By Leipziger
October 15 2010

As I settled with a pint of Brown Ale in the Marquis of Granby on New Cross Road last night just before kick-off, I reflected that this basic but friendly pub beside Goldsmiths College was a far cry from the classy Thai bar/restaurant by the O2 at which Steve and I had watched the Falcons beat Brive back in 2008.  Indeed, it wasn’t even the Walpole down the road, where I watched us lose to Brive later that same year.

I also considered that, in all the 15-odd years I have been watching the Falcons, I could probably count on two hands the amount of times I have watched our team on TV.  You see I find it a strange experience, and that is an adjective a number of the students and regulars might have used to describe me last night I suppose, as I regularly shouted at the TV, threw my hands onto my head and even jumped around for a second or two when Luke Fielden scored our try, all on my own.

Actually though, until one rant at the referee in the last couple of minutes I don’t think anyone noticed me.  The place was full of first-year students getting to know each other discussing God and the world over a few pints.  So when a Montpellier player grabbed one of our lads round the neck in the dying minutes and the referee gave them a penalty, not long after sin-binning Tim Ryan for innocuously grabbing an opponent’s shirt, I was a bit angry and the lad standing next to me unfortunately got it right in the ear.

In my defence I’d been flirting between angry and depressed for most of the second half.  But the feeling I remember most this morning is helplessness – at least if I had been at the match as I am normally I could have shouted and sung.  What effect that has only the players know but it won’t do any harm.  Standing in a pub watching on the TV I felt totally impotent, completely detached.  It wasn’t a nice feeling.

It could all have been so different after a competitive first half in which Montpellier’s big-booted scrum-half Benoit Paillaugue hit two penalties, answered by one from the lively Joel Hodgson, and then after half an hour Fielden spun off a defender to touch down in the right corner.  As I jumped up and cheered, the relative quiet around me was unnerving.  Not that I cared.

A controversial penalty on half-time put Montpellier into the lead 9-8 at the break, but there was much cause for optimism after a period of six or seven minutes in which the home side looked certain to score a try, but our defence held out.  The banner on the TV reminding us all that BBC Parliament’s Student Finance Statement was on at 8pm had also not led to anyone asking for the channel to be changed.

Whatever happened in the dressing rooms at half-time, Montpellier came out a more clinical and pacy outfit while the Falcons struggled to get into the game.  Even the introduction of Micky Young and then later Rob Vickers and Tim Swinson made little difference to the French side’s domination.

Two more penalties from Paillaugue extended the home lead and finally the try came when Quentin Doumayrou cut through just before the hour.  Another penalty and a second try by Seta Tuilevuka sealed a 32-8 win, for which Montpellier were good value, particularly in the second half.  Any hopes we had of getting a consolation score late on were hit by an extremely harsh yellow card for Ryan.

So in conclusion, you may see the game better on the TV (although I didn’t feel like that personally) but nothing beats the atmosphere of being at the match.  I really can’t wait to get back on the South Stand for Saracens next week now.

Off the terraces and down the local

Discussion started by FalconsRugby.org.uk , 15/10/2010 08:58

FalconsRugby.org.uk
15/10/2010 08:58

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steve1888
15/10/2010 09:27

Ha god i remember that night well , drinking cocktails and shots watching rugby in a Thai restaurant before going to a concert, bizarre but fun.

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Back Row Move
15/10/2010 09:49

Another well written piece.

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Wearsider
15/10/2010 10:10

Great piece of writing Leipy

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Rugbyears
15/10/2010 20:32

Excellent read!

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westand
15/10/2010 22:03

While watching it in the pub also (interesting with French commentary) I was asked if that Hodgson fellow on Falcons side was a relative of that other Hodgson who played somewhere else. I was dumbstruck, for a second or two.

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DGNTR
16/10/2010 15:10

He's the son of Steve, who owns Hodgson motor dealerships

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geordie205gti
16/10/2010 16:35

Leipziger, is the Marquis of Granby a good pub for watching rugby then? Does it have a selection of TV's 'cos rugby is usually a last resort in this neck of the woods!

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Leipziger
16/10/2010 17:04

I normally just go there to watch football, but I went a few months ago and they had football on one screen and a Heineken Cup semi on another, so they must be able to show two Sky channels. It was Munster or Leinster mind, and they do like Irish sport there.

Depending where you are around here I'd also recommend the ultra-cheap Green Man on Berwick Street (off Oxford Street), the other year they put England v Argentina rugby on one of the small TVs while all the others had England's football game on.

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geordie205gti
17/10/2010 00:39

I'm further up the Old Kent Road, in between Walworth Road and New Kent Road. I've been watching the current run of Sky games at The Tankard on Walworth Road. As long as it doesn't clash with the Premiership I can usually get the rugby on.

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