Whatever Happened to James Bramhall?

I simply cannot find any spice (geddit) in the South African competition especially with all their international players doing the TRI nations thing. That has my minor interest, but is only once a week at some strange time on a Saturday and even then watching the same teams play each other over and over again has limited interest, even to this rugby nut.

Even the sanctuary of this message board is filled with threads lamenting the change in shirt, the lack of future fixture announcements and wailing because season tickets that not even needed yet have not arrived; all sorts of detritus apart from actual rugby ! Lord give me strength !

So what does a man do ? Not being one for gardening or DIY, I also tire of sitting in the sun reading a book. I need my rugby. Its weeks until life starts again so desperation sets in.

So I put the joint of beef into the oven (feeds 4-6 people they reckon. See even Tesco don't understand rugby folk. I eat all this plus masses of mashed potato and veg and four yorkshire puddings, sink a bottle of red wine followed by a bowl of half price "Derbyshire" strawberries and cream and I'm still bloody hungry !) and settle down to watch .......................................................

The Heinekin, Heinikin, Hinikin, hini...well you get the idea, the european cup final in the year of our lord 2000. There's something very special about that year.

Now firstly for the uninitiated, or those with not very good memories, this is being televised by the good old BBC. Now the half time panel of some Irish bloke and persil boy are as bad as anything we get now but, and this is a big but ( almost as big as Jo Brands Butt) the commentary was a class apart. It was the great Bill McClaren. Bill loves the game, and it comes across with every word. Instead of the supercilious comment , the berating, or the "I know something you don't know", Bill actually comments on the game. He tells you what's happening, with humour, and with a vast knowledge of not only the laws and appreciation of the spirit of rugby but also the height and weight of the players, what club they play for, how many tries they have scored this season (and aye that's none to shabby for a prop) and their international status, including A team representation. And all done in lapses in play, totally unobtrusively, which simply adds to your understanding of the event unfolding in front of you and your depth of rugby knowledge when it ends. Bill McClaren is to Stuart Barnes as a glass of Chateau Rothschild is to a bottle of flat coca cola. "Whenever Keith Wood gets the ball, there's a bit of the Tally ho about him" in a tone of voice with a smile in it. Anyway more of that later.

Here it was the fifth European cup final, the first without a French team (thanks Bill). Munster had beaten Stade Francais in the quarter finals and the mighty Toulouse in the semi (thanks again Bill)  and Saints had vanquished Wasps in the quarter final and fought a mighty battle with Llannelli in the semi, the image of a one armed Pat Lam shouting from the sidelines forever etched in memory.

The match was watched by a then record crowd for a "domestic" game of 66,460 including seven plane loads of Munster supporters ( thanks again Bill) and Persil boy said he had never experienced an atmosphere like it at Twickenham. Of the thirty starters there were twenty one internationally capped players (Yep Bill again)The stage was set.

Saints side had a bit of a makeshift feel to it. Having fought on all three fronts that season, the league title had slipped away and the Tetley Bitter cup final had been lost to Wasps two weeks before. Injury ravaged and tired this was their last chance of glory. As the media reminded us Saints were the nearly team, 120 years or thereabouts with no trophies in the cabinet.

The front row looked good, Stewart, Mendez and Pagel (the young Steve Walter never got on and Scelzco had a brief stint late in the game), the engine room was not first choice. The mighty Tim stepped in at the waning of his career taking a spot in the second row as his pace had diminished. He was to have an imperious game in the lineout. He was partnered by Andy Newman, again far from first choice and soon to leave the club unwanted.  On the flanks we had the incomparable Budge and the oft forgotten Don McKinnon (born in Australia but with the experience of 6 caps for Scotland A..yes you guessed it Bill again)  At number eight was possibly the most influencial player in recent times for the Saints (both with what he achieved and his involvement in bringing Andy Blowers to the club to replace him), Pat Lam, and what a game he had.

At scrum half Dom Malone replacing imo one of Saints (and England's) all time greats Matt Dawson who was injured. Now Malone had a great game but I can't help feeling that , with all the possession that Saints pack provided, Daws at scrum half and Grays at ten would have fired the backline and dominated territory far better than Doms partnership with Ali Hepher, which stuttered now and then, and Saints would have won the game far more comfortably.

But it wasn't to be as with Beale injured , Grays was at fullback, which, while adding his kicking prowess to the side really dimished its ability to defend deep and counter attack effectively. Allen and Bateman made up the midfield and Moir and the twenty one year old Ben Cohen were on the wings. For all those who believe you can't throw in young players Cohen had already played for England five times with five tries under his belt (you guessed it Bill again. Now come on has Barnes passed on this much info in all the time he has been commentating, let alone in one match ?)

Well despite the sticking plaster look of the team, Saints triumphed. There were some outstanding individual performances. Despite the constant references to the "mighty" Saints pack Munster were actually heavier. Saints however dominated the scrum. Munster scored the only try but imo Saints deserved their victory. Another fact that many appear to overlook (thinking that O'Gara blew the game)  is that both Grays and O'Gara missed two penalty attempts in the second half. Grays last effort looked the easiest too. Just goes to show how bad the conditions were by then. The rain was teeming down and the wind was swirling. There were only three points scored in that second half and Saints spent over thirty minutes defending a one point lead (although a lot of this was spent on the attack).

In the words of the commentators it was not a spectacular match, but it was a fiercely contested and compelling one and I recommend  to all of you, dig it out if you have a copy and spend an evening living the memory of probably our clubs finest hour to date. It is a great antedote for these dog days and nights.

And finally Bill again. I wonder, before you read this, how many of you could have answered the question , who came on as substitute scrum half for Saints and played the last ten minutes of the European cup final in 2000 ? Bill McClaren was not phased when he came on "ah, as we suspected on for Dominic Malone, here comes James Bramhall out of the Northampton School for Boys." I wonder what he's doing now ? Quite ironically, with all the recent gnashing of teeth over experience in the scrum half position at Saints, he went to Sale in 2001. Last I saw he was captain at Manchester, he may still be there. But wherever he is somewhere in his home he has something that you and I can only dream of, a European Cup winners medal.