Rugby
Grant Fox looks back on his “frantic” tour with the Webb Ellis Cup
Rugby legend Grant Fox chaperoned the Webb Ellis Cup as DHL delivered it from the All Blacks in Auckland to the IRB in Dublin – through the former RWC-winning nations of Australia, South Africa and England. Back home and rested in Kiwi nation after his whirlwind, whistle-stop tour through five rugby-crazed nations, one of the game’s best fly-halves takes a look back at his days as a DHL courier.
Well I’ve been back in Auckland for a while and just now feel like I’m recovering from the jet lag. My body didn’t know which time zone it was in for a spell there. I guess it’s to be expected when you travel 25,000 kilometres in five days!
It took me a day to realise it, but I was a DHL courier, really.
The trip was unforgettable and it was a great honour to be DHL’s Rugby Ambassador – to have the opportunity to travel through the world’s greatest rugby nations and bring joy into people’s lives. It’s amazing what this little wee trophy can do to people. I means so much to countries like New Zealand and South Africa, who’s major sporting code is rugby.
It took me a day to realise it, but I was a DHL courier, really. DHL made the trip happen, I simply hand-carried old “Wiremu” – the nickname the All Blacks gave the Trophy when they won it in 2011. And that’s not meant to downplay the DHL couriers do – I have the utmost respect for these guys and gals who are constantly on the move. Believe me, it’s tiring!
It had been some 27 years since I held the Webb Ellis Cup in my hands – I really had forgotten how heavy it is. And it was a real treat to receive “the package” back at the very place that the All Blacks brought it home to New Zealand almost exactly two years ago to the day – and where I raised it with my teammates in 1987 – Eden Park!
The trip was frantic and tiring but unbelievably gratifying. I got the chance to see some of my old contemporaries – some old combatants from when I played the game. Much of the trip was all about reaching out to kids – the next generation of rugby players – and that’s just the way I like it. (Although I have to add that since my knee surgery, not to mention the fact that I’m not getting any younger, it’s basically impossible for me to keep up with them anymore.)
I ‘d like to close by saying something I said to people at every stop on the tour: on behalf of the game of Rugby, I say thank you to DHL for your support, your sponsorship. You know, an event like the Rugby World Cup cannot survive without sponsors. And DHL is a part of making it happen, not to mention helping the sport grow around the world through other sponsorships like the DHL Stormers in South Africa, the Harlequins F.C. in England and the British & Irish Lions tour.
So thank you DHL! You truly are Delivering Rugby to the World.
Grant Fox
Read my blog from the trip here:
Destination Dublin - New Zealand
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