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Why Itoje wouldn't oppose moving Premiership final from Twickenham
By Liam Heagney
Saracens talisman Maro Itoje would have no problem with the Gallagher Premiership final being played away from Twickenham if it helped to turn the final into a must-watch event for non-rugby supporters in England and beyond. Ahead of this weekend’s 2022 final featuring Sarries versus Leicester, it emerged that the league is currently only contracted to stage its showpiece at the home of English rugby until 2024.
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New Premiership Rugby CEO Simon Massie-Taylor, who was appointed to the role last October, revealed at the start of this week that while Twickenham has staged every final since playoffs were introduced in 2003 to decide the champions, renegotiations on that arrangement were set to start this summer as the existing deal expires in two years’ time.
Massie-Taylor has also suggested that the Premiership could mirror the French Top 14 model where the semi-finals are staged at a neutral venue over the course of a weekend to enhance rugby’s appeal and take the game outside its traditional strongholds. For instance, this weekend’s French last-four matches are being held in Nice at a football stadium.
Itoje has become a recognisable face outside of rugby and his interest was piqued at the Saracens media briefing ahead of the 2021/22 final when it was put to him that there were talks afoot about possibly moving the showpiece decider in years to come away from English rugby HQ and staging it elsewhere to broaden its attraction.
“That’s interesting,” said Itoje, the 27-year-old veteran of four previous Twickenham Premiership finals as a player on the winning side with Saracens. “The traditionalist in me might say that Twickenham is the home of English rugby but if there are ways in which was can make it a bigger spectacle for the fans and make it a more enjoyable viewing experience I’d be all for it.
“I guess if you compare it to other major sporting events, the Champions League final or the Grand Prix, like in Monaco recently or Miami, that is an event people don’t want to miss. I am sure Twickenham will be sold out and there will be loads of people there but they will predominantly be rugby fans.
“The difference between that and some of the other events I have spoken about is that it is an event ordinary people, ordinary sports fans or just people in general just don’t want to miss. They want to be there, they want to feel the atmosphere and feel the experience so that is the challenge for these big events in rugby.
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“Of course, the rugby fans will always be there and will always be important. We can’t do anything without the rugby fans so they always need to be heard but we want to make it a spectacle so that the ordinary person doesn’t want to miss it because it’s the Premiership final, it should be the biggest event in town.”
Plenty of tickets are still available for the upcoming 2022 showpiece at the 82,000 capacity at Twickenham. The last pre-lockdown Premiership final took place in 2019 with 75,329 fans attending to see Saracens defeat Exeter in a thriller. 2020’s decider between winners Exeter and Wasps was held behind closed doors while attendance at last June 2021 final featuring champions Harlequins and Exeter was restricted to 10,000 due to pandemic restrictions in force at the time.
