Timofe's Perpignan Diary

By Timofe
December 20 2005

One of the great things about rugby is the confidence you get from being able to go anywhere in the word and have a good, safe time surrounded by like-minded people. Timofe went to Perpignan to see if that was also true in France...

Following on in the great tradition of having to get up early the next morning I went to sleep late on Friday night. After a full three hours sleep I got up at 03:30 to head to Gazz's place ready for a 05:15 drive to Stansted. We met up with Madtyke and Red Herring and set off towards the A1.

After only two and a half hours (including an interesting, if unplanned, detour around East Yorkshire) we found ourselves in the Stansted medium stay car park and waiting on the terminal bus. Why these things sit around for ten minutes waiting for no one to get on has always eluded me.

By 08:00 the airport was already buzzing and after a hearty breakfast we checked in and headed towards Security. None of us had checked any bags in and we would have sailed through, had it not been for Gazz forgetting his sniper rifle kit in the top of his rucksack. Assuring Security that we were British spies and, therefore, allowed the items in questions we went to the gate, where we met Mr and Mrs Oxenhoper. There were surprisingly few other Tykes on the full plane and the journey passed relatively easily.

We landed around 15 minutes early at the less than salubrious Perpignan Airport, but were soon in the heart of the city and comfortably ensconced in the Hotel Ibis Perpignan Centre (catchy title). Madtyke was met by a rousing chorus of "Why was he born so beautiful" by the host of Tykes fans already at the hotel as we entered the lobby. Donning the compulsory tour hats, we dumped our stuff in the room then hit the bar with a speed only envied by the fastest Formula One driver.

After a few beers, we followed Leggs' reindeer hat to find somewhere to eat. A simple task, you might think - but the ways of the French are not our ways...

Observation Number One: Perpignan is a rugby town. If you were ever in doubt, check out any bar or restaurant for the numerous pictures of rugby players past and present, not to mention the strange looks you get in reply to asking anyone "Aimez-vous le rugby?".

We trekked into the old quarter and were directed into Brasserie Le Clemenceau - a rugby bar and restaurant - owned by an English-speaking rugby fan and frequented (he assured us) by many of the USAP players.

Observation Number Two: The name of the team is "USAP", not "Perpignan" (as I was clearly corrected at the game). Sensitive lot, these Catalans...

Having ordered a very strange-tasting "Guinness", we discovered that they had stopped doing food already (well, it was about 16:00 by then). Downing the remnants of my fizzy black stuff we headed out into the Castle area to discover a procession of eateries that were also closed. Descending on a cafe, we had another fizzy drink ("biere", apparently) then decided to try getting food at the ground.

After what was (for us) a very melodic bus ride up to the stadium (initially scaring, then entertaining the French passengers when they realised that we were loud but harmless) we disembarked to see the Stade Aime Giral for the first time. From the road it looked like a large brick wall, but we were soon around the back of the stadium, coincidentally where the bars are. Continuing with the theme of the day, however, the bars were shut.

After a little pressure and stilted explanation, we managed to get them to open the bars and herded into the "inside" bar, under the stand. At that point we learned that the management do not trust their bar staff and thus we had to buy tickets to use at the bar for drinks and food. I say "food", I mean cheese and ham baguettes, but at least it was edible (if a little chewy). The first beer ticket was handed over and we expected to get a pint (or at least half a litre) for our £1.60. We then discovered that the beers came in quarter-litre glasses, and those only half-full. A rough calculation estimated that a pint cost £6.40 - even more expensive than Twickenham! We would not be doing a lot of drinking at the stadium!

Phil Davies came to visit us for a quick chat an hour before the game and many smiles, nods and songs were shared with the USAP fans before we went to take our seats. Stepping into the stadium was like stepping into Siberia! The air temperature was around 4 degrees, but the wind chill factor must have been at least -10. The winds were estimated at about 50-60 mph, not the 25mph that had been forecast, and the Tykes supporters were seated at the open end of one of the legs of the horseshoe-shaped terraces.

The team came out to warm up to loud pantomime booing from the USAP supporters, which increased in volume when the ref made an appearance. The USAP team were cheered by the 14,000 supporters, but the 200 or so Tykes fans (boosted by a fair number of Northampton Saints fans) were also making a good deal of noise. One of several USAP bands were strategically positioned next to the away fans, but since they played tunes that we could sing along to, this was not a big problem.

