The Raven gives Franco Bernini, the Aironi Coach, a few tips before the match!
It was a bit of a rush back from the ‘Gannon v Quins match to get my carry out and a bite to eat before the 6:05 kick off but it was a clear road all the way and I made it home with a degree of comfort to tidy the house and put out the nibbles before my guests arrived to watch the live screening on the big TV.
So it was slightly disappointing that at 6:05 that we found ourselves, beers in hand and crunching crisps, staring at a black screen with nothing happening as we waited for the live feed to start! A couple of refreshes later and still nothing but just as I was reaching for my mobile to ring Raging Raven to tell him to plug in the internet over in Italy a picture appeared and a few minutes later we were joined by the dulcet tones of Gusher!
It wasn’t encouraging to see first an Aironi player leave just as we arrived and shortly after when Fitzpatrick had to leave for a calf strain I began to wonder if there was something wrong with the pitch such was the speed of departures. Thankfully that was the last and eventually a game broke out.
We’ll I say a game, in truth it was more like a war of attrition as both teams struggled to find any consistency in the fading sunlight. I’d had visions of the Bokke, released from the damp confines of Ulster rampaging down the field, well, like Springbok but, Diack apart, they were fairly subdued. Without the huge surge of energy from Pedrie Wannenburg that the pack hadbeen feeding off last week the forwards retreated into their shells and weren’t the force I’d hoped for.
If only they could have fed off the energy of frustration coming from my front room they would have been romping round the field like rampaging wildebeest such were the shouts of dismay from my companions with Ricky K particularly voluble in his commentary! They couldn’t and they didn’t and the match disintegrated in direct proportion to my sampling of my chosen Pourage Partner Worthingtons Draught! It says it all really when the highlight of the first half was viewing Raging Raven and Paris Bun swaying tin the sunlight just after O’Connor slotted his third pen.
We did raise ourselves from our cussing and grumbling to cheer Robbie Diack home and given that the average age was well in the 50′s that was probably enough excitement for our small group. The closing minutes of the game brought it’s own welcome excitement but the team held on and we didn’t lose anyone during our viewing so all in all a successful night!
The Raven has sent in a report on his trip to Aironi. Read on below:
There is something about northern Italy in late summer that makes you smile, temperatures reaching the high twenties, al fresco dining with excellent locally produced food and wine and of course … Italians … what a friendly lot they are in their native habitat.
If, like me, you like to people-watch there can be no finer place to do it. Having checked into our hotel in Parma on Friday evening we wasted no time in hitting the town and after a couple pints in the first bar we came to it was time to meet up with the gorgeous Elena, an old friend of Bills, who had kindly volunteered to act as our guide and translator during our stay.
We headed to Piazza Giuseppe Garibaldi ,a picturesque square in the town, to get the evening started. A nice table outside was negotiated in the Trattoria del Tribunale restaurant and with Elena doing all the ordering four courses and four bottles of a delightful local plonk later it was time to hit the bars.
Most bars stay open to 3am and all seamed quite packed, Parma is a university town so there seams to be a thriving social scene. If you know what you are ordering, no English menus, eating out is very reasonable and if you stick to the local wines can be quite cheap. You could buy a half decent bottle of the local plonk in a restaurant for 7 euros and pints ranged from 3.50 to 5 euros depending on the bar.
Saturday lunchtime brought us back to Piazza Garibaldi and after a few aperitifs it was off to lunch. Luckily we were again joined by Elena who was able to advise on the local delicacies and having lost all action snapper Darren from last evenings festivities we had been joined by top hack Niall and Jim from City of Derry RFC. If you thought only the French eat horses well you would be wrong it is apparently one of the things to eat in Parma and the rarer the better. Jim, a well travelled gentleman with a stomach of iron, showed he would tackle anything by ordering not one but three different cuts of rare horse, it made my mushroom and pasta look strictly for wimps.
And so to the match … Aironi play their matches at the Stadio Luigi Zaffanella in Viadana. Viadana is much smaller than Parma and it will require a taxi ride or a hire car to get there. The best comparison I could make is if Parma was Belfast then playing at Viadana would be like Ulster playing at the Glynn, the home of Larne RFC, not that the facilities are comparable, but it should give you some idea of the distance involved.
After lunch we all piled into Elena’s car and after getting directions from several locals in Viadana found ourselves at the Stadio Zaffanella with two hours to spare before kick off. Having now been at every ground in the Magners League you will be hard pressed to find a more friendly bunch than the good folks from Aironi. Sought out by the “Miclas” we exchanged some small gifts sent by the URSC and Jim presented them with a bottle of Bushmills.
The “Miclas” the supporters club are like a little army of rugby fans all dressed in their adidas T Shirts, supplied by Aironi as part of their season ticket deal, and like typical Italians are fanatical. Miclas roughly translated, I think, means people who like to eat good food, drink good wine and like to go ” strolling” so it fits in perfectly with the rugby ethos.
The stadium itself is a purpose built rugby ground, no shared soccer pitch here, with an excellent supporters bar where everyone mingles freely before and after the match and have a live band play outside the clubhouse post match. Before the game I was able to have a chat with with Franco Bernini, the Aironi Coach, and you could tell how proud this passionate Italian was to have his team in the Magners League.
I am sure all rugby fans from Ulster will join me in wishing Franco, his team and their supporters every success in this their inaugural season in the Celtic League.
As Arnold Schwarzenegger might say … “I’ll be back”.
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