2017 European Champions Cup at BT Murrayfield
2017 European Champions Cup between Saracens and ASM Clermont Auvergne.
Wayne Munday, Chief Operating Officer for Ticket Zone recently visited BT Murrayfield for the rugby union European Champions Cup. This is his view of the event.
It was my first time visiting BT Murrayfield last weekend for the rugby unions European Champions Cup between Saracens and ASM Clermont Auvergne. As we collected our COBO tickets from the Ticket Centre it struck me as unusual that my ticket seat number was 1 and was in the middle of a row.
What started out as a rainy grey day in Scotland turned into sunshine as the whistle sounded for the start of this almighty clash. At stake was Saracens recording their second successive Champions Cup under the leadership of Mark McCall.
Many years ago, whilst at University and during the pre-professional era, I played for Northampton. But today my allegiance was fully with Saracens, as my son has now spent a year as a graduate intern from Bournemouth University with the Club as a Player Management Assistant and U18’s Academy Manager - along the way he has learnt a lot about the ticketing industry.
Sitting at pitch side with the friends and family of Saracens plus the several Clermont fans was a great experience. A combination of watching the game surrounded by the media, photographers and watching presenters such as BT Sports Craig Doyle and Sarra Elgan co-ordinate their resident rugby experts.
I was also sat close to former internationals, Martin Bayfield, Lawrence Dallaglio, Ben Kay and Brian O'Driscoll. Sky Sports were represented by New Zealand’s Dan Carter and Will Greenwood (complete in his kilt), the former England and British and Irish Lions centre who post-match described Saracens as the ‘best of a generation’.
I would go as far as to say that if Saracens can close the season as back-to-back winners of Europe and the Aviva Premiership, they will be remembered in a similar way to how Manchester United fans and pundits refer to the ‘Class of ‘92’ - one of the greatest ever sporting squads.
The game was hard fought and Saracens can now truly be regarded as a great team with an ethos built around respect, family and the wolf pack. With six players already selected for the upcoming British & Irish Lions Tour to New Zealand, it was this depth of experience that saw tries from Chris Ashton (including the infamous swan dive), George Kruis and Alex Goode, along with three Owen Farrell penalties, clinched a 28-17 victory for Saracens over Clermont Auvergne in what was a breathtaking final.
What a Team! What an experience! What a day!
