Rugby

100 Days to Rugby World Cup 2015!

As the final countdown to Rugby World Cup 2015 kicked off with Prince Harry at Twickenham Stadium today, Official Logistics Partner DHL is preparing a massive behind-the-scenes effort to deliver this year’s biggest international sporting event.

It’s a key moment for Rugby fans around the world. The 100 days to go milestone. In just over three months, the world’s Rugby powerhouses will face each other at the sport’s pinnacle event. The milestone was celebrated at Twickenham Stadium as Prince Harry, Honorary President of England Rugby 2015, and Rugby World Cup 2003 winners Jonny Wilkinson and Will Greenwood launched the Rugby World Cup Trophy Tour.

Trophy Tour
The Trophy Tour will spend five days in Scotland, five days in Northern Ireland, five days in the Republic of Ireland, ten days in Wales and 75 days in England before arriving at the Opening Ceremony on September 18. It follows the successful international Trophy Tour, delivered in association with DHL, which brought the Webb Ellis Cup and Rugby excitement to fans in 15 countries. Find the full schedule here.

The Trophy Tour will spend five days in Scotland, five days in Northern Ireland, five days in the Republic of Ireland, ten days in Wales and 75 days in England before arriving at the Opening Ceremony on September 18.

Festival of Rugby 2015
Today also marks the start of the Festival of Rugby 2015 program which will run from June 10 – October 31 and gives events across the UK a way to join in and be part of Rugby's biggest year. The program, delivered in partnership with the RFU, enables any event with a connection to Rugby or Rugby theme to be part of a nationwide festival and is supported via www.festivalofrugby2015.com. Events started today across the country including a Tag Rugby Word Record attempt at Luton RFC, attended by England Women's World Cup winner Maggie Alphonsi. Find more on the Festival of Rugby 2015 here.

The logistics scrum
The logistics behind Rugby World Cup 2015 is a massive undertaking, which is why DHL was brought on board early – two years out to be exact. 

You could say that Rugby is part of DHL's DNA. The world’s leading logistics provider has wide-ranging Rugby partnerships from grassroots level to the professional game in some of the world’s most Rugby-crazed nations. After the huge success of RWC 2011 in New Zealand, it was only natural that DHL would line up again to help deliver the sport’s global showpiece to millions of enthralled fans around the world.

Mission critical
DHL is providing a comprehensive range of logistics services before, during and after the six-week Tournament, including handling the teams’ equipment, stadium infrastructure and fit out, volunteer uniforms and international ticket distribution, to name but a few. 

Items such as scrum machines, tackle bags, ice baths and balls all have to be moved across 88 team base locations, often overnight.

The company’s main job will be transporting the equipment for each of the 20 teams participating in RWC 2015 – a job that can be divided into two tasks: the international moves, which involve delivering each team’s kit – which average some four tons – from their home country to England and Wales; and the domestic moves, which include moving all of the team’s equipment in and around the various venues and team bases. Items such as scrum machines, tackle bags, ice baths and balls all have to be moved across 88 team base locations, often overnight.

Twenty teams, multiple training bases and 13 match venues equals an enormous organizational effort. DHL anticipates needing an average of two 18-ton vehicles per team to ensure everything can be moved according to the schedule. DHL will also supply each team with a kit van for the duration of the Tournament enabling them to shuttle smaller items to each venue and training location.

Great is in the detail
The challenges are certainly not foreign to DHL, which not only handled logistics at RWC 2011, but is also behind the scenes at a number of international sporting events, including Formula 1 and Formula E, the all-new fully electric race series. Meticulous planning has been the name of the game. Building on the learnings from 2011, DHL went right to work profiling the material they would be transporting and where they would be delivering it to. It’s extremely important to know weights, dimensions, and any nuances that might be easily overlooked.

With DHL and England 2015 going to this level of detail, Rugby World Cup 2015 is well set to deliver some of the greatest on pitch moments in rugby history.

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