Clash at HQ for 5 years

[Chobbsy]

Agreed. Today was nothing that a cash cow to get bums on seats and people at the bar. The Rec is on our list of away matches to go to and I'll be disappointed if they do continue involving Tigers in "The Clash". All that was bad about Twickenham was there today. The nothing but social drinkers (stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down), the god awful music and the senseless (and classless) PA idiot who insisted on "whipping up the atmosphere" at wholly inappropriate moments.

Bath, please have us back at the Rec.

Why do people on here continue to blame Twickenham and the RFU for this sort of event, this had nothing to do with the RFU, Twickenham on Saturday purely as a venue, all the organization, the activities, big wheel, bumper cars, fire breathing horse oh yeah and the Wurzels were from Bath, nothing to do with Twickenham or the RFU. So if it had been at the Rec, you would still have gotten the same, oh yeah including the PA idiot as you describe him, who is in fact the PA idiot who does the PA at the Rec.

[Chobbsy]

Agreed. Today was nothing that a cash cow to get bums on seats and people at the bar. The Rec is on our list of away matches to go to and I'll be disappointed if they do continue involving Tigers in "The Clash". All that was bad about Twickenham was there today. The nothing but social drinkers (stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down), the god awful music and the senseless (and classless) PA idiot who insisted on "whipping up the atmosphere" at wholly inappropriate moments.
Bath, please have us back at the Rec.

I have to totally agree with Tigercam & HotCharlie & others, having arrived early at the Stadium the sea of Bath flags on every third seat,the terrible PA idiot who whipped up Bath support when they were under extreme pressure - 5 metre scrum on their line Tigers put in & Doyle gives them a resultant penalty for dropping our scrum,the loud crowd raising Sweet Caroline would have Concorde sounding quiet,a lowly sounding Eye of the Tiger, flaming chariots delivering the ball, a smerking Craig and the fact that Tigers were not given a ticket allocation to their "Home" game forcing loyal Tigers fans to use their expensive 0845 ticket line or Ticketmaster.
But most annoying were the crowds who knew nothing about the game, who constantly caused us and the rows in front to stand up at all times irrespective of breaks in play to "dewater" and return in a unstable state with even more 4 pint trays of £6-50 pint cooking beers. Should we force Bath to purchase their tickets through Tigers for their next seasons match at Welford Road??
Return to the Rec next year. Given the atmosphere Wasps would ideally fit the bill with Bath to event Twickenham.

FYI, Tigers did not request any tickets for this event, that is none, zero, zilch and nada, you might want to have a word closer to home if you want to blame anyone for this.

[Chobbsy]

Bath should be deducted at least two points because it was one of their drunken fans who made a pitch invasion with about 4 minutes to go and he was only half- heartedly chased by the stewards who were atrocious

Now, that's comedy.

Agreed he seems to forget the pitch invasions we have had over the years, the most memorable being when Munster beat us at Welford.

[Hot_Charlie]

Agreed. Today was nothing that a cash cow to get bums on seats and people at the bar. The Rec is on our list of away matches to go to and I'll be disappointed if they do continue involving Tigers in "The Clash". All that was bad about Twickenham was there today. The nothing but social drinkers (stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down), the god awful music and the senseless (and classless) PA idiot who insisted on "whipping up the atmosphere" at wholly inappropriate moments.

Bath, please have us back at the Rec.

Why do people on here continue to blame Twickenham and the RFU for this sort of event, this had nothing to do with the RFU,

Why quote me when I'm not blaming Twickenham or the RFU? I merely pointed out I don't like the "fake" atmosphere, PA and particularly the inane music that is always present at Twickenham.

[johnthegriff]

Tigers did not have Twickenham tickets on sale as they were not printed, mine ordered some time ago were received less than ten days before the event. How are Tigers expected to sell something they have not got, the only way is to take advance orders then post out at cost to Tigers possibly engaging extra staff to put into envelopes etc, assuming tickets are received in time. Tigers get no recompense for away ticket sales. There were good and bad things about the "Clash", going to Twickenham is an occasion but the over the top hyper geeing up of the crowd is off-putting. I am sure the guy would not get away with it at the Rec, regular traditional Rugby fans would not put up with it.
It is hard to see how any profit can have been made for Mr Craig but probably his ego has been boosted. I do wonder if his long term plan is should he not get permission to build on the Rec he will move the Franchise to London area once he has increased brand awareness in the Capital.

[Chobbsy]

Tigers did not have Twickenham tickets on sale as they were not printed, mine ordered some time ago were received less than ten days before the event. How are Tigers expected to sell something they have not got, the only way is to take advance orders then post out at cost to Tigers possibly engaging extra staff to put into envelopes etc, assuming tickets are received in time. Tigers get no recompense for away ticket sales. There were good and bad things about the "Clash", going to Twickenham is an occasion but the over the top hyper geeing up of the crowd is off-putting. I am sure the guy would not get away with it at the Rec, regular traditional Rugby fans would not put up with it.
It is hard to see how any profit can have been made for Mr Craig but probably his ego has been boosted. I do wonder if his long term plan is should he not get permission to build on the Rec he will move the Franchise to London area once he has increased brand awareness in the Capital.

