TALES OF TWO CITIES

OR

Liberté, Fraternité, (and in this case) Egalité

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness…it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us…”

In the Midlands: Birmingham meets London and displaced aristocrats overcome gallant journeymen.

In the West: Bristol meets Bath and the fire of the Phoenix vaporises the waters of the Establishment.

On the banks of the Severn: Cavaliers clash with Round(Shed)heads and come away with honours even.

 ~

There was an air of barely-contained excitement around Sixways.  The fans had waited all summer for this moment and speculation about the game had been growing for weeks.

In some ways, there was a strange sense of déjà-vu about it all.  Last season had also started at home on a blisteringly hot day in September.  Sky TV had been present on that occasion too and there was the same sense of eager anticipation mixed with nerves, but that is where the similarities end.  This season our squad is battle-hardened and streetwise, no longer intimidated by famous names or deceived by clever gamesmanship.  Opposing teams will underestimate us no more and even TV commentators have almost forgotten the “new boys” tag.

The ground, too, has altered.  The new North Stand has completed the defences of “Fortress Sixways”, creating an enclosed arena fit for Maximus and his Warriors.  In this cauldron, 9000 faithful fans made their presence felt: blue and gold shirts, Viking helmets, flags, chants, songs and cheers combined to create a very special atmosphere which would give our team extra strength in these energy-sapping conditions.

It was a special occasion in other ways, too.  Thirty years ago this week, Mike Gibson, the Irish and Lions centre, opened the new clubhouse at Sixways.  He couldn’t have foreseen what process had been set in motion. (And Richard Cummin who was on the bench for that inaugural match was still playing this summer in the FB 7’s!) 

Another “special” on Sunday was the return of Werner Swanepoel to Worcester.  He was hugely influential in our final push for promotion from ND1 and the affection felt for him amongst the fans was clearly evident as the word went round the ground – “Smiley’s here!”

~

Worcester v Gloucester is rapidly turning into a fierce local rivalry, but it is still a recent one.  We were reminded of older, deeper opposition when Bradders announced the Bristol victory over Bath and there were loud cheers from the Gloucester contingent. (These faded into nothing compared to the cheer that went up after the game when the result from New Road was announced. Cricket battles with our neighbours do go back a long way.)

As we waited for the teams to emerge from the tunnel, thoughts inevitably turned to the final home game of last season where our future, and Northampton’s, hung in the balance. Such was the emotion of those 80 minutes that the Sixways fabric itself seems to have absorbed some of the atmosphere of determination and commitment of that afternoon. The ghosts of that game will not be laid to rest until the memories of those who were there fade from sight. In fact, just the right kind of haunting needed to intimidate any opposition!

The game itself may have been branded “stale” by Mr Dick of The Birmingham Post. ( Better be stale than sliced apart or reduced to breadcrumbs!)  However, a better description might be “An unstoppable force faced with an immoveable object.”

After the game we were able to chat to Ashley Rowden. “Harder than I expected,” he said,  “Both teams had their own agenda and were reluctant to listen.”  When asked why anyone would want to be a referee these days, his answer was immediate: “I love my rugby”.  Thinking about the impossible job of being a perfect ref., one wonders if Dean Ryan has a point when he suggests that local derbies on the first weekend of the season may make financial sense, but put enormous pressure on everyone, particularly referees and players.

Despite a niggle of disappointment that we hadn’t quite snatched a win at the end of the match, we were encouraged by an upbeat Phil Richards.  His attitude was, “You ain’t seen nothing yet” and, given the heat, the occasion and the opposition, there were many positives to be taken from the game.

Certainly, our new signings should be both encouraged by our performance and challenged by the competition for places that they face.  Hopefully, each one feels that, in joining Worcester, “It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done”.

In this case, however, they are on the right side of the guillotine and it is their own supporters who are chanting:

Vive La Révolution!

RT