Saracens' incredible journey

Then something happened which left Pienaar speechless.

As the team bus arrived at the designated hotel on the northern outskirts of Bucharest, he looked up at the building to find his men were staying at the Sofitel "World Trade Centre".

Could this trip get any worse? Sarries had travelled to Romania - at a cost of more than £20,000 - without nine injured regulars, were scratching around trying to borrow kit and negotiating with a dentist who was happy to do the work if $280 (£200) was handed over.

He preferred dollars - as did the entire country - rather than having to fit nearly 10 million local lei into his wallet.

Pressure on BA resulted in the missing kit bags being loaded onto a plane for Budapest in Hungary. They were then taken by cargo plane to Bucharest and, to the relief of everyone but Scott Murray, arrived before kick-off. Unfortunately for the Lions second-row, his kit was still AWOL.

A pre-game visit to the Dinamo sporting complex confirmed it was a rough, hard pitch, bordered by broken concrete edging that had once belonged to a long-forgotten running track.

The changing rooms were 300m from the pitch, which meant an area shaded by overhanging trees needed to be found to allow the players some respite from the 80-degree sun during half-time.

The route to the pitch took the players past a bullet-marked statue of Lenin, missing his nose and lower half, now used to protect a newly planted tree.

Given the opposition contained seven current Romanian internationals, the chances of Sarries coming a cropper were high.

Add to the equation an Italian referee and it looked increasingly dangerous, although the small group of "Fez Head" travelling fans in the 1,500 crowd were confident.

World Cup-winning centre Tim Horan was forced off the field with a hamstring injury but despite all the problems, the visitors won 75-12.

Prop Sean Phillips was put in the sin-bin for punching an opponent who had grabbed him in a sensitive area and flanker Steve Cheesebrough's play earned him an eggsized lump under his right eye.

It was a victory that proved Sarries had identified a group of home-grown young players capable of producing quality rugby against the odds.

Team talks, motivational meetings and all the other techniques coaches use to try and knit their squad together cannot replace the benefits of travelling abroad, overcoming adversity and having a bloody good drink together to celebrate.

Dinamo is based on the city's police department - their president is a police general - and the club mirror the problems at national level. They have strong forwards and awful backs, just like the Romanian team that will face England at Twickenham next month.

Dinamo insist they will find the money for flights to play the return match at Watford in January, although financial problems mean they will spend two days on a coach to reach Bordeaux for another pool fixture.

Sarries will greet their arrival at Watford next year with kit and balls to take back to Romania and a meal to try and repay the outstanding hospitality Dinamo showed at an outdoor restaurant in a Bucharest park, paid for by the club sponsor.

As the local brandy was sunk, all those earlier problems were forgotten . . . well, at least until the whiteknuckle landing in gale-force winds at Gatwick airport where Sarries found themselves collecting kit with the Gloucester players.

The West Countrymen had been diverted to Gatwick when their flight from Italy to Heathrow was unable to land, due to strong winds.

Somehow, their travel problems didn't impress Pienaar and his men.