9 December 2008
Waiouru officers claimed supremacy recently when they won the hotly contested annual sporting event, the Waiouru Sword of Victory.
Since 2006 the sword has served as a trophy for the annual sporting battle between the Waiouru Officer’s Mess and the Waiouru Warrant Officers and Senior Non-Commissioned Officers Mess (WO/SNCO).
The sword was donated by LTCOL (Rtd) Steve Guiney in 2006 whilst he was the then Chief of Staff for the Headquarters Army Training Group. The sword was presented to LTCOL Guiney by an Afghani tribal leader as a gift, whilst he was deployed on operational service in Afghanistan.
This year the sword of victory was competed for over three sports, being cricket, female basketball and rugby.
The Waiouru officers won the 20 over cricket match in February by a convincing margin and so it was left to the basketball and rugby to decide the competition.
The women’s basketball was dominated by the officer’s team who by coincidence happened to have two NZDF and one army representative. After a demoralising first quarter the SNCOs managed to get into the game, but it was all in vain with the officers winning 42 - 18.
The annual grudge match with the oval ball started worryingly for the officers, having only 13 players with 10 minutes before kick off. Luckily the Junior Staff Officers course was able to oblige with a few ‘young shavers’ and the match kicked off under a typically balmy Waiouru sky.
With a mixture of field ranking officers and subalterns the team which could have be known as the Waiouru ‘under 85 kg class’ fronted up against a team of wily old SNCO’s who held a definite weight advantage in the forward pack.
The early stages of the game were played at a fast pace with the officers scoring two tries in the first ten minutes of the game. The SNCO’s then managed to keep the ball in their forward pack and came back into the game before half time with two tries of their own.
Halftime provided a good breather for both teams, and the second half started with the officers scoring another quick try. The game finished with the officers winning 44 - 19 and the Sword of Victory was returned to the Waiouru Officers Mess in a well spirited after match function.
The Waiouru officers look forward to the 2009 challenge and thank all participants, referees and supporters for their 2008 efforts.