By kwin
May 27 2002

The 2002/03 fixture list is announced, and nearly finalised. You can see it in multi-colour here, and what a treat we have in store.

Optimism

Isn't pre-season great? Optimism can be given full rein, the future is bright and everything is possible again. A look at fixture list might bring you down with a bump, with a couple of very tough games to start off the season- Gloucester at home and Leicester away - it's going to be hard to come away with many points from those two. 

At least we start at home. Indeed we are going to see a lot of the Stoop in the Autumn with three of our first four games (and four of the first six!) at Castle Geezer - which is just as well because (if the teams hang on to this season's form) we are playing a lot of hard games with Leeds, Irish, Sale and Newcastle in addition to Glos and Leic,  making up the half-dozen before we take a break for Europe, and a trip to the cheese country of Caerphilly - home and away - as the Shield gets going.

Bread and Butter

After that, in Oct/Nov we see a busy period of six consecutive ZP games  that I expect will decide the whole tenor of season. It's our bread-and-butter period as we play Bristol, Bath, Sarries, Wasps, Saints and Sarries, alternately home and away. Andre Vos will have arrived - perhaps Wilson as well. If we have any top-six aspirations (I have) this period has to see us wining most of these games- and significant number of points against solid mid-table opposition.  On the other hand if we do poorly here, it will be hard to recover. This section of the season coincides with the Autumn internationals..

Lobster and Caviar

Then a break from the league for the glamour fixture of the season - assuming we've successfully negotiated Caerphilly, we will travel to Paris to play French aristocrats and fly-by-nights, Stade Francais. A tough team to encounter in the second round, but what an exciting fixture - I predict a travelling contingent far in excess anything seen in any previous overseas game.  We also have a Powergen fixture before a disappointing Christmas list - we're away on 28 Dec and only the possibility of a home draw in the cup on 21 Dec to give us a Christmas game.  At least we finish the holiday period at home -  to Bristol on Jan 4th and then another round of Europe/Cup games (if we are still in it)

Concentration

The six nations next year is in a new format,  played over a five week period in the new year (2 games, break, 1 game, break, 2 games) and with that, at the same time as Europe and the Cup, in the new year the season takes on it's characteristic stop-start feel in the spring, with matches coming sporadically - and home games very rare - after Feb 8th  (Sale) the next one is April 19 (Tigers).  At least we can fill that gap with Natal. This is a long, dark winter for the club rugby soul, with players and supporters alike struggling to retain concentration on the sparse league, with so many distractions (structured season anyone?).  The highlight of this period  is our visit London Irish on St Patrick's weekend (Mar 16/17)- timing that must make this game one of the most attractive fixtures of the season.

The Run-In

The season finally regains some momentum after the 6N finishes, and our run-in is five games (three of them away) in five weeks from 6 April to 10 May. It's a harder run in than last season comprising  Leeds, Leicester, Gloucester, Saints and, finally, a visit to Wycombe to see how Wasps have settled in. That's nearly a year from now on 10 May 2003..  Relegation ? Hopefully we'll be fighting to ensure a HC place.

Details

The fixture list is now up on the official site and you should check there for exact details.