Lilongwe pupils get World Rugby Cup experience

As the countdown to the 2015 Rugby World Cup continues, Lilongwe pupils were on Saturday treated to a day-long clinic on the sport, courtesy of DHL Limited.

DHL’s ‘Africa AS One Campaign’ for the build-up of the World Cup reached Malawi from Zimbabwe as a team of seven rugby professionals conducted a clinic on driving on Range Rovers on Saturday.

DHL country manager Sarah Kayongo said despite rugby not being popular in Malawi, they thought it was proper to still bring the experts who will visit 41 other countries on Rand Rovers SUVs. It is an 11th-month journey that will end in England next year.

“DHL is the official World Cup Rugby sponsor. We know rugby is not big in Malawi, but as a company that works in Africa, we thought of introducing the game among youngsters.  Professionals conducting the clinics are DHL staff,” said Kayongo.

She assured Malawians that DHL’s contribution to laying the foundation for rugby will not end with this World Cup experience.

“We plan to introduce the sport in schools and every year we will be doing this,” she said.

The clinic coincided with a DHL family day event organised to interact with their customers and rugby was the highlight of the event.

DHL hired an Axa Open Shuttle to cater for pupils who travelled from Lilongwe rural schools [about 40 kilometers] into the city.