as I pondered the following day at Welford Road?. I probably should have paid more attention to my Mother-in-Law as it was her Mothers’ Day outing, but then again …

Settling in to our seats at the back of the Crumbly I mused awhile on memories, atmosphere and the familiar, while the crowd inexorably grew. It was good to be home; I do so like the Crumbly.

A friend of mine is convinced only players named Ben can turn out for Tigers, and looking at our team sheet he’s right. [Luckily we missed out on Ben Cohen].

Notwithstanding S.A.rries long injury and absentee list, we’d a fair smattering of youngsters in our 22. Ben Pienaar was at 8 and when we lost Ben Dupuy in the 20^th minute for Ben Youngs, leaving us with Ben Vesty to do the kicking, at the same time as Ben Herring was replaced, following a head injury, by a youngster who’s surname I cannot recall, recollections of what S.A.rries’ had done to Baarf the previous week crept into the box marked, ‘Confidence’.

We’d taken the game by the scruff and had a well worked, converted try and a penalty in the ‘For’ column, but after some opposition pressure Jackson had settled for a drop from a tight angle with Ben Herring prostrate. Disrupted thus, and with them pressing a loose ball bounced fortuitously inside our 22 for a well finished, S.A.rries try. Ten points each with two injuries already was not too comfortable.

                                They were playing well and only a knock-on saved us from a seven point deficit, but we found our feet again and two more very good tries saw us 22-10 up as the rush for the conveniences began.

They, too, clearly remembered their spirited second half display of the previous week as they came out with similar intent, and two penalties and some concerted pressure later the six point lead felt less secure, especially as Ben Vesty missed a chance at three points, but then he had to go off for a blood injury to his scalp and Ben Hooooooougaaaaaaard came on in his stead. S.A. Ben tried a difficult shot at goal almost immediately but scored a slightly easier one a few minutes later against a club reportedly courting his skills, and that was the turning point. Ben Vesty then came back, though not for the full eighty.

Tigers’ played some delightful rugby though when the fourth try went over for the bonus point it was actually the gap twixt the scores which seemed to matter. A quite bizarre set of scrums under their posts led to four consecutive tries being disallowed, three of them technically correctly, though the much respected Rosie ‘The Ref’s’ interpretation of when to play advantage, to allow a quick tap or to issue yellow cards suggested to my unbiased self he needed a holiday, but eventually and after a healthy lump of playing time was expended he awarded a penalty try.

Many Bens appeared from the bench, some of them still at school, and amongst them was Ben Varndell who touched the ball twice [I think] … the first for a disallowed try [forward pass] and the second for the superbly executed sixth try in the corner, to a standing ovation – he needed that and I have to wonder if it’ll turn this season around; I do wish him well at Swaps next season and hope he can find that elusive all-round game.

The performance was as good as the scoreline suggests and it’s so satisfying to see us playing such good rugby. I can’t help but think Cocker, who would probably have been confirmed as the head coach anyway given the club’s bleating about the economy and the cost of the new stand, now has it nailed on purely on merit – it was never open to question that scarlet, white and green courses through those veins and he’s clearly as popular with the players as he is with the supporters.

A kofte from Pavlos on Queen’s Road, by far the best kebab shop I know, is always a treat but was especially pleasurable after such a day, unlike the drive back to Hampshire. Roll on Stale, my second real game in almost two years.

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