RUGBY

Te Ao Hou, Spring 1954, Page 45

RUGBY There is no doubt that the Maori All Blacks were the major sporting attraction for Maoris last winter, and it is only proper that Te Ao Hou should mention something of their performances. All in all both phases of the tour—six games in New Zealand and eight in Fiji—were highly successful, and my hearty congratulations are extended to the players and management. Fiji in a remarkably short time has built up

an impressive record in international rugby, and I would very much like to see them offered a tour of the British isles and France. If such a tour could be arranged, Fiji would do well to consider ‘borrowing’ a manager-cum-coach from New Zealand. The ideal man would be Charlie Saxton of Otago, who did so much to weld the 1945 Kiwis into a devastating attacking machine. Although we Maoris are proud of our team which beat Fiji and beat all provincial sides but Auckland in its North Island tour, it is well not to allow enthusiasm to cloud our judgment. Wet weather in Fiji suited the Maoris, and the only test played on dry ground was won by the home team. There has been a suggestion that the Maoris should tour Britain in the next year or two. The last such tour was in 1926, in which only two tests were played—against Wales and France. This tour today was little publicised. Few people realise that it was an unqualified success, even though the team included very few players of international reputation. My friend Winston ‘Scotty’ McCarthy, in a recent broadcast, said that the 1924 Invincibles and the 1945 Kiwis were the only New Zealand teams to beat Cardiff on Cardiff Arms Park. I would draw his attention to the fact that the 1926 Maori team did so to the tune of 18–6. This side also beat Wales in a thrilling encounter. The thing which pleased me above all else in the 1954 Maori tour was the way our team came from well behind at Auckland to almost beat the New Zealand XV. It is a most depressing thing to be down 18–0 in the first half, and the way our team fought back shows the changing face of Maori football. I would not give too much credence to the querulous press report which suggested that the referee favoured the Maoris, although I suspect that the New Zealand pack may have let up a little. * * * The distinction of being the only Maori member of a 113-strong contingent of the New Zealand Boys' Brigade which left New Zealand in June to attend the international camp of the Boys' Brigade, near London, in August, belonged to a 17-year-old Maori schoolboy, Warren Te Waka, of Palmerston North. Warren was chosen to lead and train the contingent's haka party. Miss Moana Manley, the holder of several New Zealand swimming championships, who was selected as Miss New Zealand 1954 and was sent to California, with generous assistance from the Maori people, to compete in the Miss Universe contest.