By Mr. and Mrs. Menace
January 20 2005

It was the end of the game; neither the players nor the supporters knew their fate, but the players turned to the supporters, in red, green and white, and applauded them for the support they had received….. ….. Worcester then left the fog-covered field behind them leaving us to ponder on whether the Tigers game would go ahead.

The pitch was already freezing, visibility was poor, even the streaker who had braved the conditions at half time was not noticed by the majority of the crowd. Whether there was anybody on the far side of the pitch only the players and referee may know. So it looked as though the fate of the Tigers game was in the balance. As the lights went out several times in the beer tent after the game we started to think the un-thinkable: the game could be cancelled and Tigers would get just four points and therefore be out of the cup.

Saturday brought fresh hope, sure the temperature was freezing, frost-covered plants along the motorway bore witness to that. The fog was still thick but visibility was certainly better than that which had caused the Tigers’ plane to be diverted the day before and had left Worcester supporters stranded in Birmingham.

Collecting our tickets from the Tigers Supporters Ticket Office we were directed to an adjacent field where one temporary stand had been erected either side of halfway. An all metal stand in sub zero temperatures is not something to be looked forward to, but we had no choice.

The red and green plastic seats in the main stand, which appeared to be reserved for the home supporters, would have suited us down to the ground. However, the more enterprising amongst us had ‘borrowed’ the cardboard boxes in which the frozen chips had been delivered to the hamburger stand and fashioned some pretty nifty cushions from them.

So to the game, by now various links to the reports in the press will have been put in place so the overall pattern of the game will be well known to all as is the result and the fate of the Tigers. A blow by blow report is not going to be attempted. OK I forgot the pen and paper, my hands were too cold to work and I could never remember the Italian names anyway.

The game started with Calvisano playing like they had played in the second half of their home game against Wasps. They did not intend to just roll over and let Tigers go through un-opposed.

The forwards were not going to be pushed around and the backs were going to run at Tigers whenever they could. Tigers knew that they had to overcome this initial onslaught to gain the five points that they needed and set about the task in hand. Nil-nil seemed to stay on the score board for too long when you know that four tries were needed but once we started to record scores, things looked better.

Harry Ellis showing the guile that has earned him his England spot started things with a delightful try that new recruit to the England training squad, Andy Goode, duly converted. This was followed almost immediately by a break down the right wing by Alex Tuilagi who simply moved too fast for the Calvisano players.

At 14-0 the feeling was that we were getting into our rhythm and from now on it would be plain sailing. But that is not the way Calvisano play. Like terriers they stuck to their task and were rewarded with a penalty. A telling break followed, cutting through the middle of the Tigers defence and touching down for a seven point effort.

Suddenly the 14-0 score line was reading 14-10 and things were getting a bit tense. The Calvisano fight back against Wasps in the early rounds sprung to mind and was certainly a warning sign that the Tigers needed to heed.

Up in the temporary stands scores were filtering through from the Biarritz-Wasps game, even a chorus supporting Wasps went up. Normal service was soon resumed on the pitch.

Tigers attacked from all over the park, sometimes to good effect others only to see their efforts snuffed out, sometimes even deep in their own half. Ball handling skills were admirably demonstrated by backs and forwards alike and the difference in quality between the two sides started to tell.

The forwards were gaining the upper hand and many mauls trundled tens of metres down the field before the ball was released. Tries continued to come at regular intervals and Andy Goode managed to hit the uprights on two conversion attempts. Tackling from both sides was fierce, for example Ollie Smith was stopped short on one occasion spilling the ball several metres forward as the impact of the tackle was felt.

Replacements were made for both sides but the intensity of the Tigers play never eased up and it was a break from one of the replacements that resulted in probably the one low point of the game.

Scott Bemand made a break from around the halfway line and was cynically stopped a few metres short by a Calvisano player who resorted to a head high tackle that left Scott prone for several minutes. A penalty was awarded after a long discussion between the referee and touch judge, but the offending player was not even spoken to.

There was no doubt that this was dangerous play and a yellow card should have been awarded, a penalty try was also not out of the question. The lack of firmer action by the referee I am sure lead to the brawl that followed shortly afterwards with Lewis Moody and Milton Ngauamo receiving yellow cards.

A Julian White try came soon after and when the Calvisano player who had tried to prevent the score got to his feet his legs resembled jelly. I think this was due to the impact as Julian made contact with him, but it was getting foggy in that corner of the pitch.

At the end of the game the 62-10 score looked good, but with Biarritz having won, our fate was out of our hands. We clapped our now cold hands to warm them up and applaud the players as they left the field.

Sadly, only a few of them responded. Overall the players performed magnificently, stuck to their task and got the result that was needed. The referee, generally, did a good job. Calvisano never gave up.

After the game we left the cold stand, trampled through the field where the stand was set up and headed for the beer tent where to the delight of the massed Tigers supporters Austin Healy and other members of the team, still in their boots and kit joined us. A word from Austin on behalf of the Team apologising for the performance the week before and thanking us for our support went down well. Congratulations Austin.

Whether the relocation to Rovato affected the gate cannot be estimated, certainly the fog had an adverse effect and without a doubt Calvisano will have had to dig deep to finance the relocation.

What is sure is that the Italian teams are becoming stronger; unfortunately for them they do not face the intensity of these European games with sufficient regularity to help them progress more. Calvisano have been unlucky to come through the group rounds of the competition with nothing to show for their endeavour but have always been worthy opponents.

Had they not face Biarritz, Wasps and Tigers in these group matches they would have surely got more from the competition than they managed. They have never given up and we wish them well for the future.