There is a certain symmetry in Wales being the visitors for England’s first home match of this year’s Six Nations on 26 February.. It could be the first major international sporting event staged in England after all Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted and it will be the first Six Nations match England have played at Twickenham in front of spectators for almost two years – since, as fate would have it, Wales were the visitors in 2020.
In many ways that match feels like a lifetime ago. The pandemic was taking hold, England’s following fixture against Italy had already been postponed but 80,000-plus supporters piled into Twickenham regardless. The government had evidently not grasped the seriousness of the situation, to the extent that Boris Johnson was a guest of honour at Twickenham that day – something that was subsequently held up as a reason for Cheltenham Festival going ahead a few days later.
