A Day at Twickenham

Over the weekend, I was fortunate enough to get to attend the England versus New Zealand Autumn Series match at Twickenham, with my family. Getting to go to a rugby match, for me, is about more than the game itself. It is a whole day that starts the second you cram onto the train to Twickenham, surrounded by fans. Heading to one of the local pubs is just the beginning of the day. The one thing you can be sure of, especially lately, is that wherever you go in Twickenham the atmosphere will be electric, full of anticipation and hope.

Going into the pub, the other matches are on, Italy versus South Africa, and everyone is socialising and watching the matches. One of the great things about rugby is that before, during and after the match, rival fans will sit together, chat and just enjoy the day as one. This is perfectly reflected in the local pubs and bars within and around the stadium.

Making it into the stadium, you see the 82,000 fans, all getting ready to watch, what would be, a great match. Just before it begins, you have the national anthems and then the Haka, performed by New Zealand, meant to intimidate and be loud. Normally, it sets the tone for the match, for New Zealand, but while the Haka was going, all you could hear were the England fans singing in response. With the kick off, we were in for 25 rough minutes, England, in what seems to be their usual starting fashion, conceded two tries without scoring a point. It’s safe to say that the mood was fairly subdued. A slow start, like I said, is not uncommon for England, but against a side like the All Blacks, it would normally mean a death sentence.

Then, it started to turn around, after a try scored off the back of a scrum, we picked up some momentum. Follow that up with two drop kicks from George Ford and in the space of ten minutes we went from 0-12 down to 11-12, just one point behind at half time. Everyone was buzzing, including myself. A game that wasn’t showing much promise was quickly turning back into a close fought battle.

The second half was much closer fought and a little more enjoyable. On our usual form, the subs came on and completely turned the tide, with us running then away with it in the last ten minutes. What started out as a match that really looked impossible to win, England came back and managed it, ending our six year losing streak against them and securing a tenth consecutive victory. It was a fantastic way to spend the day, helped by the fact that we won.