By Gaz
July 17 2004

Perhaps a little strange, but I have chosen the same game to represent the “best of times” and the “worst of times” – the game in question being the Pilkington Cup Final on 3rd May 1997 – Tigers Vs Sale. The previous year, Tigers had lost in the cup final to Bath. The circumstances of this loss are well known, and nothing will be gained by repeating them here, however, the disappointment was fresh in many supporters’ minds, and nothing less that a win would do.

The previous week, Tigers had met Sale in the league, with Tigers needing one point to take the final qualifying spot for the next season’s European cup. (Qualifying by the skin of our teeth is nothing new – no flag that year though!)

Tigers indeed got the point required by drawing in a somewhat bad tempered game – numerous punch ups etc. This game is also memorable for Bob Dwyer’s post match interview on live Sky TV – a Sale fan remonstrated with Dwyer, who invited the fan to “go forth and multiply” - on live TV!

In those far off days, the cup winners did not qualify for Europe, and so there was “only” the cup to play for in that match – plus a few grudges to be settled from 7 days previously.

The game was far from a classic – I won’t write a full review of the game, however, from what I can recall, there was very little running rugby, and too much reliance on the boot from both sides.

There was very little for the crowd to get into – Bob Dwyer at one stage acting as “cheerleader” to try and get some noise from the Tigers’ supporters. (Now, if the scoreboard at Twickers told us when to “make some noise”……) Also notable was the debut of Lester Tiger – our faithful mascot for the next few years…..

The most exciting part of the game was the last couple of minutes, when Sale were 6 point behind, attacking Tigers’ try line, and they gave away 2 consecutive penalties – prompting Stuart Barnes to ask “Are their minds going back to last year?”

The final score – Tigers 9 Sale 3 – all from kicks. A tryless cup final.

So, why does this game represent both the “best of times” and the “worst of times”? Well, as stated above, a cup win helped to erase the disappointment of the 1996 final. In addition, this win salvaged something from the season – Tigers had at one stage been in contention for 3 trophies, however the defeat in Cardiff in the European final, and an horrendous run-in in the league, meant that we were left with just the cup to go for. Seeing Dean Richards & John Wells go up to collect the trophy together was a touching sight.

On the other hand, the game itself was a massive disappointment – any neutrals at Twickers that day would be justified in feeling that they had wasted their money. I’m sure this was the worst game I have seen Tigers play – certainly the worst I have seen them play and win. Not a good advert for rugby at all. Pilkington ceased their sponsorship of the cup after this game, and who can blame them – not a good game to end their association with the tournament.

So there we are – 3rd May 1997 – the best of times, and the worst of times.