A raucous afternoon...

Keith and I were off to the rugby this afternoon, courtesy of Highfields (who did our kitchen), and we were both looking forward to going despite the horrible weather! The last time we were invited, we had to cancel because of Keith not feeling well and Sophie getting Covid, so we were delighted we'd been invited again.

Sophie very kindly gave us a lift into Northampton, and the rain was horrible. In fact, I even think it was sleeting at one point and the temperature was only 3c! Brrr! As usual, we were early, but we were shown up to the Warners Experience private box where we would be spending the afternoon.

We were mightily impressed! The room was quite small but had two wooden tables with benches lining one wall and barstools on the other side. Cushions and cosy blankets made the room feel very warm and inviting, and there was a large window looking out over the ground with outdoor seating so we could go out and watch the match if we wanted.

We were the first to arrive and our host, Lee, introduced himself. Throughout the afternoon he did a splendid job keeping us fed and very well watered!

We each had a small bottle of Raspberry Gin, chocolates, a scarf and a programme to take home with us at the end of the afternoon which delighted us even more!

Lee manned the bar which was stocked with several varieties of the Warners Gins - Sloe, Raspberry, Rhubarb and Ginger and the classic London Dry Gin. We were given a glass of Sloe Gin and Prosecco while we waited for everyone else to arrive. The men all seemed to stick to bottles of Peroni and pints of Guinness which had to come from another bar.

Anthony and Paul from Highfields arrived later than they wanted as Paul's car had had a flat battery, but by 1pm everyone was in residence. There were only 12 of us, so a much smaller group than I'd imagined! This suited us fine, to be honest.

We were given little dishes of tapas to eat, and there were breads and olives on the tables. The first dish was a chicken and leek terrine with "leek ash, red pepper puree and a sourdough croute".

I hadn't eaten much as I was looking forward to lunch and I hoped the food would be a bit more substantial given the amount we were expected to drink over the course of the afternoon! The second course was slightly bizarre:

This was described as "Yeasted cauliflower, raisins, capers and mint." Hmmm! 

I'd had a couple of Gin and tonics by now and was very glad that we had a main course of pan-fried chicken, smoked sweetcorn puree with a red wine jus served with fondant potato and baby vegetables. I could have done with some bread to mop up the juices (and the alcohol!).

Before the match started at 3pm, we enjoyed a lemon meringue tart which was lovely, if a little sweet. It was then time to venture outside and watch the match. Thankfully, the horrible driving rain had stopped and the sun was attempting to appear behind the clouds. This was my first time at a rugby match and although I enjoyed the experience, there was a lot of downtime, and every time the game was stopped a whole load of people wearing orange high-vis jackets rushed on.

Sale took the lead early on, but the Saints came back and went into the lead. I loved the atmosphere when they had the ball! At halftime, we had cheese, biscuits and grapes to enjoy and Keith and I stayed inside for the second half and chatted to Anthony and Paul who were well on their way to being very merry! They hadn't eaten anything at all!

Sadly, the Saints lost by one point 21-22, but it had been great watching the action. Keith and I hadn't realised that there was another game on after the Saints-Sale match - the womens' teams of Loughborough Lightning versus Exeter Chiefs, so we texted Sophie to ask her to pick us up later than we had intended.

By now, everyone was well-oiled and the noise level had risen to very loud! I think we would have been given anything if we asked for it... Paul switched to red wine with the cheese while Millie, a lovely girl who was getting married in April and was with her Dad Barry, asked for a glass of white wine. We got on extremely well with everyone and the atmosphere was lovely. The only problem was the heavy-handed security staff who kept coming in and telling us off for being behind the bar. Paul's company pays £6000 per game to use the Warners' box and he has it for every home match, as well as having other corporate boxes at the ground, spending over £100,000 every year. Paul isn't your typical smooth businessman and has worked hard to develop his company but he has a heart of gold, and the generosity he displayed and the whole ambience this afternoon was outstanding.

Just before halftime of the second match, we were given mini "piglet" pies, half of which were vegetarian. Mervyn, who was Paul's uncle (and honorary dad) described them as "something and something else" which was hilarious (I suppose you had to have been there to truly appreciate all the comments!).

By now I had lost count of the number of Gins I'd drank, and Keith was also on his umpteenth bottle of Peroni. I didn't feel drunk, thank goodness, but the room was by now very dishevelled:

Anthony and Mervyn behind the bar where they weren't supposed to go!

Lee, our excellent, totally unflappable, host

Anthony looking totally wrecked!

Sophie came to pick us up at 6.30pm at which time we were both ready to go home. The security people had been in again and things had got a bit heated, so we thought it was time to say our goodbyes. Sophie was waiting for us in the small car park and we showed her our booty, given to us by Paul:

Two bottles of Gin (worth £70) and a small bottle to enjoy.

It had been a fantastic afternoon and one that will stay with us for a long time. We just felt so pleased to be invited and we know that whenever we need work doing on the house (our windows need replacing and the en-suite) we wouldn't think about using any other company.

The evening was spent quietly and I sat with Sophie while she ate her dinner, bless her!