The second half of England’s Six Nations victory over Italy was ambushed by a drone trailing a Palestinian flag over the top of Allianz Stadium.
Towards the end of the round-four win over the Azzurri, a flying object entered the airspace over Twickenham and descended beneath the top of the stands, with the game still taking place beneath. The players and referee Andrew Brace were oblivious to the drone hovering above them and the game was never stopped, with the object flying off in a north-westerly direction after lingering for roughly a minute.
At one stage, the drone descended to a point which was almost level with the stadium’s spider cam, the wired aerial camera that manoeuvres above the Twickenham turf.
It is understood that security at Twickenham had constant eyes on the drone and were monitoring its presence. Its appearance does raise the question of whether stadiums should follow the lead of airports and install jamming technology.
The incident marks the second time this weekend that British sporting activity has been affected by Pro-Palestinian activists. On Saturday, Palestine Action targeted Donald Trump’s Scottish golf course, Turnberry, spray-painting the clubhouse, digging up greens, and daubing “Gaza is not for sale” on the course in 10ft-high white letters.
Although it remains unclear whether Palestine Action was responsible for the Twickenham drone, the group on Saturday said in a statement that its Turnberry protest came “as a direct response to the US administration’s stated intent to ethnically cleanse Gaza”.
The appearance of the drone is the first known security breach at the home of English rugby since Just Stop Oil activists interrupted the 2023 Premiership final with orange paint bombs. Two men were later charged with aggravated trespass.
The RFU declined to comment.
