Recently I attended the England vs Ireland Six Nations match at Twickenham and I had the added bonus of getting access to the O2 Blueroom before the contest.

I had never been to Twickenham or an international rugby match in general so I jumped at the opportunity when being offered a ticket.

The additional benefit of getting access to the O2 Blueroom in the fan village before the match would hopefully be the cherry on top of the whole experience.

On Saturday (March 9) I travelled up to Twickenham along with more than 80,000 other people and made my way over to the fan village.

Wimbledon Times: More than 80,000 people attended England vs Ireland More than 80,000 people attended England vs Ireland (Image: Newsquest)

What was the O2 Blueroom like?

After scanning my ticket at the gate I was inside the fan village and I was able to find my way easily to the O2 Blueroom building.

Following that, I collected my wristband at the booth next to Blueroom and was given a programme, Ref Kit and vouchers for a pasty plus a couple of drinks.

Wimbledon Times: The O2 Blueroom from the outsideThe O2 Blueroom from the outside (Image: Newsquest)

Once inside I quickly made use of the pasty voucher with a few people immediately being on hand to give them out.

At events like these I've sometimes found companies scrimp out on the food a little, but to be fair to them the pasty was quite large and was very filling.

Wimbledon Times: Plenty of pasties were on offer inside the O2 BlueroomPlenty of pasties were on offer inside the O2 Blueroom (Image: Newsquest)

After that, there was some entertainment to watch in the main room as Vernon Kay was on stage hosting a number of games with some England and Ireland fans.

Italy vs Scotland was also being shown on numerous TVs around the room, which was unsurprisingly very packed at that point.

Wimbledon Times: Vernon Kay hosted some entertainment in the O2 BlueroomVernon Kay hosted some entertainment in the O2 Blueroom (Image: Newsquest)

Once Kay and company took a break from the entertainment I took the opportunity to make my way to the bar in the middle of the room as the crowd thinned out a bit.

After a short wait, I managed to get a free drink using one of my vouchers and actually managed to find a seat to watch the remainder of Italy vs Scotland.

On top of that the Azzurri managed to win a home Six Nations match for the first time in 11 years, much to the delight of the crowd around me in the room.

Wimbledon Times: Vernon Kay was a great host in the BlueroomVernon Kay was a great host in the Blueroom (Image: Newsquest)

Kay then came out briefly again to sign off before the match. He had been a brilliant host, interacting with the crowd exceptionally well, so it's definitely worth seeing if you can access the Blueroom.

I stayed a little while longer to make use of my other drinks voucher and then departed to take my seat inside the stadium.

Wimbledon Times: My view of the pitch at TwickenhamMy view of the pitch at Twickenham (Image: Newsquest)

My view was very central in the middle tier of Twickenham so it offered a perfect place to watch.


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In the end, despite little expectation of England performing well, they edged out a narrow game in dramatic fashion to win 23-22.

Taking it all in and being a part of the atmosphere made this an incredible experience, and again I was very glad to have been witness to it.

If you want to experience the O2 Blueroom on international matchdays you need to be an O2 Priority member to gain access.