For those who, for some strange reason, only watch international rugby much has changed since England last took the field in mid-July. Technically speaking, for starters, the home team no longer play at a ground called Twickenham and will instead run out at somewhere called Allianz Stadium. The era of the “Ally Pally” has arrived, which may or may not impress the old-school clientele in the posher parts of the West Car Park.
If there is a sense of the Rugby Football Union selling off the family silver and jettisoning a significant slice of the English game’s global identity it is reinforced by the fact the All Blacks are due to visit a second Allianz Stadium in three weeks’ time when they play Italy in Turin. The only consolation for staunch traditionalists is that fresh monikers can take decades to catch on; some people still refer to the “Manchester Guardian” a mere 65 years on.
