Adios to the Mem
Thu, 01 May 2008 15:50
Bristol Rugby head coach Richard Hill admitted that he's edging towards sentimentality when it comes to his team selection for the final home fixture of the season against Worcester Warriors on Saturday.
Of course, it's not just the final Guinness Premiership fixture of the season at the Memorial Stadium on Saturday.
With the stadium set to undergo a massive redevelopment over the next two seasons, Bristol will be playing their home fixtures elsewhere in 2008/09 and 2009/10.
Therefore, several players will be potentially bidding farewell to the Memorial Stadium on Saturday as they appear in a home fixture at the ground for the last time.
Richard confessed that he's on the point of bowing to temptation and giving a few players the chance to say goodbye on the pitch.
"There's not often a lot of room for sentimentality in professional sport. However, Saturday will be an emotional occasional as we bid
farewell to the Mem in its current guise.
"A few of the boys who have been with us through thick and thin over the past few seasons are leaving us at the end of the current campaign and, of course, the likes of Dave Hilton are hanging up their boots at long last!
"I have been giving some of the younger players a run out in recent weeks but I think on Saturday that it will be appropriate to give some of the old battle hardened warriors a chance to finish on a high.
"They'll be pumped up and determined to have one memorable occasion at the Mem and I hope that we have as many Bristol supporters as possible at the ground to give them an appropriate farewell."
