EUROPEAN CUP QUARTER-FINALS: John O'Sullivantalks to Gloucester outhalf Ryan Lamb who, as a former regular of the Shed, is perfectly placed to provide an insight into the Kingsholm mystique
IF KINGSHOLM purports to be a fortress, then "The Shed" represents the donjon, the impregnable core, an inhospitable wilderness where no opposing supporter is encouraged to take root. It's apposite the home of Gloucester rugby is built on part of the wonderfully named former Castle Grim estate, a transaction that cost the club £4,000 (€5,075) in 1891.
The stadium has undergone many facelifts since then, the most recent the redevelopment, the south stand that increased the capacity to just under the 17,000 that will squeeze into today's Heineken European Cup quarter-final against Munster. Despite the gentrification of the venue with its new stands and corporate fox holes, the Shed remains a bastion of a bygone era, a reminder of the club's working-class ethos.
Places beneath the low red roof are unofficially bequeathed in families: the Shed is full 90 minutes before a match starts with its first residents known to take up position immediately the gates open, three hours before kick-off. The club's press officer, Alastair Downey, explained: "I can look down from the press box and know exactly where my dad and the rest of my family will be standing in the Shed."
The apocryphal tale of the origin of the name for the long terrace is believed to date to the 1950s as before that the most diehard Gloucester fans massed on "the Tump", a grassy knoll - perfect for verbally assassinating visiting teams - behind the goalposts, an area now occupied by corporate hospitality boxes.
In the 1950s, a new stand was opened, and one supporter on viewing the new roof put on the long terrace - it runs from one end of the ground to the other - is alleged to have remarked it looked like a cow shed. Its massed ranks are the first sight an opposing player glimpses as he crosses the whitewash, the guttural chant of "Glaaawster, Glaaawster" augmented by the corrugated iron acoustics.
It's strictly hardcore, although not quite retaining the seething animosity of yesteryear.
To understand the fierce devotion of the supporters it's important to recognise the standing of the club in the local community. Gloucester doesn't have a high-profile soccer team - Gloucester City play in the British Gas Business Football League Premier Division - and the rugby club have long commandeered the hearts and minds of its working-class citizens.
In an interview with the Observer Ed Snow, who edited the fanzine Shedhead, offered the following explanation as to why rugby became the sporting focal point in the town. "Rugby has never taken off in the working-class areas of big cities. There has never been much in Liverpool, Manchester or London because kids wouldn't grow up tackling each other in cobbled streets. Here, you had fields a few minutes from your back door.
"The uncompromising way Gloucester played was down to the uncompromising way people here had to work for 100 years," he added, referring to the rural hinterland, the miners from the local Forest of Dean and industry that included the docks, wagon works and an aviation factory, prominent during the second World War.
There is a certain irony the current Gloucester team cherish the broad brushstrokes of expansive patterns. For the majority of its history the west country club was noted for the uncompromising physicality of their forward play and the slavish devotion to the 10-man game. The ball was only given air time when the opposing pack had been pulverised and the match effectively won.
A snapshot in their history gleaned from the 1922 season offers a classic illustration of that abrasive nature when "28 players were sent from the field of play, 14 for fighting, seven for arguing, six for language and one for foul play."
Today, local boy Ryan Lamb, will wear the number 10 jersey and having stood in the Shed alongside his friends and brothers from an early age before joining the club's playing ranks, he is perfectly placed to provide an insight into the Kingsholm mystique. So what can Munster expect? The question is met with a peal of laughter.
"Abuse, and plenty of it. We might even get some. It's going to be a massive atmosphere, a massive occasion. The town has been talking about this game since we got through against Ulster. Rugby is massive in Gloucester, there are a lot of local lads in the team, and when you play there, the hair on the back of your neck stands up. The crowd are right there on top of you, which works well for us.
"I think the build-up over the past couple of weeks has been fantastic. People are coming up to you looking for tickets, wishing you good luck. It's brilliant they make their feelings known, that you know you have that support."
Munster fans have demonstrated a marvellous facility for snaffling tickets to away matches and it will be interesting to note if some of their number can inveigle their way into the Shed. The Irish province has a proven track record in Europe of being mentally strong in hostile environments, albeit they haven't won in Gloucester on two previous visits.
Munster team manager Shaun Payne knows what awaits the visitors this evening. "Both of us are particularly well-supported and Gloucester's hugely passionate crowd means we fully expect we will get much the same sort of welcome at Kingsholm as teams running out at Thomond Park get when they play us.
"The Gloucester fans really are their 16th man - and that is certainly not true of every club you play against in the Heineken Cup. Our fans are legendary - who will ever forget them at the 2006 final in Cardiff when we beat Biarritz Olympique - and it would be great if we could have them turning out in force against Gloucester because they (the English club) really are a different team on their home patch."
It's borne out statistically but as Gloucester are well aware Munster relish nothing better than shredding a reputation or two. Lamb knows, for all of Kingsholm's virtues, the home side face arguably the team most capable of pickpocketing a victory.
"They're (Munster) a great side with some great players and they have added more firepower to their backline over the past few years. It's going to be interesting: I'm not sure whether it's going to be a forward battle or a battle of the backs. That's the big question this weekend. Both sides have good forward packs and pace in the backs. It's going to be exciting. I'm not too sure how it's going to work out. We will look to keep hold of the ball, keep it away from their strike runners and if we do that then I think we will have enough quality to win the game, especially at home."
The 21-year-old has long been a precocious talent, playing for England under-16s at 14 and then graduating through the other underage sides right up to England Saxons. He has matured both in temperament and game, primarily because of the arrival of Willie Walker and Chris Paterson to challenge for his jersey.
Lamb doesn't shirk a challenge and in the last 12 months a growing maturity has harnessed an occasionally fiery temperament. His first inkling is to run, his favourite time on a rugby pitch is when latching on to turnover ball and counter-attacking. But he has also learned to better discharge the more mundane duties of his position.
"You have to have a structured game when you find yourself in high-pressure environments. If I threw the ball about today and our forwards hadn't a clue where to go or what I was doing then I'm not sure I'd make it back to the dressingroom intact at the end of the game," he laughs.
He's also aware he will oppose Munster's pivotal player in Ronan O'Gara. The respect is genuine. Lamb explained: "He's (O'Gara) been at the top of the game for a long time. He's the number one 10 in Europe in terms of controlling a game. Everyone trusts him in his team.
"If he wants to stick the ball on a sixpence he can do it. We'll have to keep an eye on him and make sure we put a lot of pressure on him, especially his kicking game because he'll keep us pinned down otherwise.
"The guy is a great player, a legend of the game and a legend of Munster. I'm looking forward to playing against him as I haven't played against someone of that calibre for a while."
The last sentiment underlines the precocious competitiveness of Lamb. The disciples of the Shed would approve but there'll be no magnanimity in their hearts or their voices for 80-plus minutes.
They will treat Munster with the same disdain they exude for every opposing team that walks through the gates at Kingsholm. After all there are traditions to uphold.
