Twickenham scupltures give stadium dramatic edge

When I start my new course at St Mary's University College, I will be just a stone's throw away from the great Twickenham rugby stadium. Granted, it would have to be quite some throw, but you get the idea. As you come up to the approach to the stadium, it is quite impressive. It is almost reminiscent to the Millenium Stadium and Wembley Stadium in size, but obviously without the water features of the former!
The newest additions to the stadium are some impressive bronze sculptures adorning one of the walls surrounding Twickenham stadium. Pop artist Gerald Laing is the man behind them. with five players in line-out formation in glorious bronze. They will leave their human-equivalents in the shadows, standing 27ft tall on the South Side of the stadium.
The aim is to leave a lasting legacy, with the statues representing the five supposed core-mantras of the sport of rugby union - teamwork, respect, enjoyment, discipline and sportsmanship. The statue had an eventful journey to the stadium - after being moulded in clay before being scanned onto a computer and cast in bronze, it was transported from Laing's studio in a lorry and trailer, and was stopped three times by the police!
The ball is tantalisingly out of reach of the catcher at the top of the line-out, so there is a certain amount of ambiguity over whether he has caught the ball. You need to see it to gauge the true scale of the sculpture. England team manager and former World Cup winning captain Martin Johnson, standing tall at 6ft7in, only came up to the waists of the players at the grand unveiling.
Pop artist Laing, who confessed to not being a rugby fan, was nonetheless delighted the Rugby Football Union agreed to commission the sculptures: 'I thank the RFU for having the courage and conviction to commission the work. The line-out is a particularly dramatic part of the most dramatic of games, and I hope this is reflected in the sculptures.
It will certainly give a dramatic start to what most fans will be an eventful day out!