While most of the country spent Sunday night celebrating England's huge win against Fiji in the quarter-finals of the 2023 Rugby World Cup, the joyous scenes were somewhat marred after clips of a large group of fans fighting surfaced online.
Steve Borthwick’s side managed to overcome Fiji despite a seriously threatening and impressive late charge from their opponents, ultimately going on to win 30-24 after having very nearly let a 24-10 lead slip through their fingers.
However, the tension was already high long before the Flying Fijians' comeback as footage from the stands inside the Stade Vélodrome showed a fight breaking out between what was reported to be a group to be England fans and several French rugby supporters.
With two fans seemingly dressed as Lord Nelson — which one commenter said angered the home nation's fans both inside the ground and on France's metro public transport after deeming it a form of "hate speak" — a skirmish broke out and resulted in one man being launched over several rows of seats.
Footage of England fans and French rugby supporters fighting during the Fiji game.
World Rugby has since confirmed that these fans were ejected from the stadium following the altercation and have apologised to other fans distressed by the scenes.
Although it is not yet clear how the fight began or who instigated it beyond people taking offence to the fancy dress, it has been confirmed that none of those involved have been arrested over the incident.
The footage has upset many who condemned the supporters, with one person labelling it "disgraceful" behaviour "never [usually] seen in rugby", as well as some adding, "Imposters. Rugby fans don’t behave this way" and that they were acting more "like soccer hooligans".
Despite an insistence that this isn't representative of most rugby fans — traditionally referred to as 'the gentleman's sport' — one commenter summed things up perfectly and with arguably the best pun we've heard in a long time.
Arguing the other side of things, many of those reacting on social media suggested that fighting and incidents like this are becoming more common amongst England's fan base, with one person remarking, "Always always England fan. The disgrace of international sport support."
Beyond the fighting, it was a brilliant day for the Rose who booked their place in the final four thanks to a match-saving penalty from captain Owen Farrell, who made sure they had a chance at taking on South Africa in the penultimate round of the competition.
England face off against Springboks in the semi-final on Saturday, 21 October at 8pm, where a win would put them that one step closer to their first Rugby World Cup in two decades since Jonny Wilkinson's drop-goal brought it home with just 26 seconds left on the clock back in 2003.
You can watch the highlights from England's defiant display against Fiji down below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prOIFhYIQVI
Featured Image — England Rugby (via IG)/The Good, The Bad & The Rugby (via Twitter)
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Get Baked’s viral ‘Bertha’ cake has a sister on the way – and she sounds just as cheeky
She's big, she's green and she's ready to ruin your figure.
A lot of you will have seen the viral ‘Bertha’ cake by Leeds born beloved sweet treat specialists Get Baked.
They recently opened another site in Manchester's Northern Quarter, where queues literally formed round the block of hungry punters wanting to get their hands on the infamous sugary treats.
And now it's going to happen all over again, as they've recently unveiled their newest flavour which is sure to go down a storm.
We’ll give you a hint: it’s a current food and drink trend that’s about as big as Bertha herself – it’s not matcha, it’s not hot honey (duh), and it’s not Guinness…
Images: Get Baked
Yes—scratch that; HELL YES!Get Baked is set to welcome Bertha’s equally beautiful twin sister, and she’s officially a pistachio girlie.
Having started out life simply as ‘Bruce’, after taking inspiration from the iconic scene from Matilda, this thing has become a phenomenon in its own right, and who doesn’t like more flavours of a good thing?
Probably one of the biggest foodie crazes going at the minute, thanks to the popularity of pistachio cream, cookies, lattes and the similar social media sensation that is the ‘Dubai Pistachio Bar' people are rather fittingly going nuts for this particular flavour of almost absolutely anything.
With that in mind, the Leeds-born bakery and dessert shop – founded by Rich Myers over in Headingley back in 2011 – have shown no hesitation in hopping on the bandwagon and creating a new twist on their own viral menu item.
Teasing the full details in a post on their Instagram this week, they wrote: “What’s big, green, and is going to destroy your life in a couple of weeks’ time? Pistachio Bertha. Strictly limited to 5,000 slices. Coming oh so soon. GB.”
In case you were wondering just how mad those with a sweet tooth could possibly go for a slice of cake, just look at the recent queues when they finally launched in Manchester city centre:
Speaking on the grand opening here on our turf and his partner Amy’s hometown, Myers said simply: “Manchester, what a launch. Thanks for much for the warm welcome. Stay baked.”
Leeds Tattoo Expo to return to the First Direct Arena for 10th anniversary
Clementine Hall
The tenth annual Leeds Tattoo Expo will showcase some of the best in tattooing both local and internationally.
If you fancy getting yourself a fancy new bit of ink, then look no further than the iconic Leeds Tattoo Expo that will be returning to the First Direct Arena this June.
Taking place on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 June 2025, over 200 tattooists and 70 traders will be flocking to the city to show off their skills.
And not only that, but there’ll also be a whole host of market traders for you to browse as well as live music to have a boogie to.
The artists will be tattooing with options for both pre-booked appointments and walk ups available throughout the weekend.
Image: Leeds Tattoo Expo
There will also be a piercer, tooth gems and a henna artist ready to adorn your body.
Alongside getting tattooed, there’s plenty to do and to see over the whole weekend; there'll be an alternative drawing class, an illustrators market with kids’ workshops provided by Art Gecko, an art fusion event on the main stage, burlesque performances and competitions, a small vintage clothing pop-up, fire breathing and break dancing demonstrations in the square outside the arena.
The annual tattoo competitions will also be taking place each evening, where tattooists showcase their work to a panel of judges, sponsored by Killer Ink!
To celebrate Leeds Tattoo Expo's tenth anniversary, they'll be hosting a Pre-Party at Belgrave Music Hall on Thursday 5 June which is a completely free entry event complete with live music and free pizza.
You can find out more about the event and book your tickets here via the First Direct Arena's website.
Danny Jones -
17th October 2023 
