Twickenham ... Simply the best.

Article on Twickenham:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/england/9659648/Revealed-Twickenhams-76m-makeover-has-made-it-the-most-advanced-rugby-ground-in-Europe.html


Fortress Twickenham
The RFU wants to turn Twickenham into a “fortress” by encouraging supporters to adopt the role of “England’s 16th man”. It has hired brass bands to walk with supporters from Twickenham train station to the stadium and will have extra volunteers to greet fans. It also plans to give away flags so there is more white visible in the stands, while two new bars and women’s toilets have already been installed to enhance the supporters’ experience.
“The atmosphere during the Ireland match was amazing and I am sure they can create that same buzz during this series,” says England coach Stuart Lancaster. “To have 82,000 people – and the whole nation – behind you is very powerful. You can’t underestimate the effect their support has on those players.”

Social media
The HD Wi-Fi will also allow the RFU to increase its communication with supporters via social media such as Twitter and Facebook on match days.
“Going digital has been a big focus for us,” says Sophie Goldschmidt, the RFU’s chief commercial officer. “It is how we are communicating with our current and new fans. We now have greater access to our players, giving us more unique content. On match days, we want to push that out to supporters via their mobiles.”
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Connected stadium
The RFU is to install new TV screens in all of the stadium’s concourses to allow supporters to watch unique content before, during and post matches. As well as replays of the match, the screens will be used to show ‘RFU TV’ or fan messages or discounts in the shops. Every screen can show something different, which can help manage crowd flows. “We want to engage fans at all the different touch points,” says Goldschmidt.
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High density Wi-Fi
Twickenham will be the first stadium in Europe to install high-density Wi-Fi, which will be free to use for supporters when the infrastructure is put in place by the end of next season. It will be “unlimited” in capacity so will allow supporters to upload and download significant amounts of data during the match. “At the minute it is pretty hard to make a phone call or send a text on match days,” says Goldschmidt. “Most people now want to watch highlights on their mobiles or send videos or pictures and high density will allow that. “Thirty to forty per cent of the stadium will be able upload serious amounts of data at the same time”. Fans in the future may also be able to order drinks to their seats via their phones.

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New pitch
The RFU has spent £1.2 million installing a new DESSO pitch in June, which head groundsman Keith Kent says has made the Twickenham surface the best in the world. “The old pitch was the old 1910 allotments, with four inches of fibre-sands on top with five-metre drains,” said Kent. The contractors dug out 18 inches of soil — 9,000 tonnes in total and installed undersoil heating and irrigation under the new surface. The artificial grass, which makes up just three per cent of the surface, stabilises the pitch because the roots wrap around it while bigger sand particles can also be used. “The pitch draws water at 123 millimetres an hour, so if the England v Poland football game had been here, we would have played,” added Kent.

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LED screens
The most visible aspect of the first phase of the overhaul on Saturday will be the installation of the mid-tier LED screens. Twickenham has become the first stadium outside of America, where they are commonly used in NFL grounds, to use the technology. The strip will be used to relate messages to supporters and encourage them to support England during breaks in play. “It is about Twickenham engaging with our fans and communicating directly with them,” said Richard Knight, stadium director. Messages will be used to encourage the supporters to get behind the team during breaks in play and remind supporters of their core values, with some “activation” by sponsors O₂. Once HD Wi-Fi is installed, the use of LEDs will be expanded further.

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Ticketless entry
A new access control is to be installed to keep pace with rapid developments in ticket technology in the next 18 months. Supporters can currently print their tickets at home which are checked by stewards. The new system of turnstiles will allow supporters to gain entry simply by swiping their tickets over a scanner. “In the future supporters could gain access by swiping bar codes from their mobile phones,” says Knight.

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England’s call
When ticketless entry comes online, the RFU say the new data collected will be used to enhance the supporters’ “home to stadium” experience. The data will allow the RFU to establish who actually comes into the stadium and information will be used to communicate with them again before future games.
“Information could include a message from Stuart Lancaster, squad news, travel information and offers and promotions from sponsors,” says Goldschmidt. “The next phase is to try bring the match to life even more for the millions watching it on television.”


It looks like the RFU are doing at least one thing right. It sounds like HQ will be more than up to date for the forceable future.Itll be interesting to see in the future people ordering drinks to thier seats , cant imagine what would happen if 20,000 peope orderd thier pint at the same time

All we need to do now is turn it back into a "Fortress" and what better time to start that than this weekend

I heard rumors about France Building a stadium of thier own oes anyone know if this plan is still going to happen and anyone have any info about any upgrades to any other rugby stadia ?

In South Africa we have player 23.

Biltong wrote:In South Africa we have player 23.

ahhhh so in south africa you have 23 men on the field instead at any one time of fifteen. ehh Blitong. isn't that cheating though.

No mate, the 23rd player is "Jan" the fan

Is he the new backup prop?

If only we had this message system a few years ago. It could have said

Stop booing. They're trying. Seriously, kicking is a valid tactical option. Yes, even every time. Stop booing at Andy Goode

EngInAuck wrote:Women’s toilets have already been installed to enhance the supporters’ experience.

