Worcester Warriors V Gloucester, A Supporters View

by RT

Cherry Ripe!

Imagine the scene…a bleak and wind-swept Sixways in early December; no sign of clubhouse, stands or car-parks; a pre-Christmas “friendly” against Berry Hill. It was a hard tough physical game, rivalling to-day’s performance in the intensity and physicality of the forward play; the kind of game to be expected from Berry Hill, Cinderford, Lydney, Matson or Gordon League.  Worcester narrowly shaded a win – chiefly because the opposition had many of their first team players in the Gloucestershire County side. How many of the 36 stalwart supporters on that chilly touchline would have dreamed that  just over 10 years later, the Warriors would push Gloucester to the wire in front of  8,500 cheering fans.

To-day, we aspired to match Gloucester in all departments: on the pitch, on the terraces and even in the Hallmark dining-room, where appreciative comments about the pork and leek sausages suggested that they rivalled the famous “Old Spot” sausage baps served up at Kingsholm!  Certainly, the catering staff at Sixways deserve applause for feeding over 1100 diners throughout the ground in such a satisfying fashion.

The Hallmark dining-room was also the venue for the regular post-prandial “Ask the players” session, ably managed by Dave Bradley.  To-day’s guests were Duncan Roke and Jon Hylton.  Both men singled out Jason Robinson as the most difficult opponent to play against: “made to feel foolish on a couple of occasions,” said Duncan with feeling.  Jon Hylton spoke warmly about Josh Lewsey’s professionalism as well as the help and inspiration he provided during Jon’s early career with Wasps. Would they, asked Dave, do a Beckham and admit to a professional foul? “Maybe if I was faced with John Brain and Andy Keast,” admitted a player who shall remain anonymous. “Definitely not,” said the other. We were all pleased to hear that Jon’s injury is healing well and look forward to seeing him back on the pitch next year though, as he pointed out, the essence of our team selection is competition for places. Dave Bradley completed the session by drawing diners’ attention to the presence of Andy Robinson and Phil Larder who were at Worcester to scout for potential England players. We hope that they liked what they saw.

The last meeting of Worcester and Gloucester took place a few seasons ago in a Cup game.  For many supporters, that would have been their first experience of the intensity of support generated at Kingsholm and, in particular, the huge lift to players provided by “The Shed”.  To-day, the “Travelling Shed” had tried hard to replicate Kingsholm in Worcestershire.  However, they reckoned without the cauldron that is Sixways; chants of “Warriors” drowned out the thousands of Gloucester faithful.  To-day was the day that Worcester fans really found their voice!

At the end of the game relief, rather than triumph, was the dominant expression on the faces of the Gloucester players and the supporters were strangely subdued.  They all knew that they had had a lucky escape.

In the bar, Andy Robinson was heard to observe that the Warriors are nearly there, just needing a little more of the killer instinct to finish things off and that will come with experience.  Such praise from England’s top man is praise indeed and well-deserved after our team’s outstanding performance. We have come a million miles since National One and another galaxy from the Berry Hill game!

To-day, the cherries weren’t quite ripe for picking, but just wait until the Warriors and their supporters storm into Kingsholm in January. Then we’ll shake the fruit off their tree!

Et maintenant, mes amis, aux armes!  Marchons vers une victoire magnifique contre Brive à Sixways le samedi prochain!

RT