Army seeks business support to honour WWII rugby
Army seeks business support to honour WWII rugby heroes
To commemorate and honour the success of the New
Zealand Army rugby team that toured Great Britain and France
in 1945, a 60th anniversary commemoration tour to the United
Kingdom is being planned for 16 April - 06 May 2005.
NZ's Bob Scott kicking.
With the endorsement of the New
Zealand Rugby Union, the touring party is relying on
corporate sponsorship to go ahead and tour organisers are
still securing funds from the business community. So far,
Qantas, Radio Network, Nobilo Wine Group, Gilbert and
Fuelquip have sign ed on.
The sponsored touring
party includes both a women’s and men’s team and a number of
celebrated veterans from the legendary1945 Kiwis (including
Fred Allen, Bob Scott and Stan Young) and although the Army
cannot financially support the tour, the players have the
complete encouragement of the Chief of Army.
"While
their careers and military responsibilities always come
first, they have been given every support and opportunity to
develop their individual and team skills to the highest
level. While in some cases they will be up against
professional opposition the Army pocket usually produces
players and play that rises above an ordinary level. The
games verses the British Army sides, while not grudge
matches, will undoubtedly be intense and exciting
encounters", he says.
The 1945 team that the tour
honours consisted exclusively of New Zealand Soldiers who
came straight from the battlefields of WWII and went on to
win 29 of the 33 games they played.
Not only did they
draw huge crowds and admiration for their high level of
skill they were also credited for playing a pivotal role in
regenerating the game of rugby after the war.
16 of
the 31 team-members went on to All Black status.