Rugby World Cup whistles to be delivered by cyclists, peddling from Tokyo to Auckland and Paris on ‘power of made up mind’

Ron Rutland and Adam Nunn will pick up the Rugby World Cup whistles in Tokyo and deliver them to the women’s and men’s tournaments in Auckland and Paris respectively. Sounds simple enough, until you realise they will make their deliveries by bicycle.

The pair will collect the whistles in Tokyo, the site of the 2019 Rugby World Cup, then travel by bike through Japan, take a ferry to Korea and cycle to Seoul. They are unable to enter China because of Covid-19 restrictions, so they will fly to Hanoi.

Then they will cycle through Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, island hop across Indonesia, take a ferry to Darwin and cycle to Sydney. If time and budget allows, they will go to Fiji, Tonga and Samoa, then New Zealand, for the start of the women’s Rugby World Cup on October 8.

“You’ve just got to start. There’s always a reason to put it off, you are never perfectly fit, you never have all the sponsors. Eventually you have to put a line in the sand and commit. There is the power of the made up mind,” Rutland said. “We’ll get to Japan. By hook or by crook we’ll get to Auckland, maybe not the way we planned, but we’ll get there.”

They will pick up their next whistle and the pair will fly to South America, and cycle north through South and North America, fly across to Iceland, then the UK, then cycle to Paris for the men’s tournament, starting in October 2023.

The men’s tournament has always had a commemorative whistle. This is the first time World Rugby have made one for the women’s tournament, and it is because of Rutland and Nunn’s adventure.

Rutland is familiar with cycling long distances. In 2013, he left his home in South Africa to cycle to London for the 2015 Rugby World Cup. His journey went viral because he arrived after his mammoth journey, just in time to see his beloved South African rugby team lose to Japan for the first time.

He then moved to Hong Kong, and hatched his next adventure. He and Hong Kong rugby player Adam Rolston played golf across Mongolia. Rutland was caddie as Rolston set the world record for the longest hole.

Rutland and another Hongkonger, James Owen, then picked up the commemorative Rugby World Cup whistle from London, and cycled to deliver it to Tokyo in time for the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

For the 2019 adventure, the pair raised US$150,000 for Child Fund Pass it Back, a charity that empowers communities in Southeast Asia with rugby. The charity is the official charity of the women’s Rugby World Cup and Rutland is once again raising money for them.

“2019 was one of the most rewarding years of my life. It was the most ambitious. Africa was a very personal journey, I had never done anything like it before. I had no idea how I’d come out of it, or if I’d survive or even if it’s something I’d enjoy. Then 2019 we had a proper sponsor, we raised 150k for charity. And it was am ambitious target, we had to cover 600km a week for six months and we pulled it off. It was really rewarding,” Rutland said.

He then rented a cottage in South Africa for three months to decompress. He planned a couple of smaller adventures that fell victim to the pandemic. With time on his hands, he started to plan this trip.

He identified Southeast Asia and the Americas as the only places he hadn’t cycled. Rutland wants to raise US$200,000 for Child Fund Pass It Back for this adventure.

“Cycling, you average 16km an hour, which is not fast. You experience every up hill, downhill, every bump, the wind, the noise, the smells in a way that no other mode of transport, except walking, gives you,” Rutland said.

“And you have the chance to engage with people because you aren’t rushing past people on a motor bike with a big helmet on, roaring through villages. You can smile at people. Walking is amazing, but around the world would take years and years. Cycling is the happy medium. You really are completely immersed in the weather, the communities, the areas you are cycling through,” he said.

Rutland has faith in humanity’s goodness. He has been repeatedly warned of the dangers of travelling through Africa, or the Middle East and other supposedly dangerous places. He has never felt in danger. But what did surprise him, was people’s generosity.

“I was blown away. Sub-Saharan Africa, however the UN measures it, is the poorest place on the planet. And here is this white guy on a bicycle, and the first thing people do is offer me food and water, and almost never with an expectation of something in return,” he said.

Rutland’s favourite statistics is that no one in Africa ever refused him a place to pitch his tent. The only time people would not let him pitch it, is if they invited him into their homes instead.

“And James and I experienced the same thing in 2019, in places like Iran, and places considered to be the most dangerous places on earth, so it really is universal,” he said.

Rutland’s adventures have earned him a nomination for the “21st Century Adventurer” award by the European Outdoor Film Tour. The films Everything in Between and The Longest Hole about the Mongolia adventure, got him noticed.

“I’m almost embarrassed to talk about it. It came out of the blue,” he said.

“It’s incredible. When I set off on a cycling in 2013, I used to read books about famous adventurers and people who had done cool things. I dreamed about doing just 5 per cent of what they had done, and now to be nominated as a 21st century adventurer, I’m almost embarrassed. I wouldn’t say it’s the Oscars of adventuring, but it feels fantastic to be nominated and it would be fantastic to win.”