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The All Blacks and their Irish foes take to the field in Wellington tomorrow with a bond stretching back 91 years to a decisive and costly battle of World War 1.
Three All Blacks were among the 700 Anzac and 498 Irish troops to die in the Battle of Messines in Belgium which began 91 years ago tomorrow on June 7, 1917.
Tomorrow the casualties will be remembered when the two teams run onto the field at Wellington's Westpac Stadium for a one-off test.
The Battle of Messines saw the British army set out to capture the strategic ridge between the town of Messines (Mesen) and nearby Wytschaete.
New Zealand troops captured Messines and the Irish troops took the village of Wytschaete.
The three All Blacks who died were hooker George Sellars, 31, an Auckland shipwright who played two tests, loose forward Jim McNeece, 31, from Invercargill who played five tests, and loose forward Reg Taylor, 28, from Taranaki, who played two tests.
Sellars died on June 7, Taylor died on June 20 and McNeece died on June 21. World War 1 claimed a total of 13 All Blacks.
Messines was a prelude to the much larger third Battle of Ypres, known as Passchendaele, which began on July 31, 1917. Two months later legendary All Blacks captain Dave Gallaher died of his wounds at Passchendaele.
Irish-born Gallaher was captain of the first team to be called the All Blacks and led the 1905 "Originals" on their tour of Britain and France.
In 2005 the All Blacks, led by captain Tana Umaga visited the Letterkenny Rugby Football Club for the unveiling of a memorial after the club named its ground the Dave Gallaher Memorial Park.
Messines was also the battle where Lance Corporal Samuel Frickleton became the 11th New Zealander to win the Victoria Cross.
His citation said he showed "magnificent courage"' when under heavy fire he wiped out two German machine-gun posts which were causing heavy casualties.
His actions undoubtedly saved his own and other units from heavy casualties, the citation said.
- NZPA
