The RFU has been debating the future of its famous home for a long while. Factors like the Covid 19 pandemic and an urgent need for repairs to the fabric of the stadium have led to this distasteful outcome.

The situation had become so desperate that, from what we can discern in the RFU’s statement, the word Twickenham disappears from view.

So when you tell your friends you are going to the Allianz to see a game, they won’t know whether you intend visiting Minnesota, Munich, Nice, Sao Paulo, Sydney, Turin or Vienna – unless they know you tolerably well, that is.

If you’re a Saracens’ fan, you’ll recall the days when the StoneX Stadium went under another name, but then the German Allianz insurance company took over the Premier 15s instead.

Colm Holmes, the boss of Allianz UK, makes the claims you would expect from a muti-national corporation that knows its own punching power. But when he says it seeks “to create the best experience for fans, players, and local communities” – he adds the startling words: “Allianz Stadium is no different.” He conveniently overlooks English rugby and the history of the ground. An Allianz Stadium in TW2 is monumentally different, just one of a forest of identically named arenas springing up around the world.

It remains to be seen what controls the RFU has retained over the use of this newest Allianz acquisition. Till now, they have been ultra-careful about the uses the stadium is put to. If the new contract gives the people in charge of affairs at Allianz sufficient rights, these could extend way beyond what we have known in the past. The catch comes in Holmes’ foggy statement of “further opening this iconic venue to many others.”

Who are these others, and how often will they be using the site? Will a visit by the latest pop superstar take precedence over a traditional rugby match? That is precisely what happened at the Stade de France.

A brief Comparison

It’s a small irony that the news breaks as most sporting eyes are fixed on the Stade de France. I’ve been there more than once to see England’s men’s team win and lose to the locals. One thing that struck me was the strip of athletics track surrounding the playing area, a feature typical of hundreds of rugby and football grounds around France. The inevitable result is that spectators are removed further from the field of play than is desirable.

But the Stade is a multi-purpose arena, seen at its best in the past few days as we’ve witnessed memorable individual and team displays. But there is little or no chance of the Red Roses, or indeed any of the other five women’s teams in the Six Nations, ever playing there. The FFR has to pay vast sums of money to stage their men’s games. Their treasurer knows it could spell financial ruin if he bid for les Bleues to use the ground.

Making ends meet

Therein lies the conundrum the RFU faced. To balance the accounts, they needed to play as many games at HQ as possible. But even the gate of 58,000 at the last England-France game was no guarantee of a profit. That is the scale of the problem.

We can only hope that the RFU’s recent decision to host one Red Roses 6N game per year on the sacred turf can continue. But first, the Black Ferns are due there on 14 September, barely five weeks away.

It would be lovely to think that ticket prices could come back under control. Over the past two decades or more they have risen almost as fast as the German mark lost its value in 1922-23.

One small ray of hope that is unlikely to lighten the world of rugby: Allianz might feel compelled to throw more of its weight behind German rugby, which still struggles to gain a footing in the national sporting firmament.

At present priority is given to 7s, as in many countries. If the women’s 15s team were better supported with Allianz muscle, the Red Roses could find another opponent worthy of their consideration. And Nora Baltruweit, Germany’s one representative in the Prem 15s at Wasps, has just joined Exeter Chiefs from Stade Bordelais.

One of the world’s leading insurers, Allianz, and the Rugby Football Union (RFU) today announce the next step in their partnership, as Allianz extends its support for rugby by making a significant, long-term investment in the game.

The partnership will be transformative, not only to the elite men’s and women’s teams but also aims to have a positive impact on community clubs around the country. It will see Allianz and the RFU offer significant support to the grassroots game through financial investment that aims to secure future investment into the community game.

As part of this agreement, the home of England Rugby, Twickenham, will become ‘Allianz Stadium’ from September. The iconic 82,000-seater stadium hosts England internationals, high profile domestic rugby matches, community rugby events and others, as well as staging world-leading concerts in recent years including The Rolling Stones, Rihanna and U2.

The stadium sponsorship is the eighth of its kind for Allianz, which welcomes Twickenham into a family of world-class stadia around the globe. The Allianz Stadium will join celebrated venues such as Allianz Arena in Munich, Allianz Parque in São Paulo and the recently reopened state-of-the-art multi-purpose venue in Sydney.

Allianz has a rich history of supporting rugby. As Official Insurance, Investment and Asset Management Partner of England Rugby, Allianz has supported both the men’s and women’s national rugby union teams for the past four years, and it will continue to do so under this partnership.

