Italian journalist soaked by pint as Twickenham booze culture slammed

13 February 2023 , 11:04

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There were reports of further booze-fuelled fans at Twickenham (Image: PA)

An Italian journalist was soaked after a fan tossed a pint of beer during England's victory over Italy at Twickenham on Sunday.

The hosts recorded their first Six Nations win of the year, as they defeated Italy 31-14 on home soil last weekend. The England victory was however tarnished by an incident in the crowd, as the booze culture within the Twickenham stands once again came under scrutiny.

On the pitch, Steve Borthwick's side were looking to bounce back after defeat to Scotland a week prior. And the newly-appointed head coach was finally off the mark, as Henry Arundell capped off the win by crossing the try line with just over 10 minutes left on the clock.

As Arundell crossed the line though, one working Italian journalist was left covered in beer, after a pint was thrown from the top tier of the national stadium into the press box - according to the Daily Mail. This is not the first time that an England clash has been tarnished by booze-fuelled supporters.

Following the defeat to Scotland a week before the Italy win, former legendary coach Sir Clive Woodward told the Daily Mail that watching England at Twickenham had become 'a pretty unpleasant experience', branding the stadium the 'world's biggest pub'.

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An Italian journalist was left covered in beer at Twickenham (The RFU Collection via Getty Images)

Amid the recent trouble, there have been calls to introduce an alcohol-free zone at Twickenham on a match day. The RFU has since addressed these calls, admitting that they are 'monitoring' the situation.

An RFU spokesperson said: "We know the full match day experience is very important to fans, which is why we continue to evolve the wider Twickenham event day experiences including music and entertainment before, during and after the game."

Do you think alcohol should be banned at Twickenham? Let us know in the comments section below.

There have been calls to ban alcohol at the home of English rugby (Getty Images)

The statement added: "Given the size of Twickenham and limited time between breaks in play, it would not be practical or safe to operate a no-entry/exit from seats policy during a game. We carefully monitor the sale of alcohol in other venues and the impact of zoning and bar closures.

"This insight demonstrates bar closures can lead to other behaviours such as extensive pre-drinking prior to kick-off and at half time and late arrivals causing disruption to the start of a game as well as crowding on departure and dissatisfaction from those in alcohol-free zones they weren't expecting."

Joshua Lees