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View from the south stand: Sale 11 Gloucester 12


By Cap'n Major Bloodnok
April 29 2016

It was inevitable that the unbeateen home record would fall some time, but not this way. In 5th place with Champion's Cup rugby next season in our own hands, we needed a performance to match the best we've seen this season. However...

There's probably a rule somewhere that says “don't write a match report when you’re angry” or something, and that’s probably good advice.

Which I'm going to ignore.

Because I'm fuming.

Not with the game, although that was bad enough. This was one of those games that both sides deserved to lose. I'm not going to give any “credit” to Gloucester: they didn’t play well. At no point did they even remotely look like breaking through the Sale defence or threatening the line. We could be playing till next week and they wouldn't have racked up any tries.

But then Sale didn’t play well either. A casual observer might have surmised that this was a game between two teams with nothing to play for; for whom the season is effectively over. It was hard to credit that one of those two teams had a real chance of 5th place and an outside chance of a play-off spot.

No, I'm not angry with the defeat, or with knowing that Champion's cup rugby next season is no longer in our own hands.

I'm not angry that certain players had a bad day at the office.

No, here’s why I’m angry:

We have stood in the south stand, or sat in the east and west stands—some hardy souls have even stood in the north stand—for 15 home games this season; 1,200 minutes during which we have screamed our stupid heads off and shouted and sung our throats raw. We have berated referees without fear or favour, we have cajoled and decried. We have sung in jubilation and despair. We have cheered every point, cringed at every knock-on, contested every penalty.

We have been the 16th man: the club keeps telling us so. They players tell us on twitter how much our support means to them.

So why then, at the end of the last game of the season, could they not be arsed to come and say “thank you” to us?

Why could they come no closer to the south stand than the 22 metre line? Or anywhere vaguely near the east or north stands? The Gloucester players did a lap of the pitch.

I understand that the guys were gutted at the defeat—but do they think we weren’t?

I don't care how they felt at the end, we have stood there through thick and thin; we have kept the faith. We've sung “Always look on the bright side of life” to keep us going when things were bad. We’ve cheered, we’ve cringed, we’ve cried, we’ve laughed. We’ve shivered in the snow and sleet. We've huddled for warmth as the wind howled across the stands. We have been there.

There haven’t always been that many of us, but, by God, we’ve done out best to make sure we were heard.

I've been at Edgeley Park, when the likes of Bear, Splinters, Corcho, Tam, Deano all came over to talk and sign autographs for ages after the game, still muddy and sweaty. They gave their all, we gave our all and they respected us and honoured us.

And all this lot can do is wave vaguely from near the half-way line and then piss off back down the tunnel.

That's why I’m angry.


I'll be at Newcastle next week, shouting my throat raw again, hoping that we will get something out of this season, because that’s what supporters do—there’s no logic or rationale to it, we do it because it’s our team, and the team means more than the individual players, when all’s said and done.

So here’s the deal: do there for the few what you should have done here for the many.

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