No Beyoncé or K-pop so Argentina v South Africa will have to boost RFU’s bank balance

A quick look at Twickenham’s upcoming events and, alas, still no Beyoncé. No Bills, Bills, Bills for Mr Sweeney just yet. In fact, the Rugby Football Union’s ambition to host more concerts and thereby pay for Twickenham’s £660m rebuild has encountered a bit of a delay. It is understood that in July, Richmond council expressed its concern over transport links and told the union further exploratory work is needed.

A report, seen by the Guardian, reads: “Given the uncertainty regarding the ability of the rail industry to cater for the predicted increase in passengers, there [are] significant concerns about the additional demand placed on the transport and highway network by event goers and whether this demand can be satisfactorily managed. This is likely to result in a significant nuisance for Twickenham residents.”

It is far from insurmountable but you’d do well to find many regular matchgoers who disagree. In parallel, a three-hour committee meeting on Tuesday to discuss the RFU’s licensing application demonstrated that there have been 192 representations against, 13 in favour. A decision is expected next week but the planning verdict will be definitive in a process that will roll into next year. In the meantime, the union’s predicament was neatly summed up when a scheduled summer K-pop concert was hastily relocated to the significantly smaller but more modern O2 arena. Evidently the RFU cannot attract the calibre of acts it needs to best make use of its 82,000-seater stadium given its current facilities and restrictions.

Upping sticks to Milton Keynes still feels a bit of a stretch but the RFU’s determination to maximise its greatest asset brings us nicely on to Saturday’s Twickenham clash between Argentina and South Africa. It promises to be a thrilling denouement to the most exciting Rugby Championship in years, upwards of 70,000 are expected and it is unquestionably a money-making enterprise. The fixture is operated by ISI and Steve Berrick, who has years of experience doing similar with the Barbarians at Twickenham and says, “like anything in life it’s usually based on commercial reasons. It’s fair to say all parties involved are happy with what they’ve entered into.”

Argentina are the “home” side – just as they were against Australia in 2016 – and it was their decision to approach the RFU. They will generate considerably more revenue than if the fixture was held back home, which will be an all-the-more-welcome cash boost given there is no Rugby Championship next year and logistically it makes sense. Travel from last weekend’s match in Durban is more forgiving while all but one of their starting lineup on Saturday play in either England or France. South Africa are the away side, simply along for the ride, but this is the third time in three years they play a match at Twickenham in which England are not involved.

The RFU, for its part, receives a hefty stadium hire fee as well as things like the bar takings which promise to be in the same ballpark as an England fixture given the bumper crowd that is expected. As Sweeney has admitted, Twickenham is the RFU’s “cash cow”. Is it any wonder the union is increasingly letting their rivals have a squeeze of the udders if they are willing to pay?

South Africa may simply be willing participants but it is no coincidence this fixture is seen as most suitable to take to Twickenham. As one insider put it this week, South Africa essentially straddle hemispheres these days with their club sides competing in the URC. The expat community in west London guarantees ticket sales and the UK time zone is sympathetic to supporters back home. They come to Twickenham safe in the knowledge that it will do no harm to their ambitions to strengthen their brand on a global scale, all the more so if they wrap up the title on England’s turf in style.

They also will welcome New Zealand for a bumper “Greatest Rivalry” series next summer, which will become a quadrennial, reciprocal tour, and a fourth “neutral” Test has been mooted, most likely in Europe, possibly back at Saturday’s venue. The Springboks may simply be the away side on Saturday but it is saying something when Bongi Mbonambi will match Tom Curry’s tally of Twickenham wins since the summer of 2023 if South Africa prevail against Argentina.

And the RFU, it seems, is only too happy to have them – recent rows including the ugly fallout from the 2023 World Cup semi-final and Rassie Erasmus’s social media posts concerning Wayne Barnes’ refereeing seemingly put to one side. Indeed, increasingly it feels Twickenham is being positioned as the northern hemisphere’s go-to neutral venue.

As Berrick says, “in England and the UK we welcome overseas sports. We’ve got NFL matches here, Brazil play football matches here, there’s baseball, it’s just a sports-mad country”.

It is no way to break into emerging markets – you would not seek to attract a new cricket audience by staging a match at Lord’s – but the odd Twickenham trip makes increasing sense. Take the Nations Championship, which begins next summer. The final is to be held at Twickenham and again potentially act as a neutral venue unless England top the northern hemisphere pool. Again, it is no way to develop the game in emerging countries but the Nations Championship has never been about that.

The tier-one unions, still feeling the pinch of the pandemic, are seeking increased revenues. The northern hemisphere teams are put out by the fact they lose money in World Cup years, the south’s big three are fed up with relying on a visit from the British & Irish Lions every 12 years to make ends meet. Hence innovations such as the Greatest Rivalry, hence Saturday’s match at Twickenham, hence New Zealand’s globetrotting assault on a grand slam this autumn including a rematch with Ireland in Chicago – the United States is the one developing market that all unions will seek to exploit.

It is hard to escape the feeling that the end game here is the Middle East. The 2028 Nations Championship finals are slated for Qatar but what price an autumn Test in 2026 or a World Cup warmup the following year? In the meantime, the odd trip to Twickenham for a payday suits everyone involved.

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