Rugby experience gave glimpse of a world in union

Ihave to admit I hesitated slightly when a weekend to watch the Scotland-England game at Twickenham was first suggested, due to my lack of knowledge when it comes to rugby. This attitude nearly caused me to miss out on one of the best sporting events I’m ever likely to experience. For anyone needing a recap, we were there when Scotland went from losing 31-0 after half an hour to taking the lead with just minutes to go and finally drawing 38-38 with England.

So far, so mindblowing.

But, for me, the event was not all about the historic game happening on the pitch; it was all about the people:

The England supporters in the crowd who shook hands with us when our team came so close and then drew...

The kilted lad with an English accent sitting beside us who shouted the whole way through, encouraging Scotland to score and then just as loudly shouting “Doesn’t matter” with gusto whenever they failed to convert a try...

The England supporter in the pub afterwards who told us gleefully that his pal – also an England fan – had left the game at half-time and joined him in the pub “because we had it in the bag”. He was thrilled for us that Scotland had got one over on his daft pal...

The rather well-spoken English woman behind us who said to me “Aw, are you crying?” after Scotland equalised. It was the biting wind rather than the raw emotion that had led me to wipe an eye, but I let her think what she liked...

The young girls behind the bar in another pub who put on the Proclaimers as the bar started filling with Scots and watching people in England rugby shirts twirling with kilted strangers.

I know how lucky I am to have experienced the atmosphere of such a momentous sporting event. Even though I still don’t have much of a clue about the rules and Mr P has been at pains to point out how rare such a game was, I now consider myself a diehard rugby fan.

It was all about the people