An effigy of Francois Pienaar swinging from the roof of the Shed as the World Cup-winning Springbok captain made an early appearance for Saracens; a furious, if ultimately one-sided touchline argument between a cider-fuelled local and Lawrence Dallaglio’s mum; the first recorded chorus of “you don’t know what you’re doing” to be aimed at a hapless referee. There were a thousand good reasons why Kingsholm earned itself the nickname “Castle Grim”, but limited space restricts us to a hat-trick of snapshots.

Rugby at the “Castle” – and across the city of Gloucester, come to that – became known to...