A Warrior or a Wasp that is the question

Oh I’d rather be a Warrior than a Wasp!

Oh I’d rather be a Warrior than a Wasp,

Oh I’d rather be a Warrior than a Wasp,

‘Cos the Warriors won the night

And put mighty Wasps to flight

Oh I’d rather be a Warrior than a Wasp!

We finally staggered to bed at 2.15am, drunk with success rather than alcohol, having come home from Sixways and watched the video of the game – just to make sure that we really had won.

What a night!

What a game!

What a team!

Friday night had something of a carnival atmosphere to it from the start: the floodlights; the dry, mild weather; a capacity crowd; the buzz provided by the TV cameras.  The fans were buoyant after the Warriors’ rejuvenated performance at Franklin’s Gardens last week.  Never mind the pundit predictions, was something special about to happen?  Remember Bees surprise defeat of Wasps in the Cup last season and our successful pre-season friendly over a year ago;  Tommy, Drew, Craig, Tony, Matt, Gabes, Truesy from last season were also in the squad to-night. Could history repeat itself?

A feeling of excited anticipation was evident in the Hallmark Suite before the game.  143 supporters tucked in to beef casserole and rhubarb crumble before enjoying the usual Ask the Players session – Jon Hylton and Clive Stuart-Smith this evening. (Good to hear JH talking of a February return.)  Bradders was in light-hearted mood, as were the questions and answers:

            DB:      Describe Phil Richards’ philosophy and methods.

            Player A:     Masochism

            Player B:     Eat more meat; lift more weight.

            DB:      Who is Tim Collier’s tackle partner now that Ben Gollings has left?

            Player A:      Tim Collier

            DB:      Are you suggesting that TC plays with himself?

Later events were to show that, whatever the training programme, it is proving highly effective.

Around the pitch, the fans were warming up their vocal cords.  The Npowerettes waved their pom-poms and Maximus (alias photographer Ben Dalby of The Standard) waved his sword.  In the corner of the pitch, kaleidoscopic images of the ground flickered across the big screen.  Finally, the preliminaries were completed and the cameras focused on the tunnel…

Wasps emerged to polite applause;

Carmina Burana blared across the ground;

The cheers rose to a deafening crescendo;

The Warriors ran out…

Game on!

I had a dream: Half-time score:Worcester 24 – Wasps 10, except it wasn’t a dream.  We were pinching ourselves to make sure.  3 tries against the League and European Champions: a crashing centre, a jinking winger and a steam-rollering forward.  This was a team playing for each other and functioning as a unit.  Back in September, a Sarries supporter had commented ruefully that a successful team was more than a collection of famous players.  How true!

The second half was an awesome test.  Could the Warriors survive?  We shuddered to see Lawrence Dallaglio, called from the bench, blistering the ears of his troops in their pre-kick-off huddle.  We remembered what had happened to Gloucester last week.

Oh ye of little faith…The Wasps threw everything at us, but our team played like men possessed.  Even after the agonising wait for the TV ref’s decision which then went against us, our lads didn’t panic, didn’t let their heads drop.  Finally, after the longest few minutes of the season so far, Mr Leyshon blew his whistle…and Sixways went wild! Players hugged each other and punched the air; Pat Sanderson looked as if he was going to turn himself inside out with delight; around the pitch, complete strangers slapped each other on the back and embraced their neighbours with tears in their eyes.  What a team! What a game!

As the initial euphoria subsided, the applause became more controlled.  Credit must go to Wasps and their sporting attitude.  Lawrence Dallaglio made a point of shaking as many Warrior hands as he could reach and his example set the tone for his team.  Thank you Wasps – your graciousness in defeat is the sign of a great team and contributed in no small measure to the memorable atmosphere of the night.

After the game, Worcester fans in their hundreds stayed at Sixways – replaying the game, the season, the past and the future.  Our walking and limping wounded were enveloped by solicitous enquiries.  It was good to see Leon Greef on his feet (well, crutches) and sharing in the occasion, though he is obviously still suffering considerable pain and facing many months of rehab.. Best wishes, Leon, to you and your family.  Poor old André was evidently in pain where it hurts – let’s hope you’re better soon.  Good wishes from us all to the entire our squad – the battered, the bruised and the broken – and to Claire and the Medics who keep mending them and sending them back on the pitch.

And so it was home time and back to the video to make sure that we hadn’t been dreaming.  Perhaps it was only an illusion: especially when Bobby Skinstadt kept talking about “this afternoon”, Barnes and Morris described it as “a feast of rugby” and John Brain was seen to smile!  Were we going to wake up in the cold and find that there was a different end to the story?  That was why we didn’t get to bed until 2.15am, until we had seen it all again and were absolutely sure that it was true.

Now the pressure’s off a little.  Let’s enjoy the Cup matches against Rovigo and our friends from London Irish, see some old favourites and new faces on the pitch and get everyone mended for the second half of the season. Martin Corry said we would struggle until Christmas and then find our feet. We’ve already bettered that.  The Warriors have shown that they can beat the best.  Now bring on Leicester and show everyone that they’ve seen nothing yet.

What’s a tiger, after all, but a pussy cat with attitude!