Press Releases

The 2008 Iveco Series rugby event has kicked off in New Zealand. Following on from last year’s highly successful edition, the sports showpiece once again opens the season for the New Zealand national rugby union team, reuniting the players who have recently finished competing in local championships with the world’s top rugby union clubs. In this year’s test matches, to be played in June in New Zealand, the All Blacks will line up against Ireland and World Cup runners-up England.

The All Blacks and Ireland will contest the Eurocargo Cup on 7 June at the Westpac Stadium, Wellington, while the Stralis Cup will be awarded to the overall winner of the two-legged match pitting New Zealand against England. The two legs will respectively take place on 14 June at the Eden Park Stadium in Auckland, and on 21 June at the AMI Stadium in Christchurch, on the South Island.

New Zealanders are once again likely to turn out en masse to support their heroes, displaying the same enthusiasm as they did in the last edition when all three matches sold out and a combined total of 107,000 spectators filled the stadiums.

The 2008 Iveco Series will be broadcast throughout the world by 14 authorised television stations and over the Internet. The 2007 series drew a total audience of 15 million people, a number which the organisers hope to improve upon this year given the pedigree of the participating teams. Once again Italian fans will be able to follow the exploits of the All Blacks on Sky Italia, which will cover both of the New Zealander’s test matches.

The Iveco Series will be played in stadiums displaying the Stralis and Trakker logos, both on the pitch and outside the facilities. Besides projecting the Iveco brand to a vast audience, the event will again serve to underline the fundamental values which unite Iveco with the All Blacks.

Fans can also keep abreast of the matches on Iveco Rugby Radio, the first web radio station dedicated to rugby, which continually transmits (24 hrs a day, 7 days a week) music shows interspersed with rugby features, the history and rules of the game, and information about Iveco products and initiatives.

Throughout the Iveco Series, the station schedule will be revised to include exclusive live coverage both during and after the event, capturing the pitch-side atmosphere and following the winning tactics, the spectacular moves and the very best of the action.