In the UK, few stadiums are as synonymous with rugby as Twickenham. The old cabbage patch is the home of the sport in England and is a place where iconic and lasting memories have been made over the decades.

It’s also the only stadium to have hosted two Rugby World Cup finals, in 1991 and 2015.

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Thousands of players have stepped foot onto the hallowed turf to pit their wits against formidable foes, millions of bums have been up and down off seats watching them do so, and countless newcomers have been inspired to take up the game after a trip to ‘Twickers’.

You can’t put a price on that kind of legacy. There may be stadiums with a higher capacity, better facilities, easier access to and from, comfier seats, and so on, but there is a certain allure about Twickenham that is hard to match.

It’s why it attracts all-comers, eager to gaze upon the famous structure and breathe in history, hoping to have their own ‘I was there’ moment.

It’s why, even in a period of relative misery for the men’s national team, games continue to sell out quickly.

For all its faults, and there are plenty, it’s still a venue that invokes emotion and enriches the sport in ways that often can’t be quantified.

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Yet for all this, it’s future looks uncertain. Reports emerged that the RFU considered an option to sell Twickenham in favour of a home share with the Football Association 10 miles up the road at Wembley Stadium, rather than give its prize possession the TLC deemed necessary.

That idea has been scrapped for now but how long before something similar is back on the table?

With the way sport in general is going it would come as little surprise to see Twickenham fall by the wayside in place of a garishly named venue devoid of any and all character. A sponsor-laden moneymaker that is as much about staging rugby matches as it is about using the sport as a pawn in a larger plan. So long as the coffers are full.

Money is, of course, a necessary evil in all this but at what cost?

Take Formula 1 as an example. Iconic tracks like Hockenheim, Mugello and the Nurburgring are long gone, while mainstays like Monza in Italy and Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium have even come under threat of late amid the growing desire of the governing body to flood the calendar with glitzy street circuits.

The Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona will be dropped for 2026 in favour of another one of these temporary layouts in Madrid, while the Grands Prix in Miami and Las Vegas epitomise the new direction of the sport, as does the season opening and closing in the Middle East.

Everything must adapt and evolve with the times and Twickenham is no exception, but for a sport which teeters on the margins of the mainstream to flourish, rugby needs to cherish its historic venues that are its lifeblood and that transcend the game beyond just the core fans.