RFU ponders staging Super 15 game

Crusaders are set to host Brumbies at Trafalgar Park in Nelson this weekend

London could become the first foreign city to host a Super 15 match when the Crusaders play the Sharks on 25 March.

The Crusaders are moving their home games from Christchurch because of last month’s earthquake and are searching for larger-capacity venues.

They have approached the Rugby Football Union about staging the game against South Africa’s Sharks at Twickenham.

Agreement from the Sharks as well as police clearance would also be needed before the match could go ahead.

And with only a little over two weeks to go, the RFU would face a race against time to market and ticket the match.

It’s certainly an option. Australia is an option, elsewhere around the country is an option Crusaders chief Hamish Riach on where they will play the Sharks

Another potential obstacle is Harlequins’ home Aviva Premiership game against Gloucester on the same day.

Their Stoop ground is less than a mile from the RFU’s Twickenham headquarters.

Despite that, Crusaders chief executive Hamish Riach said: “It’s certainly an option. Australia’s an option, elsewhere around the country’s an option and we want to balance that with our region.”

The club’s Lancaster Park stadium is currently closed while the damage caused by 22 February’s earthquake is assessed.

The venue is due to host seven matches in the Rugby World Cup – the first of which is England’s Pool B match against Argentina on 10 September.

The Crusaders moved to Trafalgar Park in Nelson for the weekend’s 33-18 win over the Waratahs but the 10,500 capacity limits ticket revenue.

Riach added: “We can’t get through our year on 10,500 people every week so we want to do something big and dramatic.”

Although a match at Twickenham would be the first time Super 15 Rugby has been staged away from the participant nations, Bledisloe Cup Tests between Australia and New Zealand have been contested in Japan and Hong Kong in recent years.

In January, Wasps moved

their LV= Cup match against Harlequins to Abu Dhabi

in the first United Kingdom domestic fixture to be played abroad.

Sharks chief Brian van Zyl said they would make a decision on whether to support the Crusaders idea after their next game against the Rebels in Melbourne on Friday.

“While we understand their difficulties, we must make a rugby decision that is best for the Sharks’ campaign.

“It must be a decision in the best interests of the team and our stakeholders,” he said.