A shirt with horizontal bands, neckerchief, black beret, black tash and a string of onions over my shoulder; the French were playing in Edinburgh and I had to play the part. In the mirror I looked ridiculous, and around town the French fans seemed to appreciate my gesture, but not so the two guys from Dundee who entered the toilet at the Murrayfield Hotel. How do I know they were from Dundee? I don't think there's an equivalent in England or Ireland, you'll just have to ask one of your Scots friends. Unlike most people I'd met that day, these guys were convinced I was French. As not to disappoint I went along with them. They started to snigger and whisper to each other, then tested me out by asking if I could speak English, and probed with lots of simple little questions, which became more and more insulting as I looked more and more puzzled and laughed along with them. In the end they were shaking my hand, hugging me, smiling and laughing in hysterics as they told me what a small penis I had, how they were going to kill my father and rape my mother, then make me have sex with my sister before decapitating her. I've left out the worse bits! I met them at the bar later and even when they saw me they again broke down in tears of laughter. That changed when I went up to them and thanked them in crisp English for such an entertaining time in the toilet earlier. I know, that didn't sound well to people nearby, but these guys were from Dundee so nobody was going to question anything.
This Saturday at 2.30 it's Italy v Wales, and the Italians must be thinking, if we can beat the French on our home ground, we must stand a good chance against the Welsh. But the Welsh have just won in Paris, and not many teams do that. I'm going with the Welsh here because the Italians always seem to pull off one surprise, and I think they've done that already.
At 5.00 it's England v France and what a game this is going to be. The French so far have suffered two humiliation, at the hands of the Italians and then the Welsh in Paris. In their minds they have to win this or they might as well stay at home for the last two matches, which includes Dublin against the Irish. England will fancy their chances big time, knowing that if they can pull this off, they only have Italy to pass on their way to winning the tournament; and a last game in Cardiff could see the Grand Slam!
England to win, it has to be!
Then on Sunday at 2.00 it's Scotland v Ireland, and oh how I was so close to going. What stopped me? The first train out of Penrith wouldn't get me there in time, even if it went directly to the stadium. I had two tickets on hold at £75 each and had to let them go, what a wrench! Of course I'm going for an Ireland win, my heart taking over my head again :-) But if my life depended on it, I'd have to think a bit harder. I think Ireland visiting Murrayfield was my first Six Nations experience, so it's always had a special place in my heart. But hey, I'll be there in two weeks cheering on the Welsh, after all, St Patrick came from Wales.
No comments:
Post a Comment