Stand Up for the Saracens

Just after work finished on Friday evening, I received an ominous-sounding message from a friend: "Call me when you can, mate".

When one normally receives messages like this, one often wonders a few things: 

1) Have I done something wrong?

2) Have I forgotten something?

3) Is he going to ask me to do something?

Thankfully, when I plucked up the courage to call him back, the news was much better. A free ticket to a rugby match at Wembley beckoned and was mine if I had tomorrow free. Suffice it to say, it was a good decision to call him! Permission from "the boss" (read: Harriet) was granted and it was on.

The following morning started early. There are few things I will give up my Saturday morning lie-in for: 

1) Competitive Sports

2) A fun activity of some kind

3) I have also been known to be lured out of bed by bacon sandwiches (*cough* *Harriet, listen* *cough*)

Seeing as though the day involved two of the above (unfortunately I had to 'compromise' on the bacon sandwiches), I decided that it was definitely worth it, manned up and made the journey to Wolverhampton to meet my friend and the others who were enticed out of bed by such a great offer!

The drive down was spent surreptitiously learning snippets of information about what I was about to witness. Sure, I understand the nature of competitive sports, but my speciality is Football, with Rugby in the box marked: "Must get into more". I have just watched the six nations with Harriet and each time I watch rugby, my opinion and understanding of it has grown. I have always wanted to know more about rugby, so this was a great opportunity.

Feeling more clued up, we arrived at "The Home of Football" (Wembley Stadium), today the host of a match between Saracens and Harlequins - two teams based in or close to London. The purpose of having the match played at Wembley was to beat the world record for attendance at a club rugby game, which stood at 83,000 (Wembley holds 90,000).

We arrived about 3 hours prior to kick off, so naturally we ate then checked out the pre-match entertainment. We were lucky enough to see Oasis, Elvis, Whitney Houston and Elton John perform on a make-shift stage in the centre circle in the half an hour or so prior to kick-off. I'm not 100% certain they were the real ones, considering two of them are dead and Oasis broke up years ago, but it was fun anyway.

The match itself was brilliant. Most of the action was at our end of the pitch and the team we were supporting (Saracens) won convincingly. We were even treated to the (in)famous "Swallow Dive" from Chris Ashton after an interception and a 40-metre run and try (the main picture on the above link shows it).

This match reinforced my belief that any sport is enjoyable when it's live. I already really enjoy watching Rugby on TV, but it is so much better live. I've been to other sports that I just do not like at all on TV and enjoyed them when it's live - Baseball for example. Boring on TV, but great live. I got into American Football when I lived over in Utah because a friend took me to a few live BYU games. I've even been to a couple of 0-0 football matches that were fun to be at! There's just something about live sport that gives me a massive buzz.

The rugby was great, but one of the best parts of the day was spending time with friends, doing something that we all enjoyed and generally getting on. We even bought a Saracens Fez each to show our allegiance - I must say, they are quite the fashion accessory...