England’s latest home venues
Now at last we know where both the England-Canada games will take place. Saracens’ StoneX Stadium takes its place alongside Sandy Park Exeter.
The choices are fascinating – and disturbing. Once more the deep south-west finds favour with Twickenham. By contrast StoneX hasn’t hosted since 2018, when it was still Allianz Park. That time the USA Eagles were the guests. It marked Katy Daley-Mclean’s 100th cap.
The problem of where to hold England games remains debatable. The north kicked up a fuss about coming test matches in cricket; they have been denied any for several years to come. Now rugby might suffer the same treatment.
In the last couple of years the Red Roses’ venues have spread around the country, sticking largely to the big clubs with decent capacities. But the only one to host north of the Trent is Kingston Park Newcastle. Before them it was a few pleasant visits to Castle Park Doncaster.
To be frank, the general trend at elite level (Red Roses and Prem 15s games) has been to let the north go hang. Just the one northern club left in the PWR, Sale Sharks; this cannot be the message the RFU wants to send. Complaints might focus on the favoured treatment Exeter has achieved; since its first Six Nations match in 2019 its name has featured again and again. Yet the ground’s location, on the south-east edge of the city, places it far from the homes of most supporters who would like to attend.
By contrast it’s a surprise to realise how long it is since Sarries were last the hosts. They don’t use a grass pitch.
These games will be the last opportunities for the new coaching team to come to vital decisions. Given the bizarre pattern of management take-over – Louis Deacon in charge till John Mitchell arrives (when?) – we can only hope that every player is being kept up-to-date with the selection process.
32 contracted players are caught up in these matters. There will be a total of 46 places available across the two fixtures. The selectorial strategy will come under scrutiny. Canada have beaten England before, but not for many years. To their great credit, they came very close in the World Cup, 26-19. But it’s probable that the management will want to see as many players as possible in varying combinations. After all, these games are merely warm-ups for bigger events in Aotearoa in October and November – for both teams.
Details:
Match 1: 23 September, Sandy Park Exeter
Match 2: 30 September, StoneX Stadium, Hendon
