Allianz Stadium Twickenham

Allianz Stadium Twickenham The RFU headquarters stand on the same site, making this the administrative heart of the sport as well as the sporting one.

The place lives for the autumn internationals. When England play, the atmosphere tightens. The away end never stopped during the 2003 final, and the history between the home side and their opponents adds an edge that no other ground in the capital matches.

It plays host to other sports too. The Rugby League Challenge Cup Finals have been held here, and the NFL London Games brought American football to the south-west. On quiet Sundays, however, the focus remains on the national team. The hybrid surface handles the wear, but the real value lies in the tradition.

Concerts fill the seats when the rugby is done, but for a local watching from the street, the stadium is a rugby ground. It is not the home of Harlequins, who play at the nearby Twickenham Stoop Stadium. This is where the big matches happen, where the draw brought the world's best together early in the century and where the crowd watched the home side get over the line. The scale of the structure is what separates it from the identical one down the road, but the silence on a non-match day is what makes it feel like a community landmark.