Tigers did not take up any tickets on offer

[Noggs]

Given the chance I would ban:
1. All fireworks and flame throwers with the exception of fireworks after games in early November
2. All PA announcements during the game, other than to confirm scores and scorers after a score has been made
3. Any music being played over the PA after scores or at any other time except for before the game; at half time and after the game has finished.
4 Marketing people in general

[Chobbsy]

Given the chance I would ban:
1. All fireworks and flame throwers with the exception of fireworks after games in early November
2. All PA announcements during the game, other than to confirm scores and scorers after a score has been made
3. Any music being played over the PA after scores or at any other time except for before the game; at half time and after the game has finished.
4 Marketing people in general

Yeah good luck with that, don't hold your breath

[Ian Cant]

Thoroughly enjoyed the game at Twickenham ( not the result) but got to the ground at 1:50: great seats, in fact best we have had in all our visits to HQ and paid only £10 each( Last few seasons the Rec has cost between £40 and £50 per ticket.True rugby fans seemed everywhere, easier to get tickets than for cup finals, great weather, good pubs in Richmond and Twikenham.Sat with Tigers, Bath and Quins fans ( One Quins fan, a charming young man, told us he would rather come to Twickers than go to Wembley). My wife loves her trips to Bath but hey, I got cheaper car parking and got backing in 2 1/2 hours. Well done Bath on both getting a great attendance and to be honest, great back play. Disappointed we lost but a, huge improvement on our last few trips to The Rec. If our Marketing team could sell out Welford Road more regularly I would be very impressed- lessons to be learnt from Sarries and Bath.

[Tiglon]

Twickenham is a good option for Bath, it's pretty easy for their home support to get to. And it's under half an hour train journey for me, so I'm not complaining.

The atmosphere was certainly different from most club rugby matches and I'm not really in love with the announcements to get the crowd going during the match. On the other hand it was still a lot of fun, and maybe it's nice to listen to something at a rugby match other than all the "proper" rugby fans whinging and moaning all the way through like you often get at Welford Road - usually about how rubbish the ref, the players and the coaches all are. If we want our sport to thrive we need to embrace a bit of change and some new ideas (not that this one is new any more, we should be used to it by now).

I was sat in a sea of Bath fans, with one of their flags "accidentally" under my foot and had a great time until the last 15 minutes...

The biggest irritant for me was how woefully prepared they were for the amount of people in the fanzone area after the game. And the result.

[BeeJ]

Given the chance I would ban:
1. All fireworks and flame throwers with the exception of fireworks after games in early November
2. All PA announcements during the game, other than to confirm scores and scorers after a score has been made
3. Any music being played over the PA after scores or at any other time except for before the game; at half time and after the game has finished.
4 Marketing people in general

I agree with you wholeheartedly, Noggs. However, these days we are forced to pander to those who are incapable of entertaining themselves for more than five seconds and who believe more noise automatically means more fun (quite ironic considering where Twickenham is in relation to the Heathrow glidepath).

[Roly]

Roly if it's comedy that excites you I should try looking in the mirror every morning.

No, for comedy, I just read your posts. Its all I can do to get to the loo before my bowels give way.

You should be deducted two points for your last genius idea by the way...

[Roly]

Ah bless. I suppose you could read the original post properly before getting all upset and frustrated.

That just about sums up what you've got. Jog on. Again.

Oh dear, you misinterpreted what I wrote, got caught out because you took immediate opportunity to make an incorrect assumption and then replied in an attempt to discredit me (as per usual) and didn't bother to go back and read it properly when directed.

And now its my fault....

That just about sums up what you've got. Jog on. Again.

[Roly]

I am sure the guy would not get away with it at the Rec, regular traditional Rugby fans would not put up with it.

I'm pretty sure that the amount of people who 'would not put up with it' is overall, pretty small.

If the game they're so precious about is to thrive, it needs to appeal to new generations of supporters, and attract new ones. How the game is marketed to these people is important and 'hyperbole' makes the experience lively and enjoyable for many. Frankly, if I was curious about the game and I had the choice of sitting amongst several thousand curmudgeons, whose memories of life seem to be that in their day, holidays were longer and Summers were hotter, or an enjoyable 'carnival' atmosphere, I know what I'd take.

I wonder just how many people were genuinely 'put out' by the match day experience?

[johnthegriff]

I agree the game needs to attract a new generation of supporters but I don't agree that the right way is to disrespect the traditions of the game and the opinions of existing supporters. A carnival atmosphere has much to recommend it but not during play. There was a group trying to get a Mexican wave going whilst play was in process, they clearly are not regular rugby fans and I doubt many, possibly any of them will be at the Rec for Bath's next home game. Why is it that to disagree with change is to be curmudgeonly, I thought the purpose of this forum was to allow people to express an opinion, and in my opinion back in the 50's and 60's summers were hotter, winters colder unfortunately holidays were shorter, policemen and pensioners were older and beer was tastier.