Twickenham stands alone among the stadiums of the home unions as unsponsored but Ian Ritchie would not rule out a naming-rights deal should the right package be presented. “There’s nothing specific at the moment,” the chief executive of the RFU said. “We haven’t had a proposal but you would look at it. All the money we get goes back into the game, so I certainly wouldn’t rule it out. It’s the nature of the beast.”

It seems extraordinary that no organisation has approached the RFU on the matter. The Welsh Rugby Union became the latest to succumb to a stadium rebrand, changing the Millennium Stadium’s name at the start of this year to the Principality Stadium in a 10-year deal thought to be worth £15m. Lansdowne Road has been known as the Aviva Stadium since the new stadium was built in 2010.

On the surface of it, though, Scotland have struck the best deal. For what is understood to be a £20m, four-year arrangement, they have been allowed to retain their traditional stadium name of Murrayfield, merely appending the prefix BT.

The RFU’s decision, should it come to it, will be fraught with such notions of tradition and dignity. “You’ve got to make sure it’s the right deal,” Ritchie said. “There are some brand associations that would be more challenging than others. Wembley took the ‘in association with’ option, rather than simple naming rights. There’s a balance between that and maintaining the heritage and tradition. And, frankly, what’s the money on the table?”

That amount is likely to be healthy now England can call themselves grand slam champions. Ritchie admits the previous 12 months have seen more than a few ups and downs. “That is the biggest difference between this and my previous job [as the chief executive of Wimbledon]. When people asked me before who do I want to win, you had to say the event’s the thing, I’m neutral. But I’m certainly not neutral about who wins out here. It’s hide-behind-the-sofa time. I’m a complete nervous wreck. You can never relax.”

He is a little more relaxed, though, about the destiny of Sam Underhill, the talented young flanker playing for the Ospreys because of his studies in Wales. Ritchie is of the opinion England’s strict exclusion policy towards players outside the Premiership could be relaxed on account of his reasons for playing across the border, should Eddie Jones wish to select Underhill for the senior tour to Australia this summer or the Saxons to South Africa.

Either way there is no immediate danger of losing him to Wales, for whom he would qualify if he remained there for another two seasons. “He’s very English, as I understand it. Richard Hill has been a mentor for him. I don’t think there’s any doubt he sees himself as English.”

Whether Ritchie is still in place when all these projects come to fruition remains to be seen. He has been linked with the role of chairman of the Football Association, which will become vacant in July when Greg Dyke steps down. When asked if the position appealed, he grinned widely and said: “I’ve got more than enough to do here.”