A Drunken Wasps Farewell To Warren Gatland

Make mine a treble!
By KevTheB
April 29 2005

Since Warren announced his intention to go back to his native province, the DWs have had it in mind to send him home with a hangover. Negotiations have been going on for some time, and we are pleased to finally announce a date and time.

 

Date: Wednesday 18th May 2005

Time: from 1800hrs till the bar closes at 0100hrs

Place: Walkabout Temple, Temple Station, Temple Place, WC2R 2PH

Event Price: £10 per person

Eagle-eyed watchers will no doubt notice that the date is the mid-week after the Premiership Final: it is our great hope that Warren can go home three times a winner. Whatever the play-off results - and whoever wins the Championship this season - our farewell party is guaranteed to be a roaring success. As well as Warren, two other members of his back-room team, Tony Hanks & Craig White, are also leaving, and we hope they will be able to join us. We will also extend invitations to all the squad and staff at Twyford Avenue.

The Temple Walkabout is simple to find. Get to Temple Station on the District line. Exit, and turn right, followed by an immediate right. Walk along the road for about 20 yards and you are there! Normally there are two bloody big bouncers at the door, so it’s hard to miss.

We have the River Suite for our exclusive use, and the way into this is on the left, through the main entrance. If your name is not on the guest list, the nice gentlemen on the door will not let you through! The River Thames is but a short throw away, so please don’t argue with them.

Please note: this is an over 18 venue only - please do not bring anyone along who might not get past the doorman, or, if you do, make sure their age-bearing ID is up to date.  We will be unable to refund entrance fees if the door staff refuseto admit you on age grounds.

The suite holds 200 people, has its own bar, toilets and full AV facilities, and we hope to be able to screen three concurrent Wasps matches in shifts throughout the evening (something like 9 games). Come and watch Rob Howley’s try; Stu Abbott bursting through the leaden-footed Gloucester defence and off-loading to Josh Lewsey in 2003; Paul Volley scaring Malone into a poor pass in 2004; and many more highlights of Warren’s time in charge (subject to someone remembering to take the DVDs along).

The entry fee will be used in three ways.

Firstly, the Walkabout will be bringing out a hot buffet at about 9pm. It is pub buffet grub, so please don’t get too picky with it. There’s no reduction if you don’t want to eat, and as there is nobody from Northampton coming, there might be enough for everyone. Please don’t be greedy!

Secondly, we will be getting Warren something to take home with him to remember us by: this will be a surprise so we clearly can’t say what, but we think it is something he will enjoy.

Thirdly, after making our donation of £3500 to Tom Somerville last week, any money left over will sit in the bank, waiting for next year’s beneficiaries.

To get your place, send an email to Kevin at (nospam) drunkenwasps dot com as usual, and you will be invoiced by return (or shortly thereafter). Payment is required immediately on receipt of invoice, as we have to pay for everything in advance.

Make sure you state all your names in the mail - we need to generate a full guest list.

All 280 people at Will’s Curry expressed an interest, so demand is expected to be high. You will need to get in sharpish to make sure you have a place. We will run a reserve list.