Formula 1 2018

Late February....bleak....cold....the depths of winter....but wait!  What is that?!?!?  The first harbingers of an early Spring 2018 have been spotted!!  Not it’s not snowdrops!  It’s the new Formula 1 cars!!  Starting with Haas, Williams and Red Bull and swiftly followed by other rivals, the most exciting liveries are all starting to break through the ice and blast through these dreary conditions tantalising all F1 fans with the season to come.  I love F1 and have missed it so much.  I especially enjoy the pre-season build-up:  the gossip, the analysis of how all the new technical changes might impact the teams (this year will see more tyre compounds, fewer engine changes allowed, and the halo is now mandatory....just to name a few) and the assessments of the circuit tests at Barcelona next week.  Yes, that is only NEXT WEEK, and then before you know it the first race, the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on 22 March, will be here.  Welcome to Spring 2018!

Rugby Weekend!

 

Two games in one weekend! Hopefully a great weekend of first class Rugby!

 

Its Friday night and as me and my husband sit on a chilli Chippenham station the thought suddenly comes through my mind, this could be the start of a very good weekend with two wins for our favoured teams or it could be the start of a miserable weekend with two losses!

 

Our plan for the weekend was simple, watch the game one on Friday night, Bath vs Northampton in the Aviva premiership and then watch game two on Saturday, England vs Wales in the 6 nations at Twickenham, the home of Rugby.

 

At just after 5pm on Friday night the train arrived the excitement starts now, the usual crowd of Bath Rugby supporters board the train from Chippenham and the rugby chat starts… how will Bath do without their England Stars, have they got enough firepower to get past a strong Northampton team who have recently found a bit of form??

Arriving in Bath on match days is special. The wonderful Roman town has a special buzz, a mix of shoppers, Rugby fans and friends and family out for the evening all add up to a great atmosphere in the city. The kick off was 7.45pm so we have enough time for some food and pre-match beers.

 

After some quick tapas and a visit to the Ram in Widcombe (which is a great Rugby pub for anyone needing them all important pre-match beers) it was time for the short walk along the river to the Rec, the home of Bath Rugby!

 

Bath had a reasonably strong side out, so we were looking forward to a strong start! On the night it was the visitors who took the early lead, Piers Francis kicking 2 penalties in the first quarter making the score 0-6. Bath didn’t sit still, and Freddie burns fought back with 2 penalties of his own, 6-6 after 30 minutes. Then with half time almost upon us Northampton spilled the ball, Ben Tapuai pounced kicked the ball ahead into the hands of Banahan and a TRY in the corner. HT 16-6.

In the second half Bath didn’t let up, continued pressure from the home side meant there was no way back in the game for Northampton. Bath continued to apply pressure especially up front and they were duly rewarded.

Two further tries were added from Auterac and Batty and with a few more penalties the final score was 32-9. Fantastic Bath win, the first game of the weekend had finished with the right result! One minor upset was Tom Dunns injury, couple of badly bent fingers! Is that his chance of an England Six Nations debut over?

 

We left the Rec happy but now the thoughts turned on to tomorrow the big one England vs Wales!! Nice train journey home and a couple of celebratory beers in the Old Road and it was bed time.

 

7.00am Saturday, and the alarm goes off, my husband is up and excited like a child at Christmas, bouncing around the room. Having been to university in Wales, this fixture has always had an extra bit of spice about it will his phone be buzzing with gloating welsh friends or will he be doing the gloating?

 

After a quick all you can eat Breakfast buffet it was off to catch the 10.55 Chippenham to Twickenham train. Plenty of time before the 16.45 kick off.

 

Upon arrival at Twickenham station the initial thought was “its busy!” The crowds were building, no different to any other England game but with recent successes there was a feeling of expectation amongst the England fans.

 

After a couple of pints, a Tesco meal deal and a nice Sirloin steak roll we headed to the ground.  Atmosphere electric, excitement building, who will win???

 

Wales lost full back Leigh Halfpenny in the build-up which was a major blow for them, and it didn’t take long for England to take advantage. In took two minutes for Farrell to spot space behind the Welsh defence which allowed him to kick through collected by May who slid over for an early try!

 

Relentless England pressure took his toll on the welsh, and after a brilliant Launchbury offload May managed to dart through for his Second try.

 

Then there was the disallowed try, the TMO disallowed the try, how many days news would this make?

HT 12-3 to England.

 

The second half was a tough error ridden half, not helped by the continual rain which lasted all day! England tried everything to break through the welsh defence, but nothing worked. A late Welsh penalty gave the Welsh some hope, but nothing came through. England’s defence could not be broken!

 

FT 12-6, England win. PHEW! The journey home was its usual fun, lots of conversations about the what if’s, and the TRY/NO TRY… but the result is the result. The grand slam is still in sight, and England will look forward to their trip to Scotland in a couple of weeks.

 

So that was it, 2 games, 2 wins and a great weekend of Rugby…..

 

We are off to France in March so look forward to Becky and James Rugby Blog part 2!

Darts in Cardiff

A Thursday night in Cardiff in February becomes a lively affair when the PDC Premier League roadshow is in town.

My dad always talked about wanting to go to the darts in the 80's in the smoke filled room of Jolly's in Stoke but I am not sure what he would have made of today's darts. I think he would be delighted with the way the game has connected with a huge audience.

I was privileged to join the Unicorn team last night as the Premier League Week 2 was played at the Motorpoint Arena.  The players are trying to get themselves back in the groove following the World Championships and some are taking longer than others.

First up was "Bully Boy" Smith from the Unicorn stable and Daryl Gurney. In what proved a cracking to and fro match Bully Boy just got the edge and with that my accumulator for the night had gone. Both players had impressive ton plus averages.

Next up was the Aussie "Wizard" Whitlock and "Champion of the World" Rob Cross. In the walk on area it is like viewing horses in the paddock working out whose relaxed and whose focused. Studying both, Whitlock laughing and smiling looked like he had just rolled out of the Walkabout while Cross stern faced was determined to turn around last weeks defeat to MVG. My money was on Cross. After Whitlock had beaten him 7-1 I realise that my paddock observations were not always going to be correct. The fact that no averages were ever seen on the screen speaks volumes about the quality of the game, however, the man from down under was top of the league with 2 from 2.

Number 1 v Number 2 in the world MVG v Peter Wright was match of the night. Paddock observations again favoured MVG's focus against Snakebites frivolity. Wright though shook of his dismal finish to last weeks encounter and to the surprise of the Buzz Lightyears, Bananas and Wally's in the audience got the better of the worlds number one.

Gerwyn Price the local lad then took on Gary Anderson. Both looked relaxed, Anderson so much that he took exception to the Unicorn's rep Dave Cannon's attempt at growing a beard. The Wizard he is not when it comes to hair. After a promising start from Price, Anderson showed his class to overcome to provide the Unicorn stable with a double and the next round was taken.

Finally Van Barneveld whose steely eyes ignored all in the Walkon area. Suljovic was relaxed and laughing and won the favouritism of those on the Walk on Barriers. Barny pulled through in a close encounter.

A great night, good humour and cracking atmosphere. Darts in the 21st century, bring it on.