Rugby World Cup 2019 goes to South Africa

For the third time, the Webb Ellis Cup – World Rugby’s top trophy named after the game’s inventor – was presented to the South African Springboks following their decisive 32-12 victory over England in the final of the Rugby World Cup 2019 in Yokohama, Japan on November 2. South Africa is now tied with New Zealand’s All Blacks for the most Rugby World Cup title wins.

Though heavily favored to win this year’s quadrennial championship, England proved to be no match for the South Africans before more than 72,000 fans in International Stadium Yokohama and millions of television viewers around the world. It was a rematch of the Rgby World Cup 2007 final in Paris, France that saw South Africa beating England 15-6.

Activations a huge success

Just ahead of the final game, DHL held a series of sporting activations in the fan zone of the stadium in Yokohama. These included games and activities that had proven wildly popular with rugby fans throughout the tournament, such as:  

• The customizable clapper banner station
• Rugby freestyler Daniel Cutting performing his amazing ball tricks for the crowd
• The Epic Delivery passing game that challenged fans to demonstrate their own accuracy, power and speed
• The Virtual Reality box stacker pro
• A photo van wall where people could re-enact scenes from the “Brighton Miracle”, the 2015 Rugby World Cup game in which Japan beat South Africa
• And our #EpicDelivery competition winner Kate Bennetta was also on hand to get into the spirit of things 

DHL delivers the match ball with Keito's help

For the grand finale, the official match ball was proudly carried onto the field by eight-year-old Keito Wattez from Japan. The young sports fan has been playing tennis and soccer since the age of three, and love to watch rugby, although he’s not permitted to play the rough and tumble game due to a heart defect discovered when he was only four years old. Still, he and his family were thrilled to learn that Keito was not only chosen to be a Match Ball Deliverer, but to be a star during the tournament’s decisive concluding match.

Hospitality, thy name is DHL

As was the case for the previous 48 qualifying matches played by 20 national rugby teams, VIP guests mingled with DHL ambassadors and rugby legends in a special private hospitality suite at the International Stadium Yokohama to enjoy the exciting final championship game.

(l-r) Phil Waugh (former Australian national player), John Pearson (CEO, DHL Express), Shotaro Onishi (former Japanese national rugby team member), Sir John Kirwan (New Zealand rugby coach and former player), Kotaro Matsushima, (Japanese national rugby team member) and Scott Hastings (former player on the Scottish national rugby union team).

Japan was the first Asian nation to host the Rugby World Cup tournament since its inception in 1987. Between September 20 and November 2, a total of 20 national teams from around the globe squared off at 12 venues across Japan. As Official Logistics Partner, DHL delivered everything the players required for their 48 qualifying matches; from their training kit and match uniforms to the rugby balls used in the tournament making sure that everything ran smoothly – behind the scenes and on the field – from start to finish.