Wasps
Bayonne Tour Report
Eurowasps
By Shrek Wasp
January 14 2014
As a veteran of 22 away European trips (27, if you include Leicester, Northampton, Pontypridd, Coventry and Newport) and given the precarious future of European Rugby, it didn’t take a lot of persuading for me to book a trip to Bayonne when the fixture was confirmed. Could I afford it? Probably not, but I’ve always believed in going out in style.
It was an early start on Friday morning as I left home at 6.30am to head to Gatwick, via Maidenhead to pick up a friend, Simon. We arrived at Gatwick ahead of schedule and got through security without any issues (despite my attempts to convince staff that Neil was concealing several kilos of heroin inside him…) and met up the third musketeer Simon, who had travelled down with Will, who had upon arrival had buggered off to the first class lounge, leaving Neil to wait for us in Costa.
We boarded the flight to Bordeaux without a security staff taking Neil away for a full body search, and arrived early in Bordeaux. As Will was giving some other friends a lift, Neil, Simon and I hired a car of our own, which when we collected it, we were told had been in a hail storm… Closer inspection of the car revealed that not only had it been through a hail storm, it had been through the greatest hailstorm known to mankind. The whole car was covered in enormous dents.
The drive down to Bayonne was trouble free; I slept most of the way. We checked into the hotel and then headed off, with Will, to the Victor Hugo bar, for several bottles of the local red, which was followed by a trip to Tripadvisor’s top recommended restaurant in Bayonne. Despite a mix up in numbers (Will’s friends were joining us), we settled in for a fantastic meal, where I discovered a hidden gem in the “Basque Burger”; potato cake, Basque ketchup, meat and another potato cake. From there it was back to the Victor Hugo to watch the end of Racing v Scarlets, with Mark & Steve, two other friends who had travelled down later on in the day. A few more bottles later we headed back to the hotel.
With kick off at 9pm, Simon, Neil and I had decided to head to Biarritz for the day. On the way, I made a prediction that Viadana would beat Grenoble… How Neil & Simon laughed. We parked the car by the Déjà vu bar which was closed, so we headed towards the beach and found Mark & Steve in a café. After a coffee, and given the Déjà vu bar was closed, we went for a walk along the fantastic Biarritz coastline. For those who haven’t been, it’s well worth a visit.
After a walk, we decided to get some lunch. As the Déjà vu bar was closed, we decided to try and track down PDS and visit the restaurant/bar he recommended, the Los Dos Humanos, which sadly was closed until the 16th. As the Déjà vu bar was closed, we decided to go for Plan C, which was La Clos Basque, a restaurant recommended to Neil, by a seventy year old grandmother, he’d been trying to chat up on the plane whilst her husband slept.
Evendentley, despite Neil’s best attempts, the recommendation was a good one and we enjoyed another fantastic meal for a very reasonable price. By the time we finished eating the sun had well and truly come out, so, as the Déjà vu bar was closed, we headed to the beach for another stroll, before heading back to Bayonne for a rest.
We re-gouped at 5.45 and, after I had pointed out that Viadana had drawn 19-19 against Grenoble, having been 12-0 up at one stage, headed back to the Victor Hugo, where we were joined by Mark & Steve, along with several of their business contacts who had made the trip. From there it was off to the ground, where I offered to buy a round of chips. Five portions set me back a staggering 17 Euros 50. Adams Park prices don’t seem so bad now!
We took our seats in the stand just as kick off approached. The game was a tense affair. Wasps looked the better team in the first half, but struggled to build a lead, until a brilliant turnover by Joe Launchbury saw a counter attack that ended in a try for Charlie Davies in the corner. Goodey missed the conversion, so the lead was 8 points at the break.
The second half started promising with Wasps putting Bayonne under all sorts of pressure, but Andy Goode became Andy not-so-Goode, missing three penalties. Bayonne countered and bundled their way over the line. The decision went to the TMO and with no clear evidence of a try shown on the big screen, we, and the Bayonne players (who were preparing for the inevitable scrum) all expected no try to be awarded. There was all round stunned disbelief when the try was eventually awarded.
The try was converted and this lead to Bayonne taking control. From the re-start they set up a maul and then their lock went on a rampaging run into the Wasps 22. The ref then awarded them the penalty, which was eventually overturned following a cheapshot on Charlie Davies. That lead to Joe Simpson coming on and an impromptu huddle, whilst the crowd booed and we were accused of personally bribing the referee by numerous locals around us (the ludicrousness of the decision to award their try was obviously long forgotten).
The huddle did the trick and Wasps countered, scoring from a lineout, with Joe Launchbury crashing down (out of curiosity has anyone seen Joe Launchbury & Superman in the same room? I think not…). The match was settled with a bit of Simpson magic, with a great break off the back of a scrum and a pass to Tom Varndell, who galloped away to score.
Given the hostile reaction of the supporters at the end of the game (this was the first time I had ever seen a referee get escorted off the pitch), we headed back to the Victor Hugo for a couple more bottles before calling it a night.
Sunday saw a leisurely drive back to Bordeaux, before hours of waiting around for the flight, a truly Great British welcome (cold & rain) at the country’s least friendly airport and a not-so-leisurely drive back home.
If this does prove to be the last European adventure, we did it proud. I for one will miss these weekends away in obscure towns off the beaten track. European Rugby has provided me with some great memories and laid the foundations for some amazing friendships. I for one feel very lucky to have seen my team win three European trophies over the years, including the big one twice. Whilst the current format may not be fair, there is no doubt that Rugby will be all the poorer without weekends like this. Normal holidays aren’t quite the same.
*Names changed to protect the guilty.
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Editor's Note: The author is (some might say ill-advisedly, but there we are) taking part in the Wasps London to Paris cycle ride in aid of Mind. Give generously and give often via his donations page
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/davidslater1984
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H@Wasps
A very cruel woman indeed!
And a pompous snob, apparently.
Unless of course 'what goes on tour ..........'
Nice one
Good ground decent atmosphere noisy wasps supporters apparently .... Thanks Ian and a great result
