Rugby at Twickenham

Thanks to my lovely friend Becky, I was given the chance to go to Twickenham to see England take on France in a pre-World Cup Warm Up Fixture. Having not been to Twickers before, I thought it'd be rude not to say yes, and so I'm very grateful to Becky for taking me.

Twickenham is a stadium that seems to be placed in the middle of nowhere. The same could be said of Wembley. However Wembley seems a lot easier to get to, although this isn't something I'll hold against Twickenham: more against the incompetent staff of South West Trains. They really aren't my favourites, especially after making a meal of a 20 minute journey and turning it into a 35 minute one on the way there and an equally horrendous journey on the way back. I'll let it go, but don't be surprised if I mention travel again in the next few posts.

Meeting Becky at the station was a good chance to catch up and her seats were in a fantastic view - middle tier on the half way line in the East Stand. Can't get much better than that - right behind the press. It was great to have a chat in the hour before the match over a glass of wine, and good to be there to soak up some of the pre-match atmosphere.

The game itself was a good encounter. Yes, England did get beaten. But it was a much tighter affair than what had happened in the previous week's rout of Wales, and the opposition played their role - although the calibre of their team, means that when France do field a full strength 1st XV, England had better wake up. Scrappy defending and a weak back line would be England's greatest problem - the forwards constantly made good moves and got close to the line, but finishing wasn't on the agenda and that showed, compared with two French tries.

A good match, and a good game and one for England to learn their mistakes from. Was excellent to be there, and rounded off an great week of being about in London.