Nerves, nerves, nerves. God, I'm nervous!
By apb
April 26 2005
There have been very few occasions in my life when I've felt this way before. The butterfiles in the tum are already here, the palms are getting sweaty, and the general air of nervousness about me is palpable. I've never felt this way before about a sporting confrontation, that's for sure.
Last week's Powergen Cup triumph didn't even approach it. Why? Because, as I wrote in the preview for that game, I couldn't really give Leeds a chance to win the big shiny cup. We were going down to Twickenham for our first visit to HQ, secure in the knowledge that the trip was the thing, not the end result. End result was brilliant, but it wouldn't have ruined my entire day if it had gone against us.
Today, though, is a different matter. Lose, and we can say goodbye to the Premiership, unless a miracle occurs. Win, and we can say hello to Heineken Cup rugby, unless a miracle occurs. It won't be mathematically certain either way, but that is pretty much the state of things.
So, I'm very nervous about it! Particularly since this time, the gathered punditry seems to have written Quins off and gone for an emphatic Tykes win. Tykes - that unfashionable club that plays dull, defensive rugby. Now, call me a superstitious git if you like, but when we're expected to win, I get even more nervous. I like underdog status. But that's not the case tonight.
I'm reliably informed that we're expecting a large crowd tonight. Large, in the sense of bigger-than-our-normal crowd large, rather than Johnny-Wilkinson-is-coming-to-town large, but with Sky TV broadcasting to the known galaxy, and it being on a school night, that's still a valuable indicator of exactly what this game means to Yorkshire rugby. It's everything!
(...still nervous...)
But then again, it's pretty much everything to the Quins as well! Make no odds about it, if the Quins finish bottom of the pile, they will go down. That is exactly what the vast majority of Quins fans believe is right and proper - the only real exception being the dipstick who was on Rugby Special a few weeks ago.
Harlequins the club recognises that it can't rely on outside factors to help. Results on the pitch have to count, and that is why they've encouraged as many people to get up north as they can to support their team (seven quid for a bus here and back is the bargain of the century!).
So there will be a large number of Tykes fans there tonight, and a fair contingent from London too. Here's the strange bit though. Sale fans are coming. Falcons fans are coming. Tigers fans are coming. Like some kind of primeval instinct calling rugby fans from all corners of England, this game has impact like no other. The uncharitable "foreign fans" are coming hoping to see Harlequins pushed further down into the mire and watch them squirm. Most, however, are coming to watch two great teams play the most meaningful game of rugby that will be played anywhere on the planet this season. To the winner, survial virtually guaranteed. To the loser, real trouble.
(...still nervous...)
This season, and particularly the assorted results that have occurred, have shown that this premiership has been the closest ever, and that there are clearly the 12 best teams in the country in the premiership at the moment. For one of those twelve, however, the end is nigh. I don't wish ill of Harlequins. I don't wish ill of Northampton, or Irish, or Wuss (especially not Wuss - we've been there!). I just don't want Tykes to be twelfth in the premiership at 10.30 this evening. And especially not at 4.45 on Saturday!
So please, just for my well-being, we need to win, and the crowd needs to do its bit on that basis. I can write no better words that those offered by Steven Ward in his preview of the Tigers' game:
Forget talk of 'small crowds' and 'no appetite in Yorkshire for Premiership rugby'. NOW is the time for those fans we do have to front up. Do you know how much you care about the Tykes? Now's the time to find out. If you know you're gonna cry if we win the Powergen Cup AND if we go down, then you probably know how much you care. Let's create Fortress Headingley from the stands and help the Tykes all we can.
Hear, hear, young man!
(...oh, gut wrenchingly nervous now!)