In last Friday’s Daily Mail, Sir Clive Woodward, former England player and later Coach of the 2003 World Cup Champions, wrote an article titled Twickenham is now the world’s biggest pub.
Interestingly enough, that is the exact phrasing used to describe the venue by our tour guide during Rafter’s paid tour of Twickenham Stadium not five days prior to Woodward’s commentary hitting the pages of the Daily Mail.
The beer stands at Twickenham open two hours prior to kickoff (three if you pony up for hospitality) and close two hours after the final whistle, so the fact that Twickenham sells literally tons of beer on game day is not exactly a state secret.
Unlike the typical get-in-get-out fan mindset at many sporting events, rugby is unique, as much of a social occasion as it is a sporting event. (Attend day-one of a sevens tournament sometime).
In the interest of full disclosure, Rafters is in it to see the rugby, but the sport’s social aspect was the genesis of several meaningful friendships.
In his article, Woodward states that the RFU has a ‘big problem on their hands.” His chief complaints stems from having to let people in and out of the row to get more beer or address excreting bodily functions.
“… most [fans} are more interested in queueing for a drink than what is happening on the field,” and that his friends and family were “surrounded” by people more concerned with drinking than about the rugby.
Most fans? Rafters doubts that.
Rafters has never been to a concert or sporting event where a few tiny-tankers haven’t disrupted their row to empty their bladders and then take advantage of the opportunity to refill it.
Yes, it is annoying, especially if you’re unlucky enough to get that one guy who does it over and over. As annoying as it is, it’s part of the deal at most venues, especially if you’re seated on the aisle.
To his credit Woodward did offer a couple of reasonable solutions, an alcohol free section and holding fans out of the seating area during play.
But, coffee, tea, and soft drinks flow through the body just as quickly as beer, so an alcohol-free section might not make that much of a difference to the up-down experience, but it might be a good way for families to temporarily avoid the drunks.
You won’t find Rafters sitting there.
The Exception
Of course, right on queue, one idiot fan at the England/Italy match launched a beer over the upper tier rail at the press box on level two, squarely nailing a visiting Italian journalist.
Many would say, and on Monday the Daily Mail essentially did, that this incident (accidental or not) makes Woodward’s point.
Many people in the stands on game day have played rugby in school and carry the values learned on the field and a sense of respect for the game into the stands. (It’s not perfect, but an ideal worth reinforcing and striving for).
It’s been Rafters experience that rugby fans tend to self-police, and if one or two fans get too out of line, the people around him will shame him into behaving. Most conflicts typically end with an apology and a handshake.
Even Woodward, acknowledges that the guys getting up were polite. “These were decent and polite guys who apologized for causing a disturbance.”
Principality Stadium, an aside
Woodward is right about the problem being worse at Principality Stadium. Rafters had the unfortunate experience of sitting in a lower level aisle seat and spent the majority of Wales’ Autumn Nations Series against New Zealand trying to see around fans walking up and down the stairs to buy beer.
After dealing with a trade union rail strike and spending ten hours on a bus just to get to and from Cardiff, the experience at Principality Stadium was highly unsatisfactory and they have a booze free zone. Note to staff: Don’t ever order tickets on the lower level of Principality again, and what ever you do, don’t get an aisle seat.
Valid complaints
One of Woodward’s more valid complaints is the timing of the disruptions, and the beer hunters’ obliviousness to the action on the field.
Here is where he is spot on, and the practice of stewards holding fans in the concourses until there is a break in the action has worked in many NFL stadiums, but football (gridiron) is a different game, and this could create its own challenges. One of the appeals of rugby is its fluidity, and holding fans in the tunnel for an extended period of time might cause friction.
The NFL and the RFU both do a solid job of crowd management, but one of the NFL’s strategies should be off the table. In the thirty two NFL stadiums, venues of equal size to Twickenham, the league “suggests” that beer stands close at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
Most Americans drive to the games, and the league believes that fans can’t be trusted to manage their own behavior, so they manage it for them. But given the early closure of NFL beer stands, there are still more fan incidents at a typical NFL game than at rugby.
Rafters was an NFL season ticket holder for over twenty years and has also attended a combined two score England, USA Eagles, Wales, Harlequins, London Irish, Wasps, and Saracens matches over the last eight years.
Rafters saw more fights in one section of Mile High Stadium at one game, (six) than during all of the premiership and international rugby matches attended (zero).
That maybe why a typical NFL stadium is lined with police officers collecting overtime on game day, and Twickenham has a single officer on duty inside the stadium.
Does the RFU really have a big Problem?
“It’s [fan drinking] a complex problem,” Woodward proffers, but it is a problem, if it really is one, with eighty-thousand plus moving parts.
The notion of an alcohol free zone at Twickenham is not far fetched and could be easily implemented, far easier than turning stadium stewards into traffic cops blocking fans from returning to the seating area during the action. Any directives beyond that will lead to a progression of micromanagement.
The rules for any venue, as with society, should not attempt to manage every specific scenario nor should they be aimed at the dumbest guy in the room. As the saying goes, “If you idiot proof your society you will get a society full of idiots,” an axiom already on full display throughout Europe, Great Briton and North America.
Afters
If you are interested in watching the Six Nations and Premiership Rugby in the United States (live or replays), you can stream all the matches on Peacock. Xfinity includes Peacock with some cable subscriptions.
Flo Rugby offers replays of the Autumn Internationals, USA Rugby, the Rugby Championships, and Super Rugby.
The Rugby Network broadcasts the MLR for no charge,
Fine Print
Other than a customer, Rafters is not affiliated with any league, team, or streaming/cable service.