2020. It looks like a nice number. It’s even, it’s balanced and it’s a sort of palindrome but unfortunately it signifies only thing and that’s COVID. It may as well be 666 but at least there was a decent song written about the number of the beast. We all want to consign 2020 to the history books.
5/9/2020 is also a number which, as Edinburgh fans, we may want to put behind us. That’s not so straightforward though. There’s two reasons for doing that. The first, well, let’s not speak of that, let’s not even form the thought of that. The team, both on and off the pitch have worked too hard to get us here for that scenario to be given credence.
The second is that we win and the semi-final is merely a footnote on the way to something more significant. Let’s leave 5/9 as the day in sporting history that the first legal forward pass was thrown in the NFL. Let’s make our own history on 12/9/20 instead.
It can’t make up for how horrible 2020 has actually been. Everyone has suffered. People have lost their jobs or businesses and their mental health has suffered. Some have lost people they loved and success on the rugby field can’t even begin to redress the imbalance of such loss.
If you are reading this though you may agree that it can however bring just a little bit of joy into our lives at a time when most everything else is bleak.
Like most (all?) of you I was at BT Murrayfield for our Heineken Cup quarter final against Munster and in normal circumstances I expect that Saturdays attendance would eclipse that and we wouldn’t have to keep hearing that same old lame joke about nobody being there for a wee while at least.
Alas we may have to suck it up for a while yet. Just maybe though, we will have a counter argument.
It’s not going to be easy. Ulster have been traditionally difficult opponents for Edinburgh and despite their indifferent showings in recent weeks I’ve no doubt that the likes of Cooney and Coetzee will be doing their utmost to continue that trend.
We have to buck it, yes you read that right. We have to buck it now because the chance of silverware doesn’t come around too often in rugby. This is the first time we’ve made the knockout stages of the PRO14. It’s the first time we’ve been in the semi-final of the PRO14 and if we play to our potential then it can be our first league final and then………….
It may not have Hollywood on hold waiting to see what happens before picking up the film option as this isn’t Cool Runnings or even The Mighty Ducks but if they can make a film out of Japan beating South Africa at the World Cup then surely we’ve got the ingredients for a pretty good TV movie here?
Just two small steps to take
