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A full and bustling bar within a packed rugby clubhouse is a thing to behold. As proven by the crippling Covid-lockdowns, it’s also a welcome occurrence that clubs cannot take for granted.
When the bar is full and the beer is flowing, as well as offering the club coffers an obvious financial shot in the arm, the feel-good factor generated by such nights is difficult to measure or quantify empirically. Of course, most rugby players’ propensity for beer drinking and hi-jinks are well documented, and the vast majority of players and teams will have a good drink on Saturday evenings during the season, regardless of the fortunes on the rugby pitch. “Win or lose, on the booze,” as the old, familiar adage goes.
Being part of a full clubhouse, with dense queues forming in front of the bar, with a backdrop of sing song and laughter hanging in the air, is a special feeling. If the club is rammed because the team has won an important game in the afternoon, well, then that’s just the cherry on top of the iced cake for the rugby family.
Supporters and players, both from the home and visiting sides, sinking pints and dissecting and analysing the afternoon’s match – that’s what amateur rugby union is all about. It goes without saying that rugby matches can be particularly brutal, but afterwards, with a pint in hand, most of what has occurred on the field is forgiven (if not completely forgotten) and most teams will cordially share a pint and some chat in the clubhouse bar.
ALL SHAPES & ZEBRAS FROM TREORCHY 59