Allez Allez Allez!

WASPS! WASPS! WASPS!

WHAT a day! I'm absolutely shattered now, but I've had a really good day today :)

It started off at New St Station, the platform was unusually busy for the 9am train on a Sunday. It seemed that there were a load of people headed to B'ham International for the airport (it's the school holidays) and there was obviously some sort of exhibition at the NEC, so there were a load of bods from Xerox and other companies. As the train is pulling in, one of the guards for Virgin Trains tells us to move down the platform and just sit anywhere for the time being - Including 1st Class. Well, I thought it would be rude not to listen to the man... I wasn't greedy and sat at the single seats at the side because I figured that a) I like sitting by myself and that b) If we do get moved later on, at least it's only 1 seat rather than 3 together in a row.

The journey to Watford is unremarkable, I get some sleep and arrive on time at Watford Junction where I'm met by David S and Italian Dave. From there, we drive to West Middlesex Hospital and then we walk it to Twickenham. In the car, we're all having a good laugh and I realise that not only do I enjoy their company - But it's mutual because we make each other laugh. After all, David S wasn't going to drive but given how crap public transport was today, he very graciously offered to drive and meet me at Watford. He wouldn't do that if he didn't want to or didn't like me! We decide to de-camp at the Tesco Car Park where the Gottings have set up their picnic (in an empty trolley bay!). I'm glad we did that because more than anything, I wanted to see the Gottings before Ben leaves us for pastures new at Worcester. Steve is gracious and welcoming as ever - Even when introducing me to some of his rugby buddies. He comments on how I'm a Wasps fan even though I live in Birmingham and I travel to see them. I'm catching up with CathG and there's a woman with her whom I've seen about but haven't been introduced. About five minutes later, when I'm chatting to ScouseCath, BarmierKev and Olivia, the aforementioned lady comes over to me and touches me gently on my arm to get my attention.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I've only just been told who you are"
"OK, now that worries me.. Do I have a reputation? And why does it proceed me?!"
"no no, its nothing like hat.. I'm Ann Gotting, Ben's mum"
*ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!*
We get chatting and she's just as friendly and welcoming as Steve is. She was thanking me for the nice message I posted on the board about them and we start talking about Ben and his move to Worcester. She commented that although they will now have to support Worcester, they are going to find it hard to leave the DWs behind, so they may try to come along and supoort us whenever possible. Such a nice family, a real credit to Rugby.

Now remember, I haven't been eating properly and I was worried about this trip because I knew that I wouldn't be able to have nay of the food from the usual outlets, which upset me a little because there's a house along the way to the stadium from the station where some enterprising person has set up an authentic South African Braai in their front garden for anyone feeling a bit peckish on their way to the stadium. Kind of like a BBQ set up in a front garden so that people can buy burgers and hot dogs. I love that about Twickenham.. It's not so much burger vans that line the route to the stadium like you get with football, but people setting up BBQs or home-cooked bacon sarnies and selling them from their front gardens. Anyway, I digress.. So I'm worried about what I can eat and I'm still worried about eating anything greasy, but by the time we get there just before noon - I'm famished and it's fairly cold so I am craving something hot. Since we're in Tesco, I head in there to see if they have like a bacon sarnie or a sausage roll (not so keen on that..) from the hot food counter. I get to the deli, and all they have is ribs, drumsticks of various flavourings and whole roast chickens - None of which I'm willing to try. The café is really busy too and I've been abandoned by David S (followed by Italian Dave) so I'm now on my own and well, I'm not going to walk into the café and sit down to eat by myself! So I pick up an a sandwich that isn't caked in mayonnaise or something. I settle for an All Day breakfast which turns out to be a good call as it's the only real food I eat all day. I got some Krispy Kreme donuts and some grapes which is just as well as they're the only food I eat for the rest of the day (along with my toffees). Still, I'm encouraged by how I managed to eat the sandwich. :)

I didn't want to see the match between Harlequins and Bedford, so I stayed in the Tesco Car Park with BarmierKev and Olivia watching them get more and more drunk with everyone else around us. Every now and again, I get stopped by women who want to thank me/congratulate me on the vodka. They're all loving it and even the men who usually turn their noses up at it thinking that it's a girl's drink are forced to try it and admit that it's a lot stronger than they think ;) "Deceptively Strong", that's how I would describe it ;)

Finally, I head over to the stadium to get ready for the match. David S, Italian Dave, Mr S Snr and his son-in-law have all gone ahead so I'm the last one of the group to get there. Now, David S usually tells me the seat numbers beforehand so I can see on the seating plan online where we're sat, but on this occasion, he has avoided my questioning and has been really vague. I thought it was the case beforehand but dismissed it as my being paranoid. I get to the seats and I findout why - The seat allocation has been 4 in a row where they were... And 1 seat 2 rows further down on it's own. I'm not too impressed. I move behind them for a bit but the last 2 rows are reserved for people in Corporate boxes. Fortunately, the game isn't a sell out, so the last 2 sets in the row where they're sitting are free and so I decamp to there. Turns out that I'm much happier there because I chat to an old man sitting a couple of seats away from me and it's so nice to be able to chat about rugby to complete strangers. We're all there to support our team so it's much easier to get along :) Also, DS can get a bit boisterous and his comments are a bit embarassing at times, but hey! He's just passionate about the game..

