Bayonne - it all went so wel...

It all wents so well, apart from the last two minutes of the match really!

Bayonne - it all went so well

report by ChiefRedWine

Well. everything except the last two minutes of the match really!

This is not a match report. Head of Comms does that far, far better than I. This is about a Pirate Tour with a rugby match as its chief, but not the only, focus.
Pirate Tours (the players nicknamed me Pirate when I was VideoMan - don't ask, it's a very long story) was seven strong as opposed last year’s Toulon Four. We had mislaid one of the gents but attracted four ladies so on the whole not a bad change.

Flew easyJet – WHAT A GREAT COMPANY (guess who has a six month contract with them at the moment ?) from Bristol to Toulouse then people carrier across to Bayonne; scenic trip with the Pyrenees to the left. Great opportunity for Dave to trot out his old, and annual joke involving Toulon, Toulouse and a pair of knees. It wasn’t great the first time and on this seventh outing we could have strangled him. Except he was driving.

Thursday evening: Out to Bottega de Mario for MrsP’s Big Birthday Bash dinner. It was a tiny place down a very unpromising side-street, but the food was outstanding. Interesting language problem with the menu in Italian – which none of us speaks – and translated into French, which I thought I was pretty good at. Not so good when it comes to understanding arcane ingredients. Never mind – all of us loved it apart from Old Farmer who is a roast and two veg man. We ignored him. Loads of wine and beer with the Etna Rosso a particular hit.

To San Sebastian on Friday. What A Place. Weather helped but it is a city to which I will return. Quaint old city. Excellent bracing walk up to the Castillo and then Tapas, Prosecco and beer, with a bit more beer and Prosecco to follow. Food, drink and a domestic with MrsP. in the evening. End of a perfect day.

Match Day and early morning Twitter courtesies with the normal suspects. Earlyish breakfast for one of the seven – that’ll be me then. The rest eventually get down so it’s on to the bus to Biarritz. What A Place. Weather helped but it is a place to which I will return. Once again, a brilliant walk along the front taking in all the different vantage points – then, surprise, surprise, food and beer and wine. Couldn’t believe the value at a good quality beachside restaurant. Oysters mmmmmmm.

17:00 to Katie Day’s Irish pub. Good place, but their wine merchant needs to be sacked. Beer was fine and dandy so we just told the wine drinkers to go to spirits. They did. Wild Tooth was there in his capacity as The Ultimate Tour Manager. The Tribe gathered and, to the massive amusement of Bayonne’s residents, marched to the ground, flags flying and drums beating.

Which was shut . . . so we went to a bar just down the road . . . which was a delight. Good beer and platters of Bayonne ham, sliced as you watch with slices of cheese and bits of baguette. Recommended.

To the match, I was sat with the Manic Chiefs Drummers*; was on Twitter Duty while Head of Comms did the radio Devon commentary, the match reports for the website and three newspaper reports within fifteen minutes of the final whistle. He really is the multi-tasker extraordinaire.

*The spoilsports at Bayonne would not let the drums in. Health and Safety b******s. This really was poor show on their part and we could not understand why a brass band at the north end of the ground were allowed to bring their instruments. You can do a lot of damage with a tuba. Particularly if it is inserted into an officious Health and Safety official. Never mind. As always, the Tribe extemporised and supported the boys loud and proud.

Twitter was a trial. My iPad couldn’t pick up the stadium wifi, so for the first half my iPhone/3G was pressed into service. Second half the iPad/3G came into play. Back in London the Vodafone executives ordered a couple of bottles of champagne as my bill mounted.

It was a GOOD game. Great to see some of the fringe players get a decent amount of game time. Old-fashioned me liked the bits of biff that generally accompany French matches. Ref was decent and very hot on the breakdown for both sides. My only complaint is that Chiefs didn’t make the numeric advantages pay enough when their guys went to the bench. (For full details see the website!)

Watched Chiefs long enough now to be stoic in victory and defeat. Bayonne players were treated to the standard Tribe courtesies (even though they hadn’t gone down the Exeter players' tunnel at the end of the game – a bit remiss on their part.

So we toddled off and had another beer. Up early Sunday to see a Devon flag draped outside our hotel window – thanks Devon Andy. Easy trip back. Shattered but happy that everything had gone without a hitch – apart from those blasted last two minutes.