Despite covering Twickenham and the RFU for more than two-and-a-half years, I had ashamedly never been to watch a rugby match at the national stadium.

But, for the crucial Six Nations clash between England and Ireland, I was not only offered the opportunity to see the men in white but shown exactly how much work goes into allowing these major events to run smoothly.

I have experienced Twickenham on a match day before – most notably, I walked through the town as the fans were leaving last summer’s Rugby Sevens event and for the World Cup’s opening day.

But for England vs Ireland, the atmosphere was markedly different, it felt much more like a major sporting event than a carnival event.

The first stop on my whistle-stop tour was to meet Roisin Neligan-Ayling, 15, who told me she would be performing the Irish anthem Ireland’s Call later in the afternoon.

She said: “I did it in September for the warm-up match before the World Cup, it is an honour to be asked back – I’ve got all the feelings coming back.”

The occasion must have taken on even more significance for the St Catherine’s schoolgirl because, not only is her dad the head groundsman at Twickenham, but she lives in the shadow of it.

She added: “I was on the pitch when I was two weeks’ old and the stadium is a big part of my life – we are a big rugby family.”

Roisin had to rush off to a soundcheck while I was whisked away to the control room, the all-seeing and all-watching room within the stadium.

From here, you can see what is happening in the stadium, in the town centre, at Twickenham station and even as far as platforms five and six at Clapham Junction.

“We take the decision on when to start closing roads based on how busy the streets are and if people are starting to spill over from the pavement,” explained CCTV operator Chris Hillman.

Today the roads are closed at 3.09pm and Chris promptly lets community relations officer Pedro Diogo know so that he can tweet it from the RFU’s community Twitter account, Home Turf.

Next I am invited to sit in on the steward’s pre-match briefing, as the crowds begin the build outside.

The terror threat is high on the agenda and all stewards are told to look out for “the singleton with a grudge” – but, I must stress, this match was allocated ‘low risk’.

Fans will be reassured to know how thorough the work of the stewards is and the detail they are told to look out for – bottles, powders, wires, etc.

Before taking my seat in the lavish press box facilities, I meet catering manager Andy McRabb, who provides us hungry journalists with hot food throughout the afternoon.

He said: “I have been doing this for over 10 years now – it’s all about learning what little quirks each person has and what they like.

“We try to keep the menu as simple and plain as possible because that’s what people want.”

I must compliment the chef on the exquisite – and simple – cottage pie and Andy was delighted to see me coming back for seconds at half-time.

It really was a fascinating insight to see just how much effort goes into making Twickenham stadium run like clockwork every match day.

I confess I am no rugby fan – and this experience was very different to following Brentford up and down the country every week – but it was an eye-opener.

The match itself went over my head a bit but even I could appreciate the excitement as England stormed to a 21-10 win, with ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’ still ringing in my ears as I left.