I love going to rugby matches - I love
the fact that you sit next to opposing fans and have a bit of banter and a
chat, shake hands at the end, no matter what the result and go home, having
seen no bother at all and being able to buy alcohol in the ground. I love the
fact that you can see the sheer physicality of the game played out in
front of you by a team of men whose shape and size define their skill and
dedication. I love the fact that referees are called 'sir' and are respected,
or if argued with have the authority to remove a player from the field of play
for a 10 minute reflection (!) I love the songs sung by the fans with passion
and no need for vulgarity or insult. I love that whole families from
grandparents to their grandkids can go to a game feeling sure of a great
afternoon... I just love rugby.
This all started back in my student days in Leicester... In my
earlier teens I had been taken to the Holt End at the Villa ground and watched
football with my brother. I enjoyed getting to the matches and looking at the
police horses (my other passion is horses) and I did enjoy the matches, but I
hated the exit from the ground afterwards, with running battles across Villa
Park going on as we scuttled back to the car.
Then I chose Leicester for my student days, and lived in a house
with a passionate rugby fan with whom I went drinking in the rugby
pubs of Leicester - and went to Welly Road to watch matches, and joined
the women's rugby club - social duties only! - and so began my love
of rugby...
Karma meant I met and married a rugby man and so my interest in
the sport has grown over the years - including standing at the side of rugby
pitches on cold wet Saturdays watching him play, taking him to casualty on the
odd occasion it all went a bit wrong, and now watching him referee matches...
Over recent
years I've watched Munster beat Biarritz in Cardiff 2006 - and the Munster fans
rendition of 'The fields of Athenry' was magnificent - I watched Leinster beat
Tigers in Edinburgh 2009- broken hearted, I let my Irish family pay for the
drinks ;-) and I've watched numerous Tigers matches at Welly Road, fitted a
game into a weekend in Bath and watched local derby's and colts finals in local
leagues...
All this and in recent weeks my life has taken on a bit of a
Twickenham theme... A few weeks back now (St Patrick's day to be
exact!) the hubby and I went to watch Ireland get beaten by England, a good day
for me, less so for him. But it balanced our tally as last time we watched
our respective nations battle it out on the hallowed turf, Ireland beat England,
so there you go and we're still speaking!
Yesterday we made our way down to London to watch the Heineken
Cup final - Leinster vs Ulster. We were both in the mainly white of Ulster -
and I was wearing the hubby's 20+ yr old Ulster strip that he played age group
rugby in for them... but despite all that, and meeting up with brother &
sister-in-law, Ulster did not come out victorious :-( but at least the weather
was dry, so I carried my coat for nothing :-) and the Murphy's did not run out
at the bar!
Now, next Saturday we will return to Twickenham to see Leicester
Tigers play Harlequins in the Aviva Premiership final - I will be wearing my
new Tigers top, emblazoned with my name and my age - Thank you hubby - to
(positive mental attitude) see Tigers victorious :-)
For next year we have our tickets for the Heineken Cup final in
Dublin already - I can not wait, no matter who is in the final, it will be a
great weekend!
So my affinity with rugby goes on and on top of the
old adage that "Football is a game for gentlemen played by thugs
whereas Rugby is a game for thugs played by gentlemen" I read a tweet
today "Football - a game played by men who pretend to be injured. Rugby -
a game played by men desperate to prove they are not injured" - there is no comparison to rugby :-)
