The dynamic duo of James Owens (Hong Kong) and Ron Rutland (South Africa) arrived in Japan this week, completing the bulk of their epic Race to RWC bicycle ride from London. The pair will deliver the whistle to be used at the opening of the RWC on Friday 20th September 2019. Aside from the massive publicity gained, the pair have importantly raised awareness and funds for the ChildFund Pass It Back rugby development program.
Race to RWC 2019
Ron Rutland (Left) and James Owens (Right)
Race to RWC started on February 2nd 2019, and on arrival in Osaka, Japan this week, James Owens Tweeted “213 days; 27 countries; 19,000km; 0 haircuts and a fair few adventures later”.
Both James and Rutland will have one more official function next week in Japan to celebrate their arrival before the Rugby World Cup gets underway in Tokyo.
The pair will “conclude their extraordinary quest: cycling over 20,000km in 231 days arriving in Tokyo from London – arriving just in time for Rugby World Cup 2019”. Former international rugby players will be attendance at the special event, notably Sir John Kirwin (NZ), Shotaro Onishi (Japan), and Rob Vickerman (England).
The whistle, the pair have safely carried with them on their quest, will be handed to referee Nigel Owens next Thursday (19th September) at Tokyo Stadium (Ajinomoto Stadium). The ride was supported by DHL Rugby.
ChildFund Pass It Back
In addition to the $82,000 raised by Rutland and Owens, PIB benefited from rugby fan donations who purchased tickets for the Rugby World Cup.
ChildFund Pass It Back, is the official charity of Rugby World Cup 2019 and this week, World Rugby announced that “The global rugby family pledged record-breaking £2M to ChildFundPIB. Donations will give over 25,000 disadvantaged children the opportunity to transform their lives through rugby.”
You can also still contribute on the Just Giving Page which benefits the ChildFund Pass It Back program for ChildFund Australia.
Owens also worked with Pass It Back, mainly in Laos, for 4 years prior to embarking on the ride.
We have covered PIB extensively on RugbyAsia247 and spoke to Chris Mastaglio (Regional Director for PIB) about how the program started and its plans for the future.
The global rugby family pledges record-breaking £2M to @ChildFundPIB
Donations will give over 25,000 disadvantaged children the opportunity to transform their lives through rugbyhttps://t.co/muKA0oR1ky #PassItBack #ImpactBeyond #RWC2019 pic.twitter.com/4plxzR3Zu0
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) September 11, 2019
You can read more about PIB and the RWC mascots here and recent monies raised.
RugbyAsia247 will be catching up with James and Ron in Tokyo at the RWC 2019 and find out more about their fantastic journey.
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