Allianz is also dedicated to helping grow the profile of women’s rugby. Having been the Premiership Women’s Rugby title partner, and partner of the grassroots programme ‘Allianz Inner Warrior’ which encouraged young women into rugby.

As part of Allianz’s new partnership, they will also increase their investment into the future of rugby through supporting those who participate, watch and cheer the game within the community. Having long been passionate supporters of the game, through this partnership Allianz aims to help the sport reach every corner of the nation, ensuring that everyone has the chance to play the game we all love.

In addition to being a key partner of the RFU’s community engagement programme, Allianz will also launch a new Allianz Future Fund that will enable community rugby clubs to apply for funding.

This is the first of many plans the partnership has to ensure players and clubs are uplifted at a local level, ensuring England’s extraordinary legacy in the sport continues.

Colm Holmes, CEO of Allianz UK, says: “We are delighted to partner with the RFU to further invest in grassroots clubs, our national teams, and in the home of England Rugby. We see a strong match between the values and ambitions of Allianz and those of the RFU.

“With each of the eight stadia we now support around the world, we seek to create the best experience for fans, players, and local communities. Allianz Stadium is no different. We embrace our responsibility in carrying forward its extraordinary history as a stadium full of inspirational memories, team spirit, inclusion, and heart. We look forward to supporting the RFU in delivering more incredible experiences for rugby fans at Allianz Stadium, as well as further opening this iconic venue to many others.”

RFU CEO, Bill Sweeney, says: “We’re really pleased to be expanding our partnership with Allianz, enabling further investment into the community and professional game. This is an opportunity to celebrate our stadium’s proud legacy while developing it for the future. This partnership will support us in moving the game in a direction which serves all rugby, from minis to the elites, from club coaches to our national coaches and everything in between.

“Over the coming years the RFU and Allianz will work together to enhance visitor experiences and provide fans and local community with the best possible match day and event experiences.

“As we head towards hosting the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2025 it is entirely fitting that the first game to be played at the newly named Allianz Stadium will be the Red Roses versus New Zealand on 14 September.”

England men’s player, Anthony Watson says: “Innovative deals like this are important in moving rugby on. The investment, not only in the professional side but also for the community game, is so important and will hopefully get more people active, playing the sport, enjoying the sport and watching the sport.”

Marlie Packer, Red Roses’ captain says: “For me the stadium is massive, it’s HQ, the home and heart of English rugby. My proudest moment at the stadium was walking out in front of 58,000 fans as captain in a Grand Slam decider with my son as a mascot. I’m really excited about the Red Roses next fixture against the Black Ferns at the Allianz Stadium on 14 September. The team is really up for it, and it will be a sensational day.

“It’s great that this partnership means more investment in rugby. The support Allianz is giving already is massive and it’s going to be important for the grassroots which ultimately feeds the game.”

2003 Rugby World Cup winner, Will Greenwood, says: “One of the things I enjoyed most about playing rugby, at any level, was the sense of community. I’m excited to see what this partnership does for rugby both internationally and at a grassroots level, with more eyes on the game I hope it can inspire the next generation of players.”

Rachael Burford, former Red Rose and 2014 Rugby World Cup winner says: “It’s brilliant to have Allianz extend their support in rugby: they’ve already contributed so much, particularly in the women’s game. Their commitment to the rugby’s grassroots is so important as our game is fundamentally made up of people who start out at community clubs. These will be the players who ultimately play at the stadium one day, or the club fans and volunteers who pack out the stands. It’s hugely exciting that Allianz Stadium will now be part of a global family.”

With thanks to the RFU

Fielding a young and developing side for this season’s campaign, which included only a handful of world cup winners, England went into the game with two wins against Scotland and Italy in the bag, and defeats to Wales and Ireland.

Favourites and defending champions France started the match well and had England defending in their half for much of the first quarter. Fullback Jessy Tremouliere slotted over an early penalty and then the visitors increased that lead further with a 21st minute try courtesy of their captain, Gaelle Minot. The hooker benefited from a well worked driving maul which saw the forward dot down over the line. Tremouliere converted handing France a 10-0 lead.

Tremouliere extended France’s lead further with her second penalty with another fine kick at goal, but with France down to 14 players with Shannon Izar off the field, England then looked the side in control. They added a penalty courtesy of centre Amber Reed but would have been frustrated to not add more before the break.

After the restart, France continued to dominate again, looking the stronger of the two sides. Tremouliere edged France further ahead with a third penalty.

England managed to string some good phases of play together to make some breaks and in the end flanker Hannah Gallagher got on the end of a good pass from prop Laura Keates to score a much needed try. Reed couldn’t make the conversion and England trailed 16-8 with 20 minutes left.

