Twickenham date for England - Black Ferns clash

New Zealand - The Black Ferns - will end their first ever tour of England at Twickenham as part of "double header" of England vs New Zealand internationals. Spectators will be able to watch both the women's and men's internationals back-to-back. The last time England played at Twickenham - against Italy in 2007 - the game took place after the men's international and the game was shown live by the BBC (via the "red button"), so live coverage of the game in November seems extremely likely.

Needless to say RFUW are delighted by the high profile this will give the game, Rosie Williams saying that:

"This is another very exciting development for the women's game in England. We have seen in cricket how a successful Women's World Cup campaign can add to the men's game rather than compete with it* and we are looking to make a similar statement in Rugby. Playing the current World Champions at the home of English Rugby is not only a fantastic opportunity for the players but also for the profile of the game."

Unlike the Italian game (which was a barely advertised "extra") both matches will be marketed as the Investec Challenge Double Header "giving fans the chance to witness some of the game's best male and female rugby players at one sporting venue".

Venues for the "first test" on the 14th and the "A" international on the 17th have yet to be annonced. The irony of an England world cup warm-up game being allowed to take place at Twickenham when the best the actual world cup itself is being offered is The Stoop has also gone without comment.

[*The recent cricket 20:20 world cup included women's and men's semi-finals and finals at the same venues, resulting in live TV coverage for the winners - England - which has in turn been followed up by dramatically improved news coverage of the women's game throughout the season].