O Fortuna

“O Fortune,
like the moon
you are changeable,
ever waxing,
ever waning,
hateful life
first oppresses
and then soothes
as fancy takes it;”

O Fortuna
Carmina Burana
Various

Regular cohorts of this cornucopia of little consequence will know that I am a great fan of Rugby Union Football. The more ardent amongst you will also know that I am a long term follower and supporter of both the Scottish national side and – at club level – of Bath Rugby. Both of these venerable institutions are quite capable of producing delight and despair in equal measure.

For many years I suffered along with many other Scots the painful cycle of blind optimism dashed by crushing reality as I followed the fortunes of Scottish rugby. Then – all of a sudden – over the last couple of years we have been delighted to observe the most scintillating recovery of form to the extent that Scotland can now (with the occasional unfortunate aberration) almost always be relied upon to play an adventurous and exciting game – resulting in not infrequent and often famous victories.

Bath also play the adventurous game (for which we love them dearly) and back in the old amateur days of the game (which only turned fully professional in the mid 90s) they had a long and glorious record. Since then they have struggled a great deal more but they are still capable of considerable achievements. A mere three years back they made it to the Premiership final – sadly being overpowered on that occasion (as so often) by the merciless Saracens.

Since then they have found themselves in something of a unfortunate cycle. They start each season well, win some brilliantly exciting and dashing games against serious opposition and find themselves at the mid-point of the season hovering around the top four. Sadly they then go into a decline as the season takes its toll on bodies and spirits, ending up disappointingly lower in the table than once seemed likely.

This season followed this familiar pattern, with a number of brilliant wins followed by inexplicable and unnecessary losses. As the final weekend of the regular season approached (this one just passed) Bath were lying in eight position. Now – there are two initial targets for any Premiership side – to get into the top four (and thus into the playoffs) or – failing that – into the top six (and thus qualify for the European Cup competitions for the following year). On this occasion, for Bath to achieve a coveted and lucrative top six finish they would need to win their final game by such a margin that they would gain full points (including a winning bonus point) and the two clubs above then – Sale and West Country rivals Gloucester – would both need to lose, in the case of Gloucester without gaining even a losing bonus point.

On this occasion fortune smiled upon Bath. Their last fixture was a home game against the already relegated London Irish. Sale hosted heavyweights Leicester (smarting from being unable to finish the season higher than fifth – thus missing the playoffs for the first time in an age) and Gloucester went head to head with the ever-present current runner-ups, Saracens. The results were as follows:

Sale Sharks 13 : Leicester 35

Saracens 62 :  Gloucester 12

Bath 63 : London Irish 19

Europe here we come…

O fortuna indeed!