Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Something to cheer about
SUPPORTING Scotland. It’s not easy, is it? As they say, it’s the hope that kills you.
Yet hope we must. For we are Scottish and we are proud and we live in hope that despite the defeats which outweigh the victories, we will win. One day, our team will live up to the talent we know they have.
And then on Saturday, they only went and did with our rugby XV beating France in Paris.
I thought my husband might jump through the roof, such was his bouncing in front of the telly for the evening game.
His phone was pinging like it was midnight at Hogmanay (when we were 20 and everyone was still up) and when I asked him after a bit if he was coming to bed, he said “no, I recorded the game and I’m going to watch the whole thing again”.
Winning means so much when you love your country and your team and it must be lovely to support a team that usually wins – but oh how much sweeter when they are the underdogs.
This win was all the better given France’s tone-deaf boasts pre-match that they could still win the Six Nations if they beat Scotland by 20 points . . . like it wasn’t just possible but likely.
And only a couple of weeks before, the Scotland squad beat England – for the first time at Twickenham in 38 – yes, – years.
If only the Saltire hat-trick
38
had followed with a football win over Israel in Tel Aviv in our World Cup qualifying campaign on Sunday – mind you, we didn’t lose, drawing 1-1 and still have everything for which to play.
And is that not just what we need after a year of lockdown?
Can you imagine if we actually did qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar?
The world-famous Tartan Army might follow them to every game they play but the rest of us will be following their lead in gardens, pubs and living rooms – coming together to support our boys.
Crowds of Dundonians of all generations once more making tills ring in pubs from the West Port to Whitfield, spilling out on to streets and singing our songs, our way.
The last time we qualified for a World Cup – and the last time we played at a major international tournament – was France 1998. How can it even be true that you could be 23 and it never having happened in your lifetime?
A whole generation of Scots can’t remember the feeling of being at the World Cup.
It’s all the more unfair given our absolute joy for the game
– for the humour in it all, the fun, partying, hangovers, bagpipes and kilts on tour. We have the best supporters in the world.
If we qualify, of course we want restrictions to disappear and to watch matches in pubs and with pals or crammed into a living room with neighbours.
Then again, when Scotland closed its pubs for lockdown, lo and behold, our rugby team became world-beating. You’ve got to laugh and wonder if the two are linked.
Anyway, thank you for giving us something to cheer about.