Visit to Newcastle for last
World Cup warm-up against
Italy is just fine for the former Falcon flanker and northern fansThose who dismiss England’s final World Cup warm-up game against Italy as irrelevant clearly do not hail from a northern postcode. For many the overdue chance to see the national team play a capped Test in Newcastle makes it an auspicious occasion, one which will hopefully encourage the Rugby
Football Union to stage further games outside Twickenham.
If they need an example of exactly why showing the sport to a less familiar audience is so vitally important they need only talk to the
England flanker Mark Wilson. In rugby terms the 29-year-old grew up off the beaten track in Kendal. For years he was a lonely teenage road warrior, commuting to training sessions at Newcastle Falcons. He never made it to an England game at Twickenham, partly because of the exorbitant costs and partly because “it was just too far”.