When were you bitten...!

[Taffy Dub]

As I'm bored and there's a few months to kill until next season I thought I would try and get people to think about when they were first bitten by the away game bug.

For me it was January 2003 Bristol Shoguns v Leinster when the good Doctor was playing for them outside Pichot! (Which also makes me think that what has happeneed to Bristol is very sad!)

The group of us Leinster fans huddled on the terrace behind the Leinster dugout singing our hearts out! "you are my Girven, you're always swirvin..." and someone from the Leinster branch handed out little Leinster branch badges to us at half time.

This was definitely no where near the best away trip but a great memory!

[Donny B.]

Bath 2005. It was the game we stole at the death with tries from Holwell and Mal. Absolute grand larceny but we didn't care.

That was when we met a lot of away day regulars like Eve, Limecat, Apple Sourz, CrazyDave & family plus various other drunken lunatics.

Since then I've only missed one Heineken Cup away day (Bourgoin Dec- 05) and want to keep the run going as long as possible, although financial circumstances might bring it to an end soon.

Then again, there's always loansharks!!

[rathgarblue]

Bath 2006, singing Happy Birthday to BOD. Green's try and realising we booked a trip to Toulouse.

[Donny B.]

Bath 2006, singing Happy Birthday to BOD. Green's try and realising we booked a trip to Toulouse.

One of our finest HC tries ever IMO.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8QePdVw980

I think Bath 06 is when the Blue Army really began. Think about 2000 or so travelled and it was the first time we got that sort of number on the road. Brilliant trip. Can't wait to go back there.

[Donny B.]

Ah hell, while we're doing the nostalgia thing let's enjoy the four other tries from that day:

Some seriously big hairdos!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn9xQhWLR3k&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxdeUrn_ ... re=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7nEXs7R ... re=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hW7-QAXMj_k&NR=1

[sheepshagger]

Bath 05 for games outside of Ireland (IIRC)

[Hornet]

Bath '05 for me too!

[Scrumdog]

The Stoop in 09. OK were late starters but have been making up for it since then.

[elfan]

Toulouse 2006

[West Brit]

Ah hell, while we're doing the nostalgia thing let's enjoy the four other tries from that day:

Some seriously big hairdos!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn9xQhWLR3k&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxdeUrn_ ... re=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7nEXs7R ... re=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hW7-QAXMj_k&NR=1

We really didn't like scoring tries from close in back then, did we?

[bosh2k]

Cardiff 2011

[leinsterfan100]

Wasps 07 in the quarters
It was a hammering for us but the atmosphere at the ground on the day was amazing, i think there was something like 3,000-4,000 leinsterfans in a 10,000 seater stadium!

[Mackman15]

I may regret saying this but Twickenham 2000 with our southern brethren. The support was truly immense and so much so more than travelling to an international was the atmosphere of collegiality amongst the fans. A sole purpose, you were truly part of the quest to win it.

The fact that they lost and the dreaded reality that this brought home was immediately felt and illustrated just how special to the fans their ‘local’ provincial team were.

Eleven years ago Leinster as team with a large community of fans around it was but a dream and perhaps more telling, was extremely hard to foresee.
I’m only glad that I can say that I was there (a lot of the time) to see the transformation.



Adem.- Given that the particular weekend started on Thursday lunch hour and continued until Monday evening, may explain the misty-eyed reminiscing.

[BlueArmyOriginal]

Toulouse 2006.

Bod Shaggy and Dr.Phil setting us on the way, The brilliance of Keith Gleeson getting Cameron Jowitt a try off Michalak, Girve and Shaggy finishing off the kind of wundermove that you'd only dream of finishing, the Doc running everything and of course Dennis Hickie and THAT try right in front of us!

Getting lost heading out of the stadium and ending up in some backstreet, suburban bar watching Munster-Perpignan and singing songs into the night before ending up outside De Danu just before turing off my memory for the evening!

[bails]

Sale at Stockport - I think it was January 2005 , during the fateful G Ella era !

The ground was grotty, the home supporters were arrogant, and there were very few Leinster fans

Darce made his debut in the centre and scored a great try
I roared all game and nearly had my head taken off by the locals at the end when we won
I loved it and knew at that stage I had been bitten by the bug !

[Cianostays]

Not an obvious one or my first away day but Edinburgh in the ML 2008. Saw the flights were cheap and so was the hostel so I bit the bullet and went on my lonesome. I was adopted by some of the regulars (Donny vetting me for half the evening as he thought I was some wum from this site is a memory that endures ) and haven't looked back since.

Can't reccommend it enough to any fans but an away trip for ML game is a great way of meeting the frontline in the Blue army

[Bosco]

bandwagoners

[Cianostays]

bandwagoners

Comfy seats on this wagon though

[sheepshagger]

Have to say if you get a chance to do a Pro 12 away game, do it... You wont regret it and will be welcomed by those who also go, go alone if you have to.. You won't be for long (we've all been there, first away trip etc etc).

Personally prefer the away league games over away HC fixtures these days, in places where we've done both in the same year (Llanelli and Edinburgh spring to mind) IMO the league game was bette, not as crowded and the travel costs like hotels and flights don't spike as much as a HC fixture).

Starting to sound like an old man

[TrapperChamonix]

Dec 02 v's Montferrand (now Clemront) and O'Driscoll's tackle on Olivier Brouzet to drive him back over the line and save a certain try. Ever bit as big as hit as Drico's hit on Dannie Roussow. It was then you knew as a competition that this was the real deal.

Special mention to our 1st HCup game in RDS. We may have lost to Bath, but the Cheika / Knox revolution had started. The view that it was easier to score from your own half (as defence more spread out) than look for field position and then score was revolutionary.