Twickenham Set For Friday Night Games With RFU Under Pressure

The Rugby Football Union is under pressure to stage Six Nations matches at Twickenham on Friday nights after the fixtures proved successful during last year’s World Cup.

The Stade de France in Paris and Cardiff’s Principality Stadium — then known as the Millennium Stadium — have both hosted Friday fixtures since they were introduced in 2009.

There are only two scheduled for the next two championships, with France visiting Cardiff on February 6 while Ireland will visit the Welsh capital on March 10 next year, and Six Nations organisers want to see an increase from 2018.

“Now that we have had Friday nights [at Twickenham] at the World Cup there is no reason why we cannot consider doing a Friday night at Twickenham going forward,” Six Nations chief executive John Feehan told British newspapers.

“Clearly there are a few hurdles to overcome if that is the case but Friday nights are available to us in two venues at the moment and we would expect that to increase as we go forward.

“Friday nights have always been an issue in so far as logistics and people worrying around hospitality. In England, people have reasonable distance to travel to get to the games, particularly if they are coming from the north or west of the country.

“But it has been a success. Friday nights have been a success in Paris and in Wales so I don’t see why it wouldn’t be a success anywhere else.”

The RFU cited travel issues for supporters when declining a request from Six Nations organisers last year to host Friday matches.

Source: ESPN