Today marked 200 days to go until the Rugby League World Cup 2021 (RLWC2021) makes a real impact across the nation when England take on Samoa in the tournaments’ opening fixture at St James’ Park, Newcastle on 15 October 2022.
To commemorate the milestone, the tournament has been undertaking a 48-hour trophies tour of the 18 host towns and cities in celebration of a 48-hour ticket upgrade offer, whereby fans can benefit from a ticket upgrade that is too good to miss. This means any fans that buy a Category C ticket for the men’s group game at Headingley Stadium between Australia and Fiji, and the men’s semi-final clash at Elland Road will have their tickets automatically upgraded to Category B.
The trophies tour, whereby the silverware from the men’s, women’s and wheelchair tournaments was paraded around the towns and cities getting ready to host the 61 matches of the upcoming World Cup, commenced today (Tuesday 29th March) at 07:00 in Newcastle with RLWC2021 Ambassador Jason Robinson.
The tour then passed through Tees Valley, York, Hull, Doncaster, and Sheffield before reaching Leeds for its marquee event. Leeds is playing a huge role in the tournament as one of the men’s semi-final ties takes place at Elland Road. The city will also host several other fixtures across the men’s and women’s tournaments at Headingley Stadium, including the double header opener of the women’s tournament that will see England take on Brazil, and Papua New Guinea challenge Canada.
The three trophies arrived at the iconic Headingley Stadium in Leeds for a celebration of women’s sport, and were be joined by the Foundation’s Women’s and Girls Development Officer Lois Forsell, and Courtney Winfield-Hill from Leeds Rhinos, as well as many other representatives from Leeds’ many famous sports teams. Our Leeds Rhinos Wheelchair Head Coach and RLWC2021 ambassador James Simpson was also in attendance.
The three trophies were then presented in spectacular fashion as they received a picturesque guard of honour through a Leeds City of Sport archway before being met by a row of flame boxes and theatrical effects.
The promotional tour has featured the tournament’s new campaign ‘This is Real Impact’, to support ticket promotion and provide a platform to tell the many stories of the contribution the tournament is making in communities through its social impact programme and in respect to inclusivity in hosting the men’s, women’s and wheelchair tournaments under one World Cup for the first time in the sport’s history.
Jon Dutton, Chief Executive of RLWC2021, said: “After an incredibly challenging couple of years for everyone, it is hugely exciting to be able to take our three unique trophies to each host partner as they put on their own celebration and make a ‘Real Impact’ in their local communities.
“We’d like to thank our partners in Leeds for their brilliant event to mark the milestone. The road to RLWC2021 starts now and with this limited ticket offer and exciting new campaign being released, we hope to encourage fans up and down the country to obtain the best seats in the house at the best possible price.”
Ticket prices for the tournament start as low as £2.21 for concessions, as the unique tournament will be one of the most accessible and affordable for fans with more than 80% of tickets priced below £50. Fans can purchase tickets via www.rlwc2021.com/tickets.
Follow the Trophies Tour live on RLWC2021’s official social media channels Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook, with exclusive content including interviews, event snaps and behind-the-scenes footage of the 48-hour tour.