Sunday 17 March 2024

The final whistle

So a fairly sporty week draws to a close.

I was talked into attending the England v Ireland rugby at Twickenham last weekend, as my S Club chums had finally agreed that Twickenham was not an experience targetted at 70 year old rugby follower, and that we should all have one last hurrah! To be fair, we could not have gone out in a more majestic way as England turned up for once and grabbed a famous victory right at the end.

I travelled to London and back in the day which worked well. It is still a bit of a lottery when one has no idea whether Avanti will cancel the trains or not. Our new strategy to follow the England U20 team and some of the Champions Cup rugby next season should see us in charge of our travel arrangements a little bit more.

During this week I travelled to Scotland to play in a 'Hole in One' competition at Turnberry Hotel. While the complex is owned by the Trump organisation, it is interesting that none of the merchandise is endorsed with the Trump name or logo as it was seen as a put off to people buying!!

I have just had to do a zero star rating on  Trip Advisor for the golf however, as they refused to close the course, which was waterlogged, and forced us to go out and play in conditions which were totally unreasonable. Clearly the did not want to give refunds or rain cheques and consequently lose revenue. For us it spoilt the trip and left a bad taste in the mouth. I am unlikely to return while it remains in its current ownership.

The week concluded with some disappointing football results, and another spirited display by England who had another late victory snatched from them by a marginal penalty decision from the same referee who did not exactly cover himself in glory at the rugby World Cup earlier in the year.

Hey ho, at least the England management team have brought themselves some  more time to try and produce a team who can consistently compete at the top level of the game. Every cloud has a silver lining, and the improvement of the Italian team who consigned the Welsh to the wooden spoon is something to behold.