The Dave Gallaher Rugby Tournament 2015

On 3 October 2015 the New Zealand Defence Force rugby team (now known as the “Defence Blacks”) will play a one-off match in the Dave Gallaher Rugby Tournament against the Belgium national team. The match will be held at the 1917 Memorial Museum Passchendaele in Zonnebeke, and kick-off is scheduled for 3.00 pm. Grounds open at 12.30 pm, and there is a curtain-raiser match between the Belgian women's team and the British Army women's team. 

As part of the Defence Blacks' commemorative tour in Europe, the team plays a French selection in Paris on 29 September, commemorating a match in 1917 where the NZ Division played a French military side in front of a crowd said to number 60,000 people. After the Dave Gallaher memorial match, the team goes to the United Kingdom for the International Defence Force Rugby World Cup (IDRC)

While in Europe the team will also take part in a number of services to acknowledge the sacrifice of 700 New Zealand soldiers who died in the 1917 Battle of Messines.

Download this event's order of service (PDF, 1.95 MB)