There were penalties for picking the ball up, a crooked feed and foot up, the number of players however, remained at the discretion of the participating teams. The All Black’s had honed their scrummaging skills almost to perfection. Their success was due to their scrum formation and tactics, only seven New Zealand men packed down against the opposition’s eight but with careful manoeuvring they could engage their seven man shove against only half of the opposing pack, Gallaher in his post tour book called it a ‘wedge formation’. The rule of thumb for British teams was that the forwards packed down as they arrived at the scrummage in a 3 -2 - 3 formation. It was first to arrive was first to pack, a forward could find himself in the front row of the scrum and in the next the back row, the British scrum was haphazard. The All Blacks had a system whereby each man took the same place at each scrum according to his physical characteristics and skills. Some of the names of today’s scrummaging positions derive from ‘the orignals’ scrum. The front row comprised of two hookers, responsible for hooking the ball, then came a ‘lock’ in the second row, with two ‘side men’, two back row men completed the scrum. It’s ‘crowning glory’ was that the two hookers fought tooth and nail to gain the ‘loose head’, once gained, the wedge formation drove against one side of the opposition scrum, either pushing them off the ball or turning the scrum. The photograph below shows the Middlesex match, the nearside Middlesex front row forward has nothing to push against and is turned sideways while the ball is being channelled nicely to the waiting Roberts. The ball has been put into the scrum by Gallaher who is unsighted behind the scrum. Co-incidentally 2 of the Welsh forwards played in this match, Jack Williams and Arthur Harding, both London based Welshmen packed down against the New Zealand seven.

“A Scrummage, which can only take place in the field of play, is formed by one or more players from each side closing round the ball when it is on the ground, or by their closing up in readiness to allow the ball to be put on the ground between them”.

The foundation on which the All Blacks built their victories was the scrum. The rules at that time relating to the scrum were not complex, the laws of the day described it thus

The All Blacks arrived in Britain after 40 days aboard the SS Rimutaka. With nothing to do on board but play cards and train, the 'Originals' honed their rugby skills and tactics to perfection under coach Jimmy Duncan. Duncan was an All Black veteran, captain of the first ever All Black test side and an astute tactician. After a week finding their land legs in Newton Abbot, they were set to face England’s champion county Devon at Exeter. The critics suggested the ‘colonial’ team would struggle against the West countrymen but the All Blacks thumped Devon by 55 points to 4, Cornwall were next, then Bristol, Northampton & Leicester, in their first five matches the All Blacks scored 197 points with just 4 against. News soon spread of this fantastic team, the qualities of the All Black scrum, the fitness of the players and the role of the forwards, who unprecedented at the time even joined in passing movements with the backs. They blazed a trail through England, Scotland & Ireland, defeating clubs, counties and countries alike !

In the year 1905, the New Zealand 'colonial' team were the greatest team ever to visit the British Isles , they were 'The Originals'. Before arriving in Wales they were undefeated, having played 27 matches on tour, scored 801 points with just 32 points scored against. under their captain Gallaher, the team were dominant, earlier that year, they had beaten Australia 14-3, then on the tour Scotland 12-7, Ireland 15–0 and England 15–0 . Wales were unbeaten too, thrashing England 25-0, beating Scotland 6-3 and Ireland 10-3. So the scene was set, Triple Crown Wales against the all conquering All Blacks, a name they had earned on the tour, at Cardiff Arms Park. This was billed as the ‘Match of the Century’. the ‘World Championship’, the top two teams in the world head to head. The game lived up to expectations, it was the most controversial rugby match ever. The arguments rage and still do to this day. One thing is for certain Wales won the game 3 – 0 and were crowned the ‘unofficial champions of the world’.

The above formation shows the positioning of the players, by gaining the loose head with the two man front row formation, the All Blacks cancelled out the shove of 3 of the opposing pack's players, we have marked these players with red crosses.

The 16th December arrived, special trains had been laid on for spectators from afar, queues formed at the gates and once opened around 11.00 am the ground quickly filled, at 1.30 pm the gates were closed. Those inside sang and joked while the unfortunate locked out looked for trees to climb and other vantage points. At 2.20 pm the All Blacks took to the field followed a little later by the Welsh team, the crowd roar was almost deafening as Nicholls led his men onto the Park. The All Blacks performed their customary haka then unusually the Welsh team started to sing the national anthem, this was soon picked up by the crowd and soon the whole stadium reverberated to the sounds of ‘Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau’.

Gallaher’s men arrived in Cardiff to a tumultuous welcome, even though it was close to midnight, the train station was packed to the rafters with well wishers, likewise the streets, police had to force a path for the tourists to reach their hotel. There was rugby fever in the air.

