Jan 07 Calvisano v Sale

Gimme, gimme, gimme, a map after midnight!

The ‘massed’ ranks of Sharks fans descended on the sleepy village of Calvisano on Saturday: well, a couple of hundred at least. There may well of course have been more, but Italian road signing is not of the standard you expect in England - navigation in these parts is very hit and miss. Perhaps there are still some rugby fans wandering around the Lombardy countryside looking for the stadium.

We found the ground more by chance than endeavour, although we were helped enormously by the helpful postings of former Jet Warren Spragg, bless his cotton socks: the only pity is that his instructions didn’t work in reverse! I’m still unsure how we managed to negotiate our way back to the hotel in the dark, and perplexed as to why we met other fans as we executed a three point turn at a concrete factory.

Like many others we came dressed for the deepest of deep winter matches, resembling Eskimos in our padded coats, hats and gloves, yet we were surprised by the mildness of the conditions. It was a fine day to play rugby, and one we wished we could have more frequently at Edgeley Park. The ground was far from as basic as we had been led to believe: in fact, it was a super venue with a neat homely feel, good facilities, floodlights and a Clubhouse!

So the scene was set: the fog had lifted, our voices were primed, our glasses were full and we sat back expectantly as the team took to the field. Even though the referee was French, and, let’s face it, they’ve not been too kind to us so far, we were still confident of an overwhelming victory.

The victory was achieved, but it certainly wasn’t overwhelming nor anything like as easy as it had been at Edgeley Park earlier in the season. Both Stade Francais and the Ospreys had had to work for their points in earlier rounds, and you can see why. Sale fielded a relatively youthful team with Mike Hills deservedly given his chance at openside along side the untried combination of Foden at scrum half and Wigglesworth (renamed “Wigg-les-worth” by the Italian announcer) at stand off.

In spite of the lack of key figures like Seabass, Corcho and Maggie, our scrum performed well throughout the first forty minutes, securing good ball for the backs. Even when Nathan Bonner Evans was unfortunately stretchered from the field, David Tait proved to be a creditable replacement, protecting the ball at the base of the scrum and making the hard yards when necessary.

The backs played with passion and pace and for once didn’t sit as flat as they have been doing. In large measure that was down to the quick ball delivered by Ben Foden (who was named as Heineken Man of the Match), though his passing was still not as flat as it could’ve been, nor necessarily as accurate.

Steve Hanley made a welcome return to the wing and used his big left boot effectively, though unfortunately he never really received a decent pass all match. With three tries in the bag before the half hour, one from Oriol Ripol, one from Chris Mayor and a poacher’s try from Foden, we had the game effectively wrapped up.

The second half proved to be a different story. It’s true that the Sharks did take their foot off the pedal, especially after Ripol had scored the bonus point try, but that would be disrespectful to Calvisano. They upped their game in this period and played the better rugby, moving the ball wide with pace and deft hands. Fortunately for us, all this endeavour only produced the one try; on any other day it could’ve been more. All in all then, a good, convincing win against a reasonably good side. Many of our players had big games, with Bruno and Wiggy being perhaps two of the pick, but for me the man of the match was Chris Jones. He may have the nickname ‘Emu’, but he played like a tiger. – strong, forceful, aggressive and determined. How England can overlook this guy, I can never understand.

All that remains now is the final group encounter against the Ospreys. We know we have to win to stand any chance of qualification, and we know we need the bonus point. After that, the rest is up to others; should Leicester lose at Munster, or Northampton fail to get a point at Biarritz, then we might just sneak in the back door. Personally, I’m not holding my breath. Should we qualify, then I’ll plan my next jaunt. Until then, I’m just glad I managed to make the trip to Italy. It’s a great place to visit for sport or just a holiday; great food, great wine, a fantastic history and lovely, welcoming people. But, remember, never trust the road signs!