Exeter v Ospreys: Delight

After much indecision, I eventually decided to go and watch this evening's LV Cup match between Exeter Chiefs and the Ospreys. This cup is undoubtedly the rugby equivalent of the CIS Cup or the Johnston's Paint Trophy. But it delivered.

I wrote in the previous post about the weight of expectation that is piled on certain games between certain teams in certain competitions. Well I was treated to a game with very little expectation, between two teams who were fielding slightly weaker teams, in a competition that no-one really cares about.

I was also interested to see what an Exeter Chiefs match felt like. They're a young, developing club, with a smaller budget than most teams. They are not part of the traditional English elite, and so have clearly developed an 'us against them' culture, that is helped by being geographically isolated. They like to portray themselves as the club representing the South-West.

I couldn't have been more impressed by the whole set-up. Sandy Park is slightly out of town, so the club  in conjunction with Stagecoach, lay on buses from around the city to ferry fans in. As soon as I stepped off the bus, I was struck by the amount of Chiefs branding there was, the clean cut main stand that doubles up as the conference centre and the amount of fans wearing Exeter merchandise.

Having over-budgeted for time by about an hour, I had some milling about to do. The club shop was very full, with people discussing Christmas presents. The 'Tomahawk Bar' had lots of fans chatting and kids had broken out into the games of touch that everyone used to play, swept up in the excitement.

Being a student, I felt obliged to buy a cheap ticket (still £16!!) in one of the corner stands, but I was there so early that I walked into the main stand and managed to stay there for the whole game, as I nervously watched the seats around me fill up.

The stadium reminded me of when I travelled to Bourgoin: one main stand, with various others dotted around, some seated, some terraced. Sandy Park is far more modern, however. Mainly, they were the type of stands that get erected at the Greenyards for the Melrose 7s.

Exeter's pack shoved the Welsh around all day and the backs were enterprising enough. I was on Scot-Watch, too! Bryan Rennie, much lauded by ignorant Scotsman commenters who clearly have many issues, initially struck me as a player who was too slow for international rugby, but he changed my first impressions with a couple of outside breaks and Sonny Bill-esque offloads. Ali Muldowney came on for 20 minutes at the end and looked big and strong. The Chiefs won 35-9 in the end, to a crowd of 6365, though it definitely did not look or sound as if there were 4000 empty seats.

It struck me that Edinburgh Rugby must implement the following things, some of which they may already do to some extent:

• Half-time competitions
• A Lotto draw
• Fans can text in to vote for their man of the match, and then get entered into a prize draw
• Player's sponsors read out after a score
• Some sort of song - Exeter have a chant which can best be described as some sort of American Indian thing. I have no idea what Edinburgh's would be, but something would be good, to create some atmosphere
• A Community Super-Saturday where you pack out the ground with youngsters who have all received coaching from players during the week - they parade round the pitch at half-time etc.

Today's rugby worked out in an odd fashion, but not a bad one. Yes, the superstars' game wasn't what everyone hoped or expected (unless you're French) but this evening was a treat. Maybe we should never expect, and just accept what those rugby gods throw at us, because it always seems to come from the direction we least expect.

Until tomorrow then, when we shall all rise again to become emotionally involved in what should, yet again, be the greatest match of all time. The rugby world expects, but should they?