30: Oxford students provide timely challenge
Oxford University was always going to be a unique challenge for the side and a handy preliminary as the 1924-25 All Blacks built toward the first mission of their tour – beating Wales.
Many of the side were acquainted with one of Oxford's three-quarters, centre George Aitken, the two-Test All Black captain in the 1921 series against South Africa. Soon after that tour, Aitken took up a Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford and found himself among some outstanding rugby talent.
Australians R.L. 'Pup' Raymond, a fullback, who toured New Zealand with New South Wales in 1921 and wing [on his return to Australia he played in the five-eighths]A.C. 'Johnnie' Wallace[1], were in the side along with Scottish internationals, G.P.S. 'Phil' Macpherson, a man who would be regarded in 2001 as Scotland's greatest attacking player and who was selected on the wing in Scotland's greatest XV, England wing R.P. 'Jake' Jacob and the outstanding first five-eighths H.J. Kiltermaster, who played for England against the side, gave Oxford a competitive backline.
Mark Nicholls said the Oxford backline was 'easily the best' they met on tour, and the All Blacks were hard at it from the start of the game until the finish. Nicholls acknowledged the quality of the opposition and said they scored the try of the game.
There were many sparkling incidents in this match, but perhaps the gem was the try scored by Johnnie Wallace. We made a back attack down the left wing, and Allan Robilliard was brought down right on the goal line. We thought he had scored. However, Raymond, picking up the ball, tore down the line, and several of us rushed across to cut him off. He brushed off one tackle and ran down to Nepia before passing infield to Wallace, who ran to the twenty-five-yard line, where he dropped to a jog-trot before he scored. We had long before this given up the chase, and when Wallace crossed our line, he was fully forty-five yards away from the nearest All Black player. Wallace was not by any means the only exhausted player on the field. I cannot remember a game in which such phenomenal speed was maintained over the full period of play.[2]
The start of the game was so fast that players were near exhaustion after 10 minutes. Oxford claimed the first try after a mis-kick by Cooke under pressure saw the ball drop into no-man's land for Jacobs to score an easy try. That caused the All Blacks to buckle down to their respective tasks. Oxford proved handy in the scrums, and the All Blacks resorted to trying to gain dominance in rucks and lineouts. Nicholls dropped one of his less memorable goals before a quick throw-in by wing Jack Steel to Son White, who scored, gave the New Zealanders the lead.
We had now recovered and had a good grip on the game, although the speed and cleverness of the Oxford backs did not allow us to ease up. Our forwards were throwing everything they had into the fray and were breaking even in all phases of the play except the scrummage. Although our backs had had numerous opportunities, we could not outwit the splendid defence of Macpherson and company, so Cooke and I decided upon a ruse to break through. From a scrum, we obtained possession, and on McGregor receiving, he passed to me quickly, and I ran straight at Macpherson, and on his tackling me low, I threw the ball out to Cooke, who had run up just inside his vis-à-vis and was by this time just past him. Bert took the ball and, catching the forwards on their wrong foot, sidestepped four of five of them to score under the posts.[3]
Members of the All Blacks and Oxford teams share a team photograph before their game. (NZ Rugby Museum)
George Nepia had plenty of work to do on the day, especially as Oxford clawed back to be 15-19 down. But at that stage, the stamina built up on the tour came into effect, and New Zealand was able to finish better and win 33-16.
Right from the kick-off, they assumed the offensive, beating our attack with counter-attack, till towards the closing stages, our fitness turned the scale, our greater weight in the scrum and heavier backs told their tale, and we won. The score of 33 points to 16 in no sense represents the run of the game territorially. I had more tackling to do that match than in any other of the tour, not because our backs were weak in defence – far from it – but simply because the Oxford three-quarter-line was always contriving to outwit them and by speedy combination get through…From the point of view of really good football, the game was the best of the tour.[4]
Col. Philip Trevor said the game extended his opinion of the side.[5] They were never beaten and always had a change of plan available. They changed so easily it could look as if that was the plan they had intended from the start. Even the best of sides would find itself up against it when the All Blacks could play as they did against Oxford.
You can convict them of technical mistakes, and no doubt rightly so, but they have speed, dash, determination, and infinite resource, and because they have kept on winning.[6]
Another view said,
Oxford University, though the figures read badly, actually had more of the game than their opponents, their fast and brilliant three-quarters proving altogether too good for the tourists, whose defence was pierced again and again. Had not the Dark Blues on three distinct occasions beaten themselves after defeating the opposition, the University might very well have on, for more than a dozen of the points against them were scored in the last ten minutes.[7]
Some sections of the media were still firing barbs at the All Blacks from the London Counties game earlier in the week. The latest of their concerns was the All Blacks' sportsmanship or apparent lack of it. While presenting an outer silence to the claims, the All Blacks were resentful and couldn't understand the charges against them, especially their petty nature.
