Clermont v Quins November 2019
We flew to Lyon Saturday morning and took the snowy drive to Clermont arriving lunchtime , clearly the right place as all the players were in reception
waiting for the bus to go for a quick training session at the ground , they looked keen , quick chat with James Lang who was pumped and shared the lift down with Sean Long who said the
squad were 'buzzin' , all looking good then !
Quick bag drop and off the find the Quinssa group who were in a nearby holsterie for lunch Creperie Le 1513 if you are ever visiting this beautiful Rugby Mad city .
The crowd were duly assembled and feeling a bit dusty from the Friday night , but determined to power through
Following a long and liquid lunch we went back to the hotel to pick up flags and look forward to the tram journey to Stade Marcel Michelin . We hadn't planned on the 'Gilets Jaune ' holding a demonstration at the Tram station and as we waited ever more impatiently at the Tram stop we were duly rescued by a young French lady who explained what was going on and took us to the Replacement Bus Stop .
The atmosphere was starting to build , more and more Quins fans converging , a meet with Clermont Supporters Group in one of the bars outside the group , exchanging pennants , pleasantries and beer and then we were in !
Bars were busy inside the ground , several bands competing to ramp up the atmosphere , facepaint and flags , it was an occasion ! French fans were very welcoming, keen to swap flags , hats , scarfs , badges , we gave our flags to a couple of young kids , they were beaming - love Rugby .
A game of Rugby unfolded down below , Morgan Parra kicked 3 points in the first couple of mins , then the two huge Fijians Raka and Yato knocked holes in our defence 22-0 down in what seemed a heartbeat , we roared when Tom Lawday went over just before HT -- was the comeback on ? - we were brimming confidence until a couple of tries later we knew we had to try and win the singing at least - we gave it a good shot but the 53-21 scoreline was a fair reflection
In the words of Adam Jones " win or lose , on the booze " we made our way back to the city centre , cathedral square , Irish bars , Rugby Bars all merged into one .. back at the hotel to drop off coats and a quick chat with Ugo Monye and the BT Sport team who were relaxing after their commentary on the game , they looked pleased that we were going back out and politely declined the invitation to join us - wasnt hard to find a bar with atmosphere , and we carried on our celebrations until the early hours
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