Why can't they just squat on the floor like they do in Cardiff? Blydi toffs.

Here is player 23.

The Song

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Player 23 for Bafana Bafana

Spending as much as possible making the post match escape easier would be brilliant.

I have to agree with this post - Had an absolutely marvellous time there watching the 6 Nations match last year - First Class in fact - couldn't agree more and long may that continue at HQ

Biltong wrote: No mate, the 23rd player is "Jan" the fan

Didn't it used to be Pieter van Zyl?

Seriously though they need to sort out transport links to Twickenham. It's the worst stadium I've ever had to get out of. The pressure of the crowd waiting to get the train back is more intense than that in the scrums I witnessed. It was even worse getting back from the Stones and the Eagles as by then the crowd had a whole day's drinking behind them and were still in high spirits because their team didn't get their @rses handed to them.

maestegmafia wrote:Spending as much as possible making the post match escape easier would be brilliant.

Agree maesteg. More shuttle busses to Richmond from either side of the stadium, an additional crossing point over the A316 would be good too.

So... they dug up and threw away old Billy's Cabbage Patch ?
Last bit of original HQ now gone.
Will they have to change the name of the Pub ?

And I remember when it was just green corrugated iron bolted to RSJs
Proper amateur rugby stadium.

Ruby, I think you are trying to be a bit naughty there,

disneychilly wrote:

Biltong wrote: No mate, the 23rd player is "Jan" the fan

Didn't it used to be Pieter van Zyl?

Seriously though they need to sort out transport links to Twickenham. It's the worst stadium I've ever had to get out of. The pressure of the crowd waiting to get the train back is more intense than that in the scrums I witnessed. It was even worse getting back from the Stones and the Eagles as by then the crowd had a whole day's drinking behind them and were still in high spirits because their team didn't get their @rses handed to them.

No man, Piet was player 24, but they fired him for drunken disorderly behaviour.

Biltong wrote:

disneychilly wrote:

Biltong wrote: No mate, the 23rd player is "Jan" the fan

Didn't it used to be Pieter van Zyl?

No man, Piet was player 24, but they fired him for drunken disorderly behaviour.

Surely that's why they hired him?

Jan Biltong? Kobus made a nice little cameo. Twickers is a pretty sweet stadium but hope the singing is kept to a minimum this autumn

You can say what you want about Kobus, but pretty he is not. (That's what my wife says , anyway)

gregortree wrote:Ruby, I think you are trying to be a bit naughty there,

As if

No matter what they do, it still wont touch the MS for ALL ROUND match day experience.... Well not unless they move it from football orientated London to a true Rugby city like Gloucester, maybe Bath or Bristol that is.

MS certainly good for drinks in town after the match

And better/easier to get to and from, even with the train companies trying their best to screw it up every game...

Does everyone else's heart rate double and irritability rise just by mentioning the words "signal failure" and "scheduled engineering works"?

It happened to me during the currie Cup final two weekends ago.

Wait all day, and 10 minutes before kick off we had such a strom here in Gauteng it blocked the signal until 18 minutes into the match.

The Hail storm was so bad, insurance companies had emergency lines and departments setup for all the claims.

One of my clients who has a glass business was telling me how much work they have, he even brought his son in Law all the way from durban to help get through all the work. They're still busy. He tells me when their truck pulls into a street on the way to do an installation, people run out of their houses to stop them.

disneychilly wrote:Does everyone else's heart rate double and irritability rise just by mentioning the words "signal failure" and "scheduled engineering works"?

Not as much as leaves on the track.

I am champing at the bit for 2015. Have been to Twickers a few times but never for a World Cup. Apart from Paris, this is the closest to a home game I'm going to get. I have promised myself I will be there for at least one major game.

I was in Paris for the 07 final and found out they had a metro strike on. The b@stards did the same during the football in 98 too apparently. People went from going from the airport into the city to just heading straight to Saint Denis. Disgusting they hold the city to ransom when all eyes are on it.

Yeah Kia leaves on the track are killer too. Person under a train makes you look around shocked at everyone's indifference to that person until it happens for the fourth time in two weeks. Sad but true.

1999, Cardiff MS, hosting the opening game of this World Event..
Wales & West train service for a World event: 2 carriages from Nottingham to Cardiff. Arrived 1 /12 hours late at Gloucester, mostly full. The jammed platform of travellers somehow cram on Tokyo style, and went on to pick up more at every stop from Gloucester to Cardiff.
Nobody had bothered to tell Thomas the Tank Engine railway company that a long planned world event was happening in Cardiff.
At least Twickenham has frequent high capacity rugby specials from Waterloo on international days.

When I lived in Paris I saw jumpers in the metro on a horrifyingly regular basis. I guess that's why they introduced on the new lines glass partitions to prevent that. Strikes were like a national pastime. Every week, it would be either the post office, waiters, taxi, teachers, underground, SNCF etc. Then again, when you see a strike and the concessions gained, part of me applauds that. Here in Spain, the unions represent themselves and not the workers and a general strike never achieves anything for the people they are supposedly representing.