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Off-the-cuff musings on Sarries next opponents

They
By Keith April 30 2008
I was thinking about Barf this morning. I was wondering what their message board would say if we beat them - probably something along the lines of "how could we lose to such a bottom-of-the-table team" or words to that effect. And it got me thinking - how would I choose to describe Barf?

And then it dawned on me: I have no opinion on them.

Before the advent of professionalism, it was all Barf and Tiggers, they were the teams to look up to, to aspire to, to admire. Now?

Well, in the last 12 years, where have they gone? For a long time now, the teams that have consistently delivered have been Tigers and Wasps, with Gloucester and Sale (recently) not far behind. Everyone else, including Barf, has been up and down the table like a yo-yo.

So are Barf the forgotten men of Premiership rugby? They have a grand history, and, yes, this season they're right up there. But it's not so long since they were, like us, struggling near the bottom, and I think it would take a brave man to bet on them being at or near the top again next season.

I'm sure that any Barf supporters reading this will try and shoot me down, telling me about what a great team they are. I don't disagree that they used to be - but what have they won since the 1996/97 season? One trophy. Yes, OK, it was the European Cup, and congratulations, but is that one trophy sufficient for a team of their history?

And, no, I'm not saying that we're any better than they are, but our histories and our achievements are very different.

It just intrigues me: if you'd asked any rugby supporter in the early 90s what their opinion was of Barf, you'd have got one. And if you asked the same supporters now their opinion of Leicester, Wasps, Gloucester, us, etc, you'd get one.

I'm just simply not sure that the modern supporter have an opinion on Barf, or, if they did, what it would be...

Or have I got it horribly wrong?

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