England to play match in Newcastle (original) (raw)

England will play a World Cup warm-up game against Italy in Newcastle next summer, The Times can reveal. It will be the first time that the RFU has decided to take a home game away from Twickenham since they played World Cup qualifiers against Italy and the Netherlands in Huddersfield in 1998.

The RFU had been exploring options in Manchester — the Etihad Stadium and Old Trafford are bigger than St James’ Park, which has a capacity of 52,405 — but Newcastle is building its reputation as a rugby city. The ground hosted its first rugby internationals during the 2015 World Cup, and 2019 promises to be a blockbuster year for the city, with Newcastle to host the 2019 Heineken Champions Cup final in May and then an England game.

The RFU had always been against moving a match away from Twickenham because it would be sacrificing key revenue, with internationals at England’s headquarters generating about £10 million. However, Steve Brown put the proposal on the table when he took over as chief executive last year.

“It’s a good thing,” Brown said. “It’s always a commercial challenge, but I think the case has been made for us considering more games in the north.”

England played against Uruguay at the Etihad in 2015, though that was in the World Cup, while matches against Wales at Wembley in 1999 and Argentina at Old Trafford ten years later were technically away games.

Eddie Jones’s side are due to play four warm-up fixtures in August and early September next year before they fly to Japan for the World Cup.

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Savea will end his All Blacks hopes and join Toulon next season

MICHAEL BRADLEY/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Julian Savea has called time on his New Zealand career and signed a two-year deal with Toulon, raising further doubts about Chris Ashton’s future at the French club. Savea will bring a remarkable tryscoring record to the Top 14, having scored 46 in 54 Tests for the All Blacks.

Ashton has reportedly told Toulon that he wants to return to England. Sale Sharks are thought to be monitoring the situation.

Wasps’ plans for next season have been disrupted by the loss of Danny Wilson, who had agreed to join the club as assistant coach from Cardiff Blues but will now take up a forwards role with Scotland. Dai Young, the Wasps director of rugby, said: “This is a big disappointment for us. In addition, the timing could not be much worse.”