England to face Italy at Newcastle’s St James’ Park as RFU move Rugby World Cup warm-up away from Twickenham
Eddie Jones’ side will play back-to-back matches against Wales as well as facing Ireland at Twickenham before heading north to take on Italy in the first England match held in Newcastle
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Your support makes all the difference.England will play Italy at Newcastle’s St James’ Park next September for the first time after the Rugby Football Union announced a plan to take one of the World Cup warm-up matches away from Twickenham.
The RFU confirmed on Wednesday that they have agreed to play their Six Nations opponents at Newcastle United’s ground on Friday 6 September, with a 7.45pm kick-off in what will be their final match before the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.
It will be the first time that the RFU stage an England international away from the south-west London stadium, affectionately known as the ‘Home of Rugby’, in 10 years, and is an attempt to capitalise on the strong turnout in Manchester for England’s 2015 World Cup encounter against Uruguay despite Test matches at Twickenham understood to generate over £10m.England will face Wales in back-to-back games, first at Twickenham on Sunday 11 August 2019 and then at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium the following Saturday, with Ireland visiting London on Saturday 24th August.
But in what will also be an unusual change, the match against Italy will be played on a Friday night, with Newcastle United’s St James’ Park much more suited to late-night matches than Twickenham due to the ease of getting to and from the stadium. It will also prove to be the final chance that head coach Eddie Jones has to tinker with his squad, with England due to fly out their 31-man World Cup party two weeks later.
“These Quilter Internationals will be extremely important to the squad’s final preparations before we head out to Japan,” Jones said. “It is great news to be able to take England to another part of the country and Newcastle will be fantastic hosts like they were for the matches here in 2015. We will look forward to playing in front of a great Northern crowd.”
The English football season will have already started by the time the game comes about, with Newcastle United set to well into their 2019/20 season be it in the Premier League or Championship should they suffer relegation this year, but the match will fall in the international window and thus will not clash with any of the Magpies’ fixtures.
Newcastle United’s managing director Lee Charnley said: “We are excited to have brought another high profile rugby event to St. James’ Park and to the city, and look forward to hosting Eddie Jones and his team before they embark on their trip to Japan.”
The announcement is another boost for rugby union in the north, with Newcastle Falcons reaching the Premiership semi-finals last season after their fourth-place finish in the league – their highest since the introduction of the play-off system.
Under former England international Dean Richards, the Falcons have progressed from Championship favourites to Premiership contenders, and the feel-good vibe in the city when it comes to the 15-man game has not gone unnoticed.
“I am delighted that England have chosen to play their last game before heading off to Japan in Newcastle at St James’ Park, said Councillor Kim McGuinness, Cabinet Member for Culture Sport and Public Health. “The game is a significant addition to the sporting legacy of the City and recognises our ability to stage top class international sporting events.”
England of course played at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium during their home Rugby World Cup three years ago, but this is the first time the RFU have elected to move one of their matches since England played Argentina at Old Trafford in 2009, while they also faced New Zealand at the home of Manchester United in 1997 and played both Italy and the Netherlands in international qualifiers in Huddersfield the following year.
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