Once our bodies had completely turned to ice the game began, but not before a large amount of paper bits had been thrown into the wind. We spent the remainder of the game in a paper snowstorm as the wind whipped around the pitch and off the end of our stand. Both teams ran out, USAP into a crowd-pleasing line, the Tykes into their customary huddle.

While the game was not the highest-scoring example of the weekend, it must have been the closest! The ball seemed stuck in the middle of the pitch for large parts of the game. On occasion, one side or another attacked the opposition line (including several scoring opportunities wasted by the Tykes when they went the wrong way with an overlap), but generally the game was one between evenly matched sides. The wind could have been used more effectively by Goggsy in the first half - instead he opted for shorter kicks to touch - but the Tykes lineout was working well (for once) and TP and Morgs stole a fair amount of opposition ball.

The first two tries came from well-worked moves on each side, though kicking in that wind was more of a religious experience. The second half saw the Tykes defending against the wind as well as the USAP team and we fully expected to spend most of it in our 22. While that was the case for the first fifteen to twenty minutes, the USAP crowd was often silenced by the Tykes' own attacks and the Tykes faithful could frequently be heard above the home supporters. During another mighty Tykes defensive effort, Justin Marshall went to clear the ball but missed touch as he kicked straight into the oncoming wind and the ball bounced into the hands of the USAP fullback, then their winger Naulu, who completed his brace with a darting run through the otherwise-steady Tykes defence.

Would heads go down, as they had so many times during the start of the season? Not a chance - this was the new improved Tykes and the team was determined to get the winning try. From that point onwards the Tykes hammered the USAP lines, making a few errors but being held time and again by the USAP defence. USAP proved why they are second in their league. With what was clearly the last move of the game, the Tykes forewent the kick to touch which would have finished the game and chose, instead, a brave tap penalty that saw them move the ball across the full width of the pitch at least twice before the ref finally stopped play about five metres from the USAP line. Game over.

The sense of relief from the USAP supporters was palpable. USAP has not lost at home for 32 games. By the admission of many of their fans, this was the closest they had ever come to losing that record. They looked gutted to have lost, but Phil Davies and the boys should take great solace from the number of USAP fans who ask us just how we were bottom of our league when we play like that? I hope we continue to play like that for the rest of the season! Not one Tyke supporter I spoke to after the game had anything but great praise for the team. They were magnificent and the USAP supporters agreed.

And so to the bars, where relieved USAP fans bought many of the drinks. Standing in freezing winds seemed less of a chore after the performance we had seen on the pitch and the customary articles of clothing were swapped with USAP fans young and old (HG2 encouraging the activity by trying to take his shirt off at every available opportunity). USAP fans are friendlier when the ref hasn't robbed them of the game. I wonder what the mood would have been if we had got that try?

A short taxi journey back into the city found us on a food hunt once again and we ate a very pleasant meal in the Cuban bar. As we were finishing the main course we noticed Biggsy and Jordan Crane using the loos. Wandering down to the club area we found the whole team enjoying a swift half before returning to their hotel. They were slowly recovering from the loss, all of them feeling that we should have won the game and assuring us that Newcastle would be in for a game on the 27th. If they can carry the weekend's form into the Premiership we won't have anything to worry about.

Returning to the hotel, we found remnants of the Tykes away support trying to get the bar to reopen, it having closed at 23:30. Bed beckoned - we'd been awake for 21 hours after three hours' sleep by that point. I'm told that Leggs managed to get the bar reopened at about 01:00 and the stamina merchants hit the hay at about 05:00.

Breakfast was attended by about half those from the night before and we staggered out into Perpignan to see what the city had to offer in daylight. The Christmas market was suitably blitzed for mementoes and we spent a couple of hours bumping into Tykes fans who, like us, were killing time until the flight back. On returning to the airport we discovered why the flights were so cheap, as the Northampton Saints Supporters Club had bought 80 seats on our flight for their away trip to Narbonne. Thanks, Saints. We enjoyed the £10 flights; sorry you had to pay so much for your tickets...

In summary, a good trip at low cost, with a great performance by the Tykes in difficult conditions against a team wanting revenge for the previous week. Apart from a couple of idiots who had clearly drunk too much, we made a lot of new French friends and the team earned their respect. If all away trips were like that, we'd get more travellers. If the Tykes play like that for the rest of the season, we'll be top by the end of it!