Favourite away venue

Now the season has well and truly finished topics of conversation stray away from the last match / next match axis. The old chestnut is who is your second favourite team? Leave aside the "Witherington-Stanley Old Boys because I used to watch my dad play there" type answers. Most people when picking a club from their own division will pick the one they are most likely to beat. Of course those clubs also tend to get relegated. (Don't get me started on ring fencing.)

So people choose a club they are likely to beat but with enough fight to survive the drop. Worcester fitted that bill quite well until last season. At least they had the decency to bounce straight back up.

But what about the grounds? Shared grounds tend to badly in the popularity stakes. The in-goal areas tend to be too short. The design of soccer stadiums with their obsession with crowd control prevents us friendly rugger types from wandering from one stand to another. Many of us hanker after the old duckboard and mud days where each set of supporters would gather behind the posts then swap ends at half time exchanging "did you bring your own ref?" type pleasantries as we passed.

It is of course not just the ground, nearby facilities help. If you arrive in Reading  station to watch London Irish the Three Guineas is right outside. Not a proper Irish pub, it is converted from the old ticket office, but run by a London Irish supporter so there is plenty of atmosphere.

Teagues opposite Kingsholm is the obvious pre-match meeting place run by a former Gloucester player. What was his name? Oh yes, Teague!

If you are trekking all the way to Geordieland to make a Friday night fixture (they do it on purpose you know!) then you will be mightily relieved to find the hospitality of Twin Farms a short walk from the ground.

The Stoop of course has all the Twickenham bars, the Cabbage Patch, The Garryowen and many more if you head towards the river.

Bath being in the town centre also has any number of bars nearby. All these hostelries are waiting to welcome and refresh the weary traveller.

So what puts off the travelling supporter? You would have thought it would be one of the features of a "proper" rugby ground, a home terrace close enough to smell the mud and sweat and, more importantly, influence the three officials.

The real scandal of this year's semi final was not Manu's knock-out attempt on Ashton, but the behaviour of his mentors on the sideline. It is ok for the fans to scream from the Crumbie, but his mentors should set a better example. No doubt the number of Old Leicestonian ties to be found at the RFU contributed to the whitewash of the events that blighted the end of the season.

Back to grounds. The Crumbie, the likelihood of getting beaten, and being situated in the centre of a roundabout would you would think push Welford Road well down the popularity stakes. For similar reasons I expected Castle Grim to do poorly for visitors to Gloucester. The shed at Kingsholm is arguably the most intimidating place for travelling support.

Healey almost got dropped from the ESPN commentary team when he described it as a family terrace. Nothing offensive in that you say. Until he added that it was probably because they were all related. Tut-tut Mr Healey.

But the results. In a straw poll of 185 Sandy Park came out the clear winner with 32 votes thanks to the welcome from the fans. Franklins Gardens was judged the best rugby ground and Bath the best location. Honorable mentions to Gloucester, it seems away fans like the banter after all. The Stoop for the beer (shum mishtake surely) and Sixways for the fans (and the two pint glasses). The smelly jockstrap award goes to Adams Park and Vicarage road for scoring zero, and a psychiatric assessment to the two people who voted for Edgely Park.

Mad Monk is a London Irish supporter. His regular column Mad Monk's Musings appears in the local paper where he also blogs regularly in their online publication at www.getreading.co.uk/sport/rugby/