Visiting British Army team beats Waiouru

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 14, Issue 687, 20 May 1997, Page 18

Visiting British Army team beats Waiouru

Selected from British soldiers based in Germany, the British Army Germany team is showing itself a force to be reckoned with on the rugby field in spite of

differences in style and speed. The 30 players are touring New Zealand and Fiji for 21 days, playing in Christchurch, Waiouru and

Linton against battalion and unit teams and in a 'test' match against the New Zealand Army team in Palmerston North. With the aim of building

up and exposing players to New Zealand-style rugby, the first and second teams have been mixed in the leadup games so that only one person who started the game in Christchurch was in the starting line-up on Friday in Waiouru. This led to a lack of cohesi veness among the touring team at times. The British Army Germany team played two games in Waiouru; the first on Friday against the Commander Army Training Group (ATG) XV which was made up of selected players from all units in ATG, and the second on Sunday against the Cordite XV comprising players from 1 6 Field Regiment and Queen Alexandra' s Mounted rifles (QAMR). The first minutes of Friday' s game were actionpacked with the Commander ATG XV scoring a ' try and conversion which was answered almost immediately by a try from the

British Army Germany team. The pace settled down and there was little further scoring until late in the first half when the Commander ATG XV team scored a converted try and a penalty kick. In reply, the British Army Germany team scored a try right on half time. Starting the second half with an almost new team, the British Army Germany players showed better combination and soon scored two tries, one of which was converted. Coming from behind, the Commander ATG XV evened the score with another converted try. Both teams scored again and the British Army Germany team were making a desperate bid for their sixth try as the whistle blew full time. The final score was 29-all. Jon Knighton of the Brit- * ish Forces Broadcasting Services commented that the British Army Germany team were "seeing the other

side of New Zealand rugby here in W aiouru. They were much tighter games than the one played in Christchurch." Sunday' s game drew a huge crowd of supporters from both 16 Field Regiment and QAMR to watch the Cordite XV play against the British Army Germany team, the first time a Cordite team has played an overseas team. With a team selected from both Waiouru and Linton-based soldiers, the commanding officer of QAMR Lieutenant Colonel Rhys Jones commented that "they have to rely on passion and a desire to play as they hadn't trained very much together." In a show of unity the British Army Germany team stood fast against the force of a very powerful joint-unit haka. In a very close match the British Army Germany team almost immediately

kicked a penalty and converted a try. This was countered by a try and conversion from the Cordite XV . The score was even at the begi nning of the second half and remained that way following converted tries by both teams. The final try from the British Army Germany team decided the match with the score at 25-20. Overall, the British Army Germany team were "happy with their results of a narrow loss in Christchurch and a draw and a win in Waiouru — at least we are going in the right direction," commented team manager Lieutenant Colonel (Rtd) Bill Butt. The British team has two further matches in New Zealand to play before heading off to Fiji, against the battalion team in Linton and thenthe 'test' match against the New Zealand Army team in Palmerston North on Saturday.