John Raphael won't have a conflict of interest on Saturday at Twickenham. A director of Northampton RFC, and the club doctor to boot, his responsibilities and sympathies are well defined. Win or lose though, Raphael intends to enjoy the Heineken European Cup Final secure in the knowledge that he will have plenty of Irish drinking companions to celebrate the occasion.
Digs on Anglesea Road, Dublin in 1970, provided a starting point for a lasting love of Dublin and Ireland. Raphael decided to enrol in the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin and arriving in the country, hooked up with former Shelbourne soccer player and current Leinster rugby team bagman Johnny O'Hagan.
Raphael recalls: "It was a place on Anglesea Road and no sooner had I arrived than I received a deputation from Bective Rangers - it included Louis Magee - to come and play for the club. I think I arrived in midweek and played on the Saturday." Raphael boasted an impressive pedigree having played for the two previous years on the England Schools' team: "I started at number eight and then moved to hooker," he says.
Raphael stayed with Bective from 1970 through to playing his final match in 1979 before returning to England and Northampton: "It's funny but Bective used to have a great rapport with Northampton because we played them every year and that's where I headed for when I went home," he explains.
During his rugby sojourn in Ireland, Raphael played for the Leinster U-21s, Leinster, captained the England U-23s, England B and sat on the England bench without ever winning a cap from 1975-1981: "I never managed to win a full cap. I played against Italy, the USA, Tonga and Canada just about every country against whom England did not award caps.
"I played for Leinster in the pre-Johnny Cantrell days alongside such great players at Tom Grace, Fergus Slattery, Johnny Moloney, Tony Ensor and that big lock Kevin Mays. They were great times and I really enjoyed my stay in Ireland. The rugby, the craic, the Irish girls, the whole lot. It was a great place to be a student and to be trained in the medical profession."
He was approached at one stage to play for Ireland but declined: "I was an Englishman playing in Ireland but I knew my roots. In hindsight I suppose I should have," he laughs.
Having qualified as a doctor he returned to Northampton and played until breaking a leg in 1984. Thereafter, he joined the administrative side of the club and fulfilled the role as club doctor.
And what of Saturday's game? "I'm really looking forward to it. It has been, at times, a painful season for Northampton particularly in recent weeks with the injuries to Matt Dawson, Nick Beal, Grant Seely, Pat Lam and John Sleightholme. It was a huge disappointment losing to Wasps in the English Cup Final.
"But Saturday's about 80 minutes and there's such a tremendous spirit in the squad that anything's possible. I just hope we get an exhibition of rugby that befits such a great occasion. There'll be 20,000 Northampton supporters and by the looks of things over 40,000 cheering on Munster. They (Munster) have had a cracking season. Whoever wins will deserve the right to be called the best team in Europe.
"It's an interesting contrast. We're tired, they're a little bit fresher; they are playing away from home, we're at home-ish. Whatever transpires, I am determined that myself and my family are going to enjoy the occasion. I am looking forward to bumping into a few Irish friends."
Meanwhile, Tim Rodber has cleared his head and is ready for the final push. The veteran Saints lock is a certain starter after passing himself fit despite a troublesome back injury.
European qualification for next season was only assured after a last day win at Newcastle and Rodber hopes to banish memories of the previous visit to Twickenham which ended in defeat at the hands of Wasps.
"We have got the burden of European qualification off our back and now we can enjoy the experience, which we were unable to do against Wasps," he says.