As England looked to get closer to France, it exposed gaps and Tremouliere was on hand to dot down in the corner for 21-8 lead. But England responded well and the forwards turned the screw in the French 22. The pressure told and Harriet Millar-Mills touched down to make it 21-15 after Reed’s successful conversion with ten minutes to play.

England continued to push but the French defence held firm and saw the game out.

Acting England Women’s Head Coach Nicola Ponsford said: “It is disappointing to finish fourth but we started the campaign with the aim of blooding several new players and developing them as we build towards the next world cup in 2017. We have done that and all the players have progressed game by game. They have got more and more competitive and we finished the championship pushing France to the end.”

“It has been a very open tournament, and today, although ultimately it was not the result we wanted, we put in a much better second half performance.”

England

15 Fiona Pocock (Richmond), 14 Ruth Laybourn (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks), 13 Amber Reed (Bristol), 12 Ceri Large (Worcester), 11 Lydia Thompson (Worcester), 10 Katy Mclean (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks) (C), 9 Bianca Blackburn (Worcester), 1 Rochelle Clark (Worcester), 2 Victoria Fleetwood (Saracens), 3 Justine Lucas (Lichfield), 4 Tamara Taylor (VC) (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks), 5 Abbie Scott (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks), 6 Hannah Gallagher (Saracens), 7 Hannah Field (Richmond), 8 Alexandra Matthews (Richmond). Replacements: 16 Amy Cokayne (Lichfield), 17 Victoria Cornborough (Richmond), 18 Laura Keates (Worcester), 19 Rowena Burnfield (Richmond), 20 Harriet Millar-Mills (Waterloo), 21 Fiona Davidson (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks), 22 Abigail Brown (Bristol), 23 Katie Mason (Bristol)

Tries: Gallagher, Millar-Mills

Conversions: Reed

Penalties: Reed

Substitutions: Millar-Mills for Field (16), Brown for Large (39), Keates for Lucas (51), Davidson for Blackburn  (53), Cokayne for Fleetwood (68), Cornborough for Clark (71), Burfield for Taylor (71), Mason for Brown (blood, 79)

France:
15. Jessy Tremouliere (Romagnat); 14. Céline Heguy (Bayonne); 13. Shannon Izar (Lille –Villeneuve d’Ascq); 12. Elodie Poublan (Montpellier); 11. Julie Billes (USAP); 10. Audrey Abadie (Blagnac -Saint Orens); 9. Yanna Rivoalen (Lille –Villeneuve d’Ascq); 1. Lise Arricastre (Lons), 2. Gaëlle Mignot (Montpellier), 3. Patricia Carricaburu (Lons);  4. Manon Andre (Blagnac -Saint Orens); 5. Audrey Forlani (Blagnac -Saint Orens); 6. Coumba Tombe Diallo (Stade Bordelais), 7. Laetitia Grand (Lons), 8. Safi N’diaye (Montpellier). Replacements: 16. Wendy Divoux (USAP); 17. Julie Duval (Ovalie Caennaise); 18. Sophie Pin (La Valette); 19. Pauline Rayssac (Montpellier); 20. Jennyfer Troncy (Montpellier); 21. Marjorie Mayans (Blagnac -Saint Orens); 22. Caroline Boujard (USAP); 23. Amaya Gonzalez (Bayonne).

Tries: Mignot, Tremouliere

Conversions: Tremouliere

Penalties: Tremouliere (3)

Referee: Alhambra Nievas (FER)

England Rugby are looking for volunteers to help deliver the London leg of the World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series, which will be held on 15 and 16 May 2015.

The round five event will take place at Twickenham Stoop, with the final and third/fourth place play-off to be played at Twickenham Stadium.

Applications to be part of the volunteer team are now open. Registration closes on Friday 13 February 2015.

England Rugby requires event volunteers across a number of areas – from team liaison officers and match day assistants, to results and information services and media support – so if you’re available for the competition days, and/or the week leading up to the tournament, register your interest now.

A number of appointments will be made over the next few weeks, with others confirmed in the spring when more detailed plans are in place.

The World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series is in its third year, and comprises six rounds. There are 11 core teams involved in the series – New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Russia, England, Spain, USA, Fiji, France, South Africa and China – with the twelfth spot of each series being filled by an invitational team.

For more information about the World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series, visit www.worldrugby.org/womens-sevens-series.

Find out more about what’s involved in volunteering here and complete the application form on the England Rugby website here.