The All Blacks continued their rout, prior to arriving in Cardiff, they had played 600 minutes of rugby without conceding a point, No team had scored a single point against them in the last 7 and a half matches. These included the defeats of both England and Ireland, both by the score of 15 - 0. This was a team on a roll. Gallaher’s men arrived in Cardiff to a tumultuous welcome, even though it was close to midnight, the train station was packed to the rafters with well wishers, likewise the streets, police had to force a path for the tourists to reach their hotel. There was rugby fever in the air.

The possibility that the All Blacks would be too strong for Wales made the Union sit up and take notice, the match committee were sent to Gloucester on October 19th to watch the visitors triumph 44-0 over the much fancied local team. The ‘colonials’ methods were noted and the Welshmen returned home to prepare for the big day. Two trials were held to find the 15 men with the task of defeating the tourists. The first on the 20th November saw several leading players missing, the favoured XV 'the Probables played with the New Zealand seven formation and were beaten 18 points to 9. The second trial took place on December 2nd only two weeks prior to the match, this time the 'Probables' won 33 points to 11, still experimenting with the All Black scrum formation. The Thursday (7 December) following this trial 13 of the selected players took part in a training session under the direction of scrum half Dicky Owen, this session concentrated mostly on the backs and in all probability was where the move that led to the try was practised. The second session on the following Tuesday, December 12th was dedicated to drop kicking and the scrum, 'Old Stager' the leading journalist of the day hinted to his readers that something new was in the offing. The Welsh public would have to wait until Saturday to find out what.

The All Blacks backed up the scrum with mobile forwards that received and gave passes, winning the majority of the ball the tourists run riot with opposition defences sometimes running the ball from their own line, unheard of in the early 1900s. They had superior fitness, skills and tactical awareness which meant they were untouchable in the early part of the tour.

Hodges kicked off for Wales and finally the match was underway and the question of who was the ‘greatest’ would soon be answered. Play was hard, Seeling made a burst upfield, he was brought down and a scrum given. The All Blacks formed up and expected the usual seven against eight. The Welsh had however done their homework and were forming their scrum differently with seven men instead of the normal eight and unusually there were four men in the front row. Only the middle two Welsh players made ready to engage the All Black hookers and as the front rows met the outside Welshman engaged the scrum, while the surplus player on the other side retired into the second row. The men in scarlet had outwitted the All Blacks, stolen the loose head and would continue to do so for the rest of the afternoon.

Wales is the only portion of the United Kingdom in which Rugby Union football is the national game (as it is in New Zealand), and it would be a kind of poetic justice if the victorious progress of the New Zealand team were checked at Cardiff to-day. But, to judge by the indifferent exhibition of the Welsh three-quarters on the Rectory Field last week, the defeat of the visitors is an unthinkable contingency. The famous three-quarter line has aged somewhat since I saw it a year ago, the effect of the efflux of time being most obvious in the case of and no longer possesses that instinct for position which, in the Rugby game, is always the prerogative of youth. Formerly he was the soul of his line of offence and defence, which, now that he has fallen into the ruck of international three-quarters, is a machine rather than an organism. Again and again last Saturday the Welsh back-play merely transferred the ball straight across the field, and the co-operation between the centre three-quarters - a Welsh device comparable at times in its results with the ''three insides'' combination in the Association game- was just a little too slow to be effective. It is a pity that the Welsh authorities had not the courage either to adhere to their own formation in choosing the 15 against New Zealand or to adopt that of the visitors. A ''flying'' back, even if he labours as lustily as he did the brilliantly eccentric Raphael in the New Zealand V. England match, cannot be a part of the combination in attack- for nobody knows where a pass will find him- and is a source of confusion even if his spoiling tactics are successful. This year the Welsh forwards are not as good as they were in 1904-5-time has stolen the dash from two or three of the best-and the missing eighth man is likely to be badly missed before the Cardiff game comes to its conclusion in the inevitable defeat Wales. None of the Welsh club teams, to take a line through the achievements of Gloucester, Devonport Albion, and Bristol, has the faintest chance of scoring a victory, and the only consolation for the players of Rugby Union in this country will be found in the inability of the ''silver fern'' to score a full thousand points in the course of their tour.

The New Zealanders make their first appearance before a Welsh crowd, at Cardiff, this afternoon, when they will be opposed in the last of their representative games by Wales. The match is being eagerly looked forward to and, although the Cardiff Arms-park can accommodate 40,000 people, it is estimated that almost double that number of spectators will want to witness the game. The sides will be:- (teams as selected listed here)