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| Visitor numbers at Twickenham’s museum are likely to swell thanks to media and public interest in the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand this autumn - but fans from any country, not just England, should be satisified. A circular gallery tells how rugby went global and visitors are greeted with information in a host of languages. It would be all too easy to begin with a history lesson on how football evolved into rugby, but instead the museum offers exhibits more likely to excite younger visitors – baths and a treatment room, a commentary position, and about the ground’s security operation. The subject matter ranges wide – with display boards and exhibits about the Tri-Nations competition in the southern hemisphere, music hall songs and postage stamps about the game, and a 'wall of fame' highlighting great players. The much-debated issue of how rugby began (was it really down to a schoolboy called William Webb Ellis?) is rather side-stepped but a souvenir guide (not always on show, you may have to request it) bluntly dismisses the traditional tale as myth. There is a lot of video and audio material, including in a small cinema that shows a film about the World Cup. The technology can sometimes be temperamental but it is great to be able to hear commentary on the first-ever sports event broadcast in the UK, a Twickenham international in 1927 – complete with the use of a printed pitch guide that coined the phrase “back to square one”. _____________________________________________________________________ Tours go to the Royal Box, hospitality boxes and VIP areas, plus pitch-side. They leave from the Rugby Store in the South Stand and you have to buy museum tickets there too. The museum is in the East Stand, a fair distance away, so you are advised to go there after the tour, not before. A film on the museum's website gives a feel of what the museum and tours are like, but frustratingly there is no sound on it. |
