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Evenings, in Springtime
The poet TS Eliot once wrote, “April is the cruellest month, breeding lilacs out of the dead land, mixing memory and desire, stirring dull roots with spring rain.” I can only assume that TS Eliot played amateur rugby, and probably got relegated or lost a title or promotion decider at the business end of the season in April.
On this cold and rainy island in the middle of the North Atlantic, in those stop-start seasons that experience particularly inclement weather, postponed games may mount up and leave teams playing well into May but, usually, the season’s story is finished in April. The title of this chapter mentions evenings, and the pile up of postponed fixtures usually results in teams playing on midweek evenings on rock-hard pitches to conclude the season.
Come April, although not cementing the whole truth, the league table isn’t lying anymore. A quick perusal of the form-guide and remaining fixtures, and you can (‘ringer’-influenced anomalies aside) get a feel of where the glory and despair is about to be felt, so these games can have a particular feel to them.
