 10. Dockrill, president of the club, .extended a hearty welcome to tho | visitors, congratulating them () n th-ir successes, and on the. fipo display of football givwi that day i niler such dimdvantaigeous circumstances. In nu-ivtioninp the fact tliut a New Zealand team would visit the Old Country njext year, Mr lloi'.krill I'opod that the colonials would come home with tlio same pleasant recollections of tho Homeland us ho understood the English team k-urried with" them now.

At n later stage, Mr li. Cock, tho Mayor of New Plymouth, on behalf of t'-e Itupby I'nion, ami the public of Tamnaki, liade tho team farowell, ami in referring to thoffaino >f the afternoon regretted that it hurl ended in uncertainty. He wished that one team could have proved its superiority. After wishing t l, <e team all success and "Oad-spccd," his Worship once more hade them "adieu."

Mr Hedel-Sivright, captain of tho visitors, in his reply, thanked the people of Taranaki for the warm and hearty reception accorded them and ll'.e kind treatment shown hy ono p.ivl all during their stay. Such hospitality would long Ixi remembered, and he knew that every mon in tho team carried with him pleasant recollections of New I'lymouti') and its "TOple. In calling up this memory, Igp. 'I would remind them of a line, well-fought pumo of football, played as it ought to lx> played. ISItITIKH CAPTAIN INTERVIEWED. Mr P.nlell-RivwHght stntirl to a Daily News reporter lost nl<r\t that hi'Menm did not expect to win here, 'h'" hid been told everywhere of "''nrn.im l i's grand pack of forwards, ll" «,i., -.ui pris-.d Ixvyid.-',' mensure at the U'lenf hold the frame hat! on tjio public, pnd said t-he standard M was equal to that to Uie OW Country, twd (4»t a JfOTt Zanfrivt -

f : •• l£ra a" successful "tour I . The toafli they ' at New Plymouth was the r H**, that had yet toed them on this 'frin and he had not seen siuch foranywiero. They were »I>oUt equal to the New Zealand •" k Wl hich played last Saturday, ttPlst the backs handled the ball better amd displayed greater conUdence than the colony's rep. backs. ' He was unable, under the eircuuistanoea, to give an idea of whut the result might have been c® a dry ground, but took occasion i o ie- • taark that the Canterbury ground was infinitely worse. It was on .• these that he thought the wing-for- , ftard was a paying investment, not otherwise. Concluding, he said he yras cluu'niod with the colony,' and regretted t&at arrangements prccluU- , fcd his umking a longer stay. NOTES. Yesterday's railway excursion trai- ♦ fls was a record for New Flyiuouth. Gate • takings arc not available, but there is no need to call on th<> * yesterday had to negotiate mud six inches tdeep—and there was •only mud below tihat. ' To select the best player on the local side yesterday is a task left to the public. Bush was far superior jo the rest of the Britishers. Mr Syme must 'be congratulated on ths success of the team lie selected. Congratulations reached him on cv»i*y hand. The Town Band playod on the ground yesterday, the British team being greeted with strains of The Red, White and Blue." The public was remarkably well behaved yesterday. Liardet-street metal disappeared altogether, under about six inches of mud. • _____ ' - MANAWATU DEFEAT BtfLLER. PALMERSTON N„ August 17. Manawatu beat Buller by 11 points to 6. Buller played with : great dash in the early stages, put ting up two tries; but Manawatu responded and the first spell en Six all. Rain fell in tlio second spell, and converted the game into a mud scramble. Steele and Woods scored for the visitors.