The Champion Tour, which has taken South Africa by storm will be arriving in Johannesburg this week. The Champion Tour vehicle will arrive at Melrose Arch on Sunday afternoon (7 March), and will then head to the Trade Rote Mall in Lenasia on Monday. The vehicle will then stop over at Linden Hoer Skool on Tuesday before departing for the rest of the tour.
The Champion Tour was launched at the beginning of February where the vehicle began its cross country trip from Cape Town. The tour will end on 21 March in Durban after covering approximately 10 000km’s.
“Two of the main objectives of SARU are to promote and develop rugby in our country, and what better way to do it than to share the success of our teams with South Africans from the four corners of the country,” said SARU President, Oregan Hoskins.
“The 2009 season was an incredible one for South African rugby and we decided to take that success to the country, rather than leave the trophies sitting in a cabinet in Cape Town.”
Rugby fans will be able to see all of the trophies collected by Peter de Villiers’ Springboks in 2009: The Vodacom Tri-Nations trophy; the IRB Team of the Year Award; the Unity Cup for winning the Castle South Africa 2009 Lions Series; the Mandela Challenge Plate and the Freedom Cup. The Rugby World Cup – which South Africa currently holds – will also be on display.
In addition the IRB World Sevens Series trophy, won by Paul Treu’s Springbok Sevens team, and the Vodacom
Super 14 trophy, claimed by the Vodacom Bulls will also be on display.
Other iconic trophies such as the Absa Currie Cup and the SAA National Club Champs trophy have also been added to the tour to offer a once-in-a-lifetime experience for South African rugby followers.
This SARU initiative is aimed at displaying the nation’s rugby silverware to supporters across the country.
“It is very rare that supporters get to see even one of the trophies of rugby up close, let along all these trophies at the same time! This is such a wonderful idea, and we cannot wait”, excited Johannesburg residents said of the upcoming stop over in their province.
The 15m trailer was specially commissioned and built for the South African Rugby Union by Henred Fruehauf in Cape Town and was unveiled for the first time the day before the vehicle’s departure. Twelve trophies will be on display in specially constructed and secured cabinets, explaining the history of the trophies as well as the work of SARU.
The Champion Tour has been planned by SARU in conjunction with the 14 provinces and will visit schools and clubs across the country as well stopping off at shopping centres to share the magic of the 2009 season with a wide cross-section of supporters.
“We hope that the day that the great green ‘monster’ passed through some of the dorps and country towns on its route will live long in the memory of rugby supporters,” said Mr Hoskins.
Public and media can follow the Tour through regular updates and a tour diary from the road by accessing: www.sarugby.co.za
The Golden
Lions Rugby Union are now hosting the three days that the vehicle will be in the city. Be sure to make your way to one of the below events for a once in a lifetime experience.
