The Moascar Cup

By Steve Brown | Posted: Friday June 21, 2024

On Saturday our 1st XV will take on rivals Southland Boys' High School, down in Invercargill, as part of the Otago Secondary Schools Division one rugby competition.

This fixture will have the added incentive as it's a challenge for the prestigious Moascar Cup - which was won by Southland BHS last year at the Top 4 competition.

Otago Boys' High School has never held this trophy, so history could be created on Saturday. We wish the 1st XV all the best for this match.

 The Moascar Cup is the oldest and most prestigious trophy in NZ School Rugby. It dates back to the end of World War One, when British, New Zealand and Australian soldiers camped at Moascar in Ismaila, Egypt and formed the Ismaila Rugby Union as they waited for ships to take them home. A Cup was organised, and mounted on a piece of wooden propeller from a shot down German aircraft. The New Zealand Mounted Rifles Unit and Depot won the competition, losing just one of their ten matches. The Moascar Cup came home and was given to the New Zealand Rugby Union to be used as a challenge trophy for secondary schools. Over 100 years on from the end of the war, it has become one of the most coveted prizes in First XV rugby.