Welcome Back Dimitri
By Cheery Cherry
April 4 2013
Nigel Davies says he hadn't realised that Yachvili once displayed his considerable talents in front of The Shed. Well he did, and he's welcome back as long as he and his Biarritz buddies don't spoil our Amlin ambitions ...
Difficult to believe it's more than ten years ago that Dimitri impressed as a youthful 20 year old. Since then hes gone on to win almost 60 caps - and all because we taught him everything.
His presence adds to the prospect of an entertaining game, under floodlights, and on a night when most of us are deciding whether the liquid weekend should start early - or whether to stop in and persuade her indoors that James May's Man Lab is not really blokeish.
Biarritz also bring the formidable Imanol Harinordoquy [right] with them.
The No 8 will no doubt feel the vigour of The Shed and that battle alone is worth the admission money. These are characters who ensure no game is ever dull.
For our part we are showing good form and had too much fire and skill for Quins last week. If we keep that momentum going on our own turf we should overcome the French with a decent margin.
My forecast 27 -12 to Gloucester.
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Quote:"I have a lot of affection for Gloucester, as it was where I started playing at the highest level. When I turned up there and saw the way everyone loved the game, the commitment they had, I thought I was seeing things. Gloucester showed me what high-level rugby was all about."
"I didn't hesitate for a moment when Philippe Saint-André contacted me. I knew I'd get a lot out of it and I learned what I needed to do to play at that standard. In England, they train much harder than in France, where the guys are more relaxed. The English are totally devoted to the game, and there's so much emphasis on the physical side. It was a great insight into another country, another language."
"I got to like the English," says Yachvili, who remains friends with the Gloucester winger James Simpson-Daniel, a visitor to his house when Gloucester played Bayonne recently in the European Challenge Cup. "They feel the same animosity towards us that we feel towards them, but they don't speak of it."