Murrayfield experience is lacking a bit of buzz
THE MURRAYFIELD Experience is arguably the most overrated day out in sport. At Saturday’s Six Nations opener against our oldest and most cherished of rivals, Scotland’s ‘other’ national stadium seemed to exist in a different world. It’s a world where no atmosphere is allowed to build without the say-so of the official master of ceremonies. A constrained throwback to more deferential times, with any accidental pre-match excitement guaranteed to be stopped dead by some royal bod taking absolutely ages to exchange pleasantries with both teams. If the SRU really cared about creating a genuinely inspiring wall of noise at ‘Fortress Murrayfield’, they’d cut ticket prices to entice a broader support, put a stop to the forelocktugging bowing and scraping, bin the jumped-up DJ who sees possession of a microphone as no reason to avoid shouting … basically just loosen the hell up and let the fans back the team in their own way. Not that anyone in charge actually cares about such nonsense, of course. As long as the latest whizz-bang social media campaign generates lots of ‘buzz’ in the echo chamber and the port is always of a decent vintage, they’re all good. Why, it’s almost as if the SRU have absolutely no feel for the game, no understanding of what a properly electric atmosphere feels like. Almost as if, while they enjoyed their official Rugby World Cup days out to Gloucester, Leeds, Newcastle and Twickenham, all venues that rocked and rattled to the bellowing of a raucous Scotland support, they decided it was all rather beastly. Not the done thing. Not like dear old Murrayfield on a properly civilised Six Nations afternoon.