What’s happening here? It’s the evening of December 21, 1997 and one of the coldest rugby matches I have ever covered with Toulouse experiencing an icy blast for their much-awaited Heineken Cup semifinal against Brive.
Don’t believe all that Tourist Board nonsense about balmy sun-kissed winters down in the southwest, it can be freezing down there especially when the katabatic winds blow off the snow-plastered Pyrenees. Just to accentuate the cold, the Municipal Stadium is a concrete fridge at the best of times – fait frisquet as they say in those parts.
Just typing was a challenge so heaven knows what it was like handling a rugby ball. In the stadium it all went off from about an hour before kick-off, with the 29,000 crowd jumping to keep warm and lighting flares to give a false illusion of heat. It was an extraordinarily colourful scene, especially among the massed ranks of Toulouse fans at one end of the ground as they paid homage to the rouge et noire.
What’s the story behind the picture?
French rugby was on an all-time high. France had won the 1997 Grand Slam and were to take the 1998 version in style. Meanwhile Brive had appeared from almost nowhere to slay the rest of Europe and march to the 1997 Heineken Cup, making Leicester Tigers look like second raters in the final at Cardiff.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der October 11, 2020-Ausgabe von The Rugby Paper.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der October 11, 2020-Ausgabe von The Rugby Paper.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
England show who's No.1
ENGLAND women’s head coach John Mitchell says his side will take valuable lessons from the 24-12 win over world champions New Zealand as they build towards their WXV1 title defence.
Skivington: We're going to roll dice and go for it
THE Cherry and Whites are the enigmas of the Premiership.
Looking to go one step beyond this time around
NE small step is what it will take for Bath to go one better than last season and secure the Premiership for the first time, but it would be one of the biggest taken by the club in the professional era.
Four-try England make it 17 wins on the spin
ENGLAND women opened the Allianz Stadium era at HQ with a victory over New Zealand to make it 17 wins on the bounce before their WXV title defence.
Time for Borthwick to prove his worth
HONEYMOON periods are not set in stone and in my estimation Steve Borthwick’s ends this summer. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still in good shape.
Barrington ready to power up the Mob
RICHARD Barrington has signed up to the Ampthill “Mob” reassured that he’ll still have a target on his back most weeks.
Skivington keen to build identity
GLOUCESTER won their first trophy for nine years last season and reached the Challenge Cup final, but when George Skivington went on holiday the day after the campaign ended the words in his head were never again.
Roebuck targets England success
WINNING a maiden England Test cap to top the best season of his career will not be enough for Sale winger Tom Roebuck.
Booth: Tough telling players I was leaving
TOBY Booth admits telling his Ospreys players that he would be leaving at the end of the season was one of the hardest things he has had to do in his career.
Stephens' debut try sees off old rivals
DORKING had to dig deep in another tight game between two old rivals, with the lead changing hands twice and result in doubt right up to the final whistle.