December 9 - 1926 New Zealand Maori at Limoges

From “Maori Rugby 1884-1979” by Arthur H Carman. Pub. 1980 by Sporting Publications. P. 219-222.

“At Limoges the team met a side representing Le Limousin and the surrounding provinces. The team proved to be one of the weakest the Maoris have met, while in addition the New Zealanders played fine rugby in the first spell, throwing the ball about in a delightful manner. During the second spell the Maoris took too many chances and played recklessly with the result that they added only 8 points to their half-time score while Le Limousin scored 7 points. The French team played willingly right to the end and did not for a moment become disheartened while the score was being piled up against them. They lacked knowledge of the finer points of the code however, and consequently did not make the best use of their opportunities.

Le Limousin at Limoges

Maori team: Phillips, Falwasser, Pelham, Grace, Mete, Wi Neera, Kingi, Bell (captain), Olsen, Dennis, Crawford, Wilson, Tatana, Matene, and Manihera. Crawford injured his ankle and was replaced at half-time by Haupapa.

Le Limousin team: Davidou, Silles, Ibarrando, Lescombe, Nouhaud, Vigerie, Levaud, Apcher (captain), Caen, Teddei, Castets, Lacaze, Reix, Luyet-Tanet and Delpy.

The Maoris attacked from the kick-off and after 10 minutes play Mete sent Crawford over for the first try. Matene failed to convert. 3-0. A good run by Matene opened the way for the next try, the ball going out to Pelharn who touched down behind the posts. Matene placed an easy goal, 8-0. Falwasser picked up near the twenty-five line and clapping on the pace evaded four players and scored behind the posts and Matene converted. 13-0. Pelharn was the next scorer but Matene failed this time and soon after Matene profited by the bad handling of the Limousin full-back and scored and converted. 21-0. Shortly before half-time Kingi threw out a pass to Falwasser and the wing again evaded the tackles and scored. Matene converted with a good kick and at half-time the score was 26-0.

Falwasser scored two further tries in the second spell. In the first case he fielded a penalty kick and ran down the line to score, and in the second he finished off a movement, after fully a dozen Maoris had handled, by scoring under the bar. Matene converted the second try and the score was 34-0. From this time however the Maoris played recklessly and made many mistakes in handling. Limousin profited by these errors and scored seven points. Lescombe potted a neat goal from a handy position and soon after good passing by the Limousin backs enabled Nouhaud, the best player in the French side, to score a well-earned try. The kick failed and the final score was

— Maoris 34, Le Limousin 7.”