England should venture outside their London moneypit and take a big game to rugby lovers otherwise disenfranchised by geography and, in some cases, history
It is October 2007 and the clear Mediterranean sky is turning from sapphire blue to purest velvet. England, against all the odds, have just beaten Australia in the World Cup quarter-finals and down in the Vieux Port area of Marseille a monumental party is brewing. Even before France’s tournament-shaping game against New Zealand in Cardiff kicks off the harbourside vibe makes Twickenham feel like a suburban vicarage.
So bienvenue with knobs on to Marseille as the Six Nations’s newest host city. Whether this Friday night’s contest between France and Italy in the 67,000-capacity Stade Vélodrome will induce a similar frisson of excitement is debatable but it does raise a key question: how big a part do stadiums play in the tournament’s allure? Does rotating the scenery every now and again enhance the production or nibble away at its soul? Make no mistake, the Six Nations committee will be monitoring France’s first championship foray outside Paris with interest.
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