The game starts. In the first minute of play, our no. 7, JOC is knocked out and it's immediately clear that he's going to have to be stretchered off. The medics take their time to treat him and after about 10mins, he's stretchered off the field. That completely rocked the team and it's preparations I think, because after 25mins, we're losing 10-3, making too many errors, we're indisciplined therefore giving away too many penalties (a penalty was awarded to them, some player makes a comment to the ref and we're sent back an extra 10m so the penalty is now kickable), and we're actually playing like schoolboys and don't look like being able to score at all. Then, in the 26th minute, everything changes. MVG has the ball and is running with it, Easterby (the Scarlets Cptn) goes to tackle MVG and MVG seems to clash into him, but MVG seems to bounce off him and carries on running whilst Easterby meanwhile, is on the ground. The action has moved onto other parts of the ground and we're getting closer to the try line. I hear people shouting angrily then notice that the Wasps medics are running over to Easterby whilst play is going on. Another Scarlets player has rushed over to Easterby and turned him over onto his front. It's only when the Scarlets player has dragged Easterby's lifeless body up to turn it over that I realise that Easterby hasn't moved since he tried to tackle MVG. Play is finally halted and another lengthy injury time out as the medics rush to stabilise him. Easterby is stretchered off and I'm thinking "That's 2 players in one half that have been stretchered off now.. " It just shows how dangerous the game is. Things then get worse for us when we get a player sin binned. Just as Wasps couldn't get it together immediately after JOC was off, so the same seemed to happen to Scarlets after they lost Easterby. Their No. 10, Mike Hercus, intercepted the ball from us deep within their 22 and ran towards the try line seemingly with acres of space. But for some reason, he hesitates and looks for support - but they're slow in arriving. He finally passes the ball and it's blocked by our No. 10, Staunton. A definite try-saving interception. Then, in the last 8mins of the first half, we get a bit of luck and Staunton intercepts another of Scarlets passes and runs towards the try line.. He's nearly there but he's going to be caught so he passes to Tom Voyce who gloriously, scores a try. MVG converts and it's 10-10. From then on, the momentum is ours. We're looking more dangerous and more together and going into half time. I'm confident that we're gonna win. This has been the longest 1st half I've ever experienced (56mins including all the injury breaks). But by half time, the boys have finally got it together and look capable of winning this match.

A brief word about the ref. Now, I've seen some biased refs and I'm sure that DS's influence is upon me when it comes to refs, but this one was AWFUL. He seemed to make every decision against us and when Easterby went down, he was right in front of the ref but he just carried on. It was only when the ball went out of play and the touch judge pointed out how all the medics had rushed onto the field to attend to Easterby that he knew what was going on. However, he "pulled a muscle" and had to be replaced for the 2nd half. I still suspect it was because he was having a howler of a match and his missing the Easterby incident played on his mind - Or the clubs asked that he be replaced.

2nd half arrives and it's a lot less eventful than the 1st half. Straight away, the momentum from the end of the 1st half has continued and they've come out with all guns blazing. Scarlets come close to our try line - Even get a penalty 5m from the line but in all that time, I had complete confidence that our defence would hold because FINALLY, our blitz defence was working. I was right, we don't conceed any more points in the game. The heavens open and it's chucking it down. So we knew that sytlish rugby wasn't going to be played now. But what pleased me is that with all the high kicks - we didn't drop the ball once. All throughout the 2nd half, I'm looking at the clock to see how much longer we have left. Even at 20-10 and about 12mins to go, I'm thinking: "That's only 1 converted try and a drop goal or penalty for a draw to force extra time 2 converted tries to win.." And given how Scarlets battle until the end, very much a threat from them. Then, Alex King scores a drop goal to make it 23-10 and thus making the game pretty much out of reach for even the Scarlets.. 2 converted tries in 3mins against our (now) soild defence? Not a chance! By the time MVG scores another penalty to make it 26-10. It's a formality. The final whistle goes and we all start cheering with our arms in the air victoriously.

Then it's the presentation ceremony and when the team are presented with the trophy, "Boys will be Boys" is played - How apt! :) When they take their lap of honour, "Build me up, Buttercup" is playing and it's the perfect feelgood song for a brilliant day's outing for us all. It may not have been a classic match, but we won. I'm glad that Matt Dawson and Sonic get to leave us with the experience of winning silverware in their last season with Wasps. Furthermore, it means we've qualified for the Heineken European Cup next year - Regardless of what happens in the league. As we look onto the big screen, it's quite nice to see Sonic and Matt Dawson singing "If you wanna go to heaven when you die.." We'll miss them.

We stop briefly back at Camp Tesco to say goodbye to people, then it's the long trek back to the car and drive back to Watford Junction and for me, to go home. It's been a long day but as ever - I'm glad I went. And well, I had my lucky T-shirt on again ;)