gain ground kicking into a strong wind and, after 25 minutes, Swansea scored a try through Fred Scrine that was unconverted. The half finished 3–0 to Swansea. The All Blacks playing with the wind to their backs nearly scored a try to McGregor but he was ruled to have stepped out. However, soon after, Wallace gained possession and ran towards Swansea's 25-yard line before kicking a drop-goal in the strong wind to give the All Blacks a 4–3 lead. The All Blacks then kept forcing Swansea back with kick after kick for the next 15 minutes to win the match 4–3. The loss to Wales and the fact that they had only narrowly avoided losing to all of the Welsh club teams confirmed Wales as the pre-eminent rugby force of this era. France and North America The All Blacks travelled to Paris on New Year's Eve and on 1 January faced France at Parc des Princes. The match was France's first Test ever. French captain Henri Amand gave the All Blacks choice of ends and the kick off. Although the All Blacks dominated, France scored a try to Noel Cessieux in the first half; the half ended 18–3 to the All Blacks. Georges Jérôme then scored for France after the break to make it 18–8 for the All Blacks. The All Blacks ended up scoring another six tries for a total of ten, and a 38–8 win. The eight points, and two tries scored by France were as many as any team in the British Isles had against the All Blacks. After spending several days sight seeing around Paris, the All Blacks returned to London. Instead of returning to New Zealand directly, they discovered that New Zealand Prime Minister Richard Seddon had organised for the team to travel home via the United States. Although the team wanted to return home immediately, Seddon insisted. The All Blacks had two weeks before they departed. Many of them stayed with friends or relatives, while Stead and Gallaher wrote The Complete Rugby Footballer. The team reassembled on 19 January and were farewelled by a dinner with the London New Zealand Society before departing Southampton on the SS New York the next day. After arriving in New York City, they stayed for several days and an exhibition game was organised. The match was played in Brooklyn and was supposed to be New Zealand versus New