Up early in the morning to prepare. Butterflies felt more like pterodactyls but I knew the adrenaline would help me give my all to cheer on the boys. Packed all my stuff, sprayed my hair red and painted my face red and white. Printed off some copies of "the Gloucester Boys" from the site to give out. Left to get the club coach at 9:00.

Kingsholm was packed with people ready to travel. Got my free disposable camera with a copy of the Citizen and began snapping away. The freebies were pretty good actually, through the day I had accumulated 2 newspapers, a disposable camera, binoculars, a pen, a chocolate bar and two packs of crisps! Probably the funniest moment of the day was while I was waiting at Kingsholm. A car sped past on the Kingsholm Road, complete with Gloucester supporter standing up through the sun roof and shouting "GLLLAAAAAWWWSSTTTEEEEERRRR" at the top of his voice with his flag waving.

Left Kingsholm at 10:30, slightly behind schedule. Recommendation for future trips... don't start drinking that early on an empty stomach, especially when your full of adrenaline. However it was entertaining for a few hours! Coach was quiet, probably because everyone was quite nervy. Enjoyed passing Gloucester fans on the way down and when we finally went past Saints supporters the banter began.

Arrived at Twickenham at 1:00. The usual stuff before the match. Watched a bit of Orrell - Exeter... Orrell won the match to lift the Powergen Shield.

As more and more people entered the ground the noise and banter grew. Fans congregated at the various bars and the chanting began. It was a lovely day and many fans had a picnic in the sun before entering the ground. In fact it was only about 2 minutes before kick off that most people entered the ground. I took my seat in the east middle tier.

Teams came out for the national anthem at 4:25. Terry Fanolua had been picked with Henry Paul as the centres. An untried partnership but it wasn't really a risky one. Mark Cornwell withdrew from the team with an injury and Rob Fidler took his place with a late call up. Garvey and Simpson-Daniel were the wingers, and the back row consisted of Forrester, Boer and Hazell.

God Save our Queen rang around the packed stadium. Shivers ran through my body. By this time I had already pretty much lost my voice and needed to keep topping up on the beverages in order to keep my throat going.

The match started to a terrific reception from both sets of fans. "When the Saints go marching in" and the traditional chant of "Glawwwssstteerr Glawwwssstteerr" rang round headquarters. Tony Spreadbury blew the whistle and Paul Grayson started the party with the kick off.

The first points were scored by Grayson for the Saints. On five minutes after some running rugby from both sides Gloucester were judged to have come in to the ruck from the side. The penalty in front of the posts on the 22 was slotted by the England fly half, and the Northampton fans cheered as if they had won the match. But there was a lot more cheering from teams yet to come.

Just two minutes after the penalty Gloucester took the lead with a try from James Simpson-Daniel. For some reason Steve Thompson found himself in the fly half position. Matt Dawson's pass was in front of him and Thompson, not the most agile on his feet, left the ball to go past him. Simpson-Daniel sped in to the gap, claimed the ball and went behind the posts for the first try of the game. I flew of my seat and the adulation from the Gloucester fans was immense as they danced and and cheered to the music. Ludo slotted the conversion.

Soon after Gloucester were awarded a penalty to stretch the lead further. It was on the half way line and against the wind but Ludo still managed the distance. However he didn't have the accuracy and the ball went ride of the right post. He did add an extra three to the score soon after though with a beautifully executed drop goal from behind the 22. Again the Gloucester crowd were raucous and the party atmosphere was fantastic. The atmosphere itself would stick in your mind forever never mind the final outcome of the match.

The lead changed 6 times in the first half and Grayson helped this with two penalties for the Saints to claw themselves back to within one point. The first to take the score to 10-3 was given when Gloucester were deemed to be offside. The second to take Saints within a score was a bit more controversial. As Saints pressurised the Gloucester line Spredders sent Rob Fidler, only playing because of the injury to Mark Cornwell, to the bin for apparently killing the ball. Grayson put over the easiest of penalties.

The Saints fans really stood up to be counted when they scored their first, and only, try. Paul Grayson ran a good line and broke through some weak tackles, before releasing Nick Beal who rounded off the last defender to score. The Saints fans went mad but it was to be short lived, despite Grayson slotting the conversion.

The Gloucester fans, probably already horse from shouting so much (I know I was) still managed to keep their voices going to spur on their side. Soon after Beal's try, Gloucester surged forward. James Forrester threw a dummy out wide and sped inside to break away. He was going to be caught though and put the inside pass to Marcel Garvey. He still had a lot to do with three Northampton players converging on him but his raw power took him over the line to score and once again put Gloucester in to the lead after Mercier's conversion, 17-16.

The lead was to change twice more before half time, with A Grayson penalty, a Mercier penalty and another Grayson kick to put Saints in to lead at the break 20-22.

My half time consisted of firstly cooling down in shade after a combination of the heat from the sun blazing down on the East stand and me being quite worked up due to the excitement, and secondly queuing for the toilet which is an experience in itself.

The second half was Gloucester Gloucester Gloucester. Their superior fitness and passion made it feel as if they would play for weeks should they need to. During this period they kept 83% possession, and Saints fans will tell you you can't score when you don't have the ball.

Then came another of my highlights of the day. The entire Saints contingent at headquarters joined in to sing "when the Saints come marching in" and it was an impressive sound, but the Gloucester crowd came back with their chants of Gloucester to drown out the green black and yellow to their dismay. I really laughed when they stopped singing and this one bloke turned to me, laughed, and stuck up his middle finger to show his annoyance at being drowned out. By this stage I was very hot and rather sticky after a Saints fan spilt her black stuff all over us and our seats. She said she felt bad because she was a Saints fan! I bet she was secretly smiling. :p

Now if you had visited the Saints site recently you will know about their pie of power. And it started to be eaten at when Gloucester scored their third try. The ball was spread firstly to the right and then to the left. Henry Paul drew the defenders and span the ball out. It was flicked on to James Forrester who sprinted down the wing, and came round behind the posts. TV replays show that he may not have place the ball down correctly but anyone who makes a fuss about this is being picky, the try was already scored. Mercier in fine form with the boot kicked the conversion. Gloucester were on top again.

The second yellow card of the game went to Paul Grayson. The ball was put out wide and Marcel Garvey was ready to claim but Grayson took him out before he had the ball. Mercier kicked the penalty and one more would mean that Saints would have to score two tries.

That penalty came later on. It was all Gloucester and with about 10 minutes to go they were awarded a penalty on the half way line. Mercier stepped up to kick for points and did so brilliantly, sending the ball the full 50 metres.

Northampton still believed that they had a chance when Thinus Delport was sent to the bin in the 80th minute. 6 minutes were to be played in injury time to really get the nerves jiggling. However Gloucester had the final say.

When Matt Dawson tried a clever pass it was brilliantly intercepted my Ludo. He sped away as he has done so many times this season. He also had the awareness to spot James Simpson-Daniel, and Ludo passed to him when he knew he wouldn't have the legs himself. Sinbad flew over the line to wrap it up for Gloucester, Powergen Champions 2003.

After the final whistle the Gloucester players did their lifting the trophy bit, before parading it around the ground to the fans, having a party in the stands. The party continued in the bars after the match, and when I got back on to the coach we ahd a bit of a sing song on the way home, with a rousing rendition of "we are the champions" as we entered Kingsholm.

A brilliant day I wont be forgetting any time soon.

Final Score: Gloucester 40-22 Northampton Saints

Submit your Twickenham photos/stories

Bookmark or share this story with:

• Digg
• Delicious
• Facebook
• Reddit
• Stumbleupon

SPORTNETWORK SPECIALS