One writer for the Evening Standard said London Counties' loss was due to one thing only: the All Blacks' superiority in every phase of the game.
Why not admit it frankly instead of endeavouring to find fault, as many critics have done? My experience of the New Zealanders as opponents extends over a long period of years. I have played against All Black fifteens many times, both in Australia and New Zealand. Never once have I seen the slightest trace of unfair or illegal tactics. That the New Zealanders play a hard game with no 'beg pardons' in it – a virile and robust 'all out' from the first whistle to the last – is a commonplace of Rugby knowledge. When they tackle a man, they put him down good and hard; when their forwards come down the field with the ball at their toes, they take some stopping. That they are immune from occasional departures from the strict spirit of the game when the blood is hot, and the battle fierce is, of course, no more true of these very human and very likeable athletes than it is of any other first-class club or international side.[8]
Scorers: Oxford University 15 (R.P. Jacob, G.P.S. Macpherson, A.C. Wallace tries; W.V. Berkeley 3 con) New Zealand 33 (Alan Robilliard, 'Son' White, Jack Steel, Bert Cooke, Maurice Brownlie tries; Mark Nicholls 5 con, 2 dropped goals). HT: 10-14. Referee, A.E. Freethy, NZ touch judge, L. Simpson.
Continuing their progress against consistently strong sides, the All Blacks had to deal with a determined Cardiff pack in their final game before the Wales Test.
It wasn't an especially memorable game, but the Cardiff forwards made their presence felt. Mark Nicholls commented that their win was achieved by the All Blacks enjoying the best of the run of play. But, they made the most of their chances as they came. For much of the match, on either side of halftime, they had to play without 'Son' White, who left the field after being knocked out. That saw Cliff Porter go into the forward pack in his place before White returned later in the game.
Halfback Bill Dalley said it was the worst game of football he had ever seen. That was down to the referee allowing too much offside play around scrums.
Whether it was wishful thinking on Dai Gent's part or not, he detected the All Blacks were getting stale, feeling the forwards lacked their usual finish. That was in contrast to The Times' report, which claimed the forwards were more dangerous than the backs. Again, New Zealand took Parker from the pack and used Porter in his place to display his capacity for more traditional forward play. He was also on hand, early in the second half, to field a centre-kick from Parker and score. Earlier, Jock Richardson's long pass saw Fred Lucas dive over in the corner to be followed almost immediately by 'Son' White being on the end of a passing movement among the forwards to score.
Col. Trevor even claimed the backs were happy not to attempt their combined moments in the second half, leaving the forwards to hold the fort. They had let their sharpest weapon rust. Others felt that Cardiff's backs' impotency meant the All Blacks were not too concerned.
Ron Barr felt the All Blacks were reserving their strength for the Test that followed. 'Ginger' Nicholls felt the referee, Capt. A.S. Burge was too lenient on Cardiff's offside play, and his display was 'simply atrocious.' Arthur Carman said the crowd resented the referee's attempts to penalise W.J. Delahy and Con O'Leary for their frequent infringements, so he just let them continue.
However, Nicholls felt White was in outstanding form.
White is a wonderful player; his footwork is great, and, combined with exceptional pace for a forward, he rattles the opposing backs and is good in following up. Porter is not displaying his Wellington form at all; he has a big job looking after his team and is handicapped with a bad knee, which has been developed on the tour.[9]
Next was the moment the tourists had been waiting for, paying back Wales for the 1905-06 'defeat' of the Originals.
Scorers: Cardiff 8 (W.J. Delahay try; T. Wallace con, pen) New Zealand 16 (Fred Lucas, 'Son' White, Cliff Porter tries; Mark Nicholls 2 con, pen). HT: 0-11. Referee, Captain A.S. Burge, NZ touch judge, Jack Steel.
NEXT ISSUE: Retribution achieved
Clarification: Earlier in the series there was a report the side was to be chosen from single men only. However, three married men were included, Mark Nicholls, Jim Parker and Gus Hart.
[1] A.C. 'Johnnie' Wallace, played for New South Wales in 1920-21 before taking up a Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford. While at Oxford, he played nine Tests for Scotland. Returning to Australia, he continued to play for New South Wales, effectively the Australian Test side after the collapse of Queensland rugby, and was captain of the famous Waratahs side that tour Britain, France and Canada.
[2] Mark Nicholls, Weekly News, 4 September 1935
[3] Nicholls ibid
[4] George Nepia, NZ Truth, 4 November 1936
[5] Col. Philip Trevor, Daily Telegraph, 21 November 1924
[6] ibid
[7] F.S. Sellicks, The Cricketer, January 1925
[8] J.H., Rugby Correspondent, Evening Standard, 22 November 1924
[9] ibid