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And a croaking Calon Lan
by Vince Jones
While the masses in Cardiff both
inside and outside the stadium exhorted Wales to win
the Six Nations Rugby title
for 2005 a somewhat smaller but no less enthusiastic following
gathered in Sydney's George Street to will the team to
victory.
Around 200 Welsh people roared
cheered sang and croaked their way through the game,
bearing their collective will
towards the great hanging screen in belief that the players
at home would absorb and use the energy to overcome the
Irish.
Why else would you stand for 4 hours in a pub in order
to secure a position inside before the doors were closed,
and then sing songs at a TV at 2.30 am. Surely we are not
mad surely the players back home would know?
If we were
not mad enough a couple of hundred Irish did the same for
their country. In fact the
Irish sang magnificently
reeling off Fields of Athenrye, Molly Malone, IrelandsCall
and that old Welsh tune The Wild Rover.
The atmosphere then inside Cheers was
electric for the start of the Six Nations decider between
Wales and Ireland.
Wales had to win as France had earlier secured enough of
a points difference to take the title in the event that
Ireland won by less than 13. But this was not a night for
arithmetic, nothing so complicated for Wales. Only a win
would do, and for the majority of fans in the bar that
was a sum they could compute. For once Welsh fans were
optimistic despite most of them never being born when Wales
last took out the Grand Slam in 1978.And they came from
all over Sydney and beyond. Gwyn Williams originally from
Criccieth had travelled
4 hours from the
upper Hunter Valley to be
at the game.Whenasked why Williams said. " When Wales
last won the Grand Slam I was only three, if i have to
wait
that long again i might be dead, I wouldn't have missed
it for
the world."
Gwyn Williams on the left
The Manly Taffia
were out in force on one side of the room, a collection
of mostly
East
Walians
while elsewhere
a strong contingent of welsh speakers from Anglesea staked
a claim to a prime viewing spot. There was a remarkable
character Darren Jol a Melburnian of Dutch extract who
had once spent two years in Bala and had fallen in love
with Welsh Rugby. Here he was in a red pinstriped suit
with red sneakers and a grin like a Portmadoc cat. Dai
Booth was there in his pristine Gwlad down under shirt
from the
last tour, a collectors item (one of only 40) worn with
gleeful pride.Up on the balcony were the West Walians
from Llanelli, Burry
Port and Lampeter and down in the centre of the floor
were the pride of Merthyr while Jacks and Bluebirds
were all
around.I think I even met one member of the Duffryn Vigilante
squad in the gents.
As
the game unfolded nerves began to take hold and soon
Ireland were
on the
attack
and up
on
the scoreboard. However
within fifteen minutes this remarkable Welsh side had
somehow skipped to a 10 point lead. From there the nerves
calmed
and there was not a doubt that Wales would go on and
win the Championship GrandSlam and Triple Crown.
Midway through the second half Wales
put together a typical flowing move where backs and forwards
combined to see Kevin
Morgan dive over and release years of pent up frustration
as fans erupted in Cardiff, Sydney and i daresay in pubs
and homes around the world. Even those poor fans who had
arrived late and were now watching with their noses pressed
against the window looking in from outside. Was there a
welsh person in the world who was not roaring with joy
at that
moment.
The celebrations began in earnest and while there was
brief late flurry from Ireland Wales' victory was never
in doubt. By now Welsh fans were almost overcome with exhaustion
as they hugged and danced at 4.00 am and slowly we filtered
out and the long trek back to our homes where we would
get no sleep as the game flashed by in replay on the backs
of our eyelids.
This was a great night to be a Welsh
person and a warming experience as so many of us gathered
here on the other
side of the world in communion. Irish fans congratulated
the Welsh in a display of great sportsmanship and Gwyn
Williams stood with a glow that said it all. " I'm tickled
pink boyo, it was absolutely bloody marvelous butty." he
laughingly said.
Congratulations to Mike Ruddock and his team from the
Welsh Society of Sydney. May there be many more days/nights
like this to come.
And the reaction from Cardiff
GRAND SLAMMERS !!!!!
by Karl Baker
Fans
in Cardiff city centre
Here is a bit of an insight as to
what Cardiff was like today for
the
Grand
Slam match
v Ireland.
Unfortunatley I had to work, but watched the game on telly
in the office. I work at the top of a large call centre
in Cardiff city centre, the view from my window overlooks
the stadium
and most of Cardiff and when I open the window the breeze
of grand slam magic rushed all day long onto my desk.
I drove in early to work as it was match
day. Today the sun shone for the first time this year,
it was like a summers
day here in wales with a temperature of 18 degrees. People
were standing at bus stops in the villages and towns outside
Cardiff
in
shorts
and all decked out in red trying to get into the city like
it is on any normal international day, except today there
was an added sparkle which i just could not put my finger
on and you could literally feel it. The roads were jam
packed, red everywhere like you wouldnt believe, and I
MEAN that
! There were so many here that marquees were put up in
parks and outside of pubs for the extra 150k people they
were expecting.There were estimates of between 10,000 and
15,000 at the City hall live site or Henson hill as it
has been called
I have been to many internationals, I was there at Wembley
in 99 and also in Cardiff in 93 when we beat England, I
was there to watch Wales play and beat South Africa on
the first day of the stadium and again in the world cup
in 99.
I was also there to feel the magic in Sydney at the Olympics.
But I have never ever seen, felt
or heard anything like I did today. From early morning
we were ready and without
sounding pretentious I knew it was going to happen for
us, I think we all did, the magic and confidence was in
the Cardiff air.
The thousands of people outside city hall in Cardiff
watching the game on the big screen all sat in the sunshine
in shorts drinking, and the singing, ohh the singing, never
have i heard anything like it.
What a magnificent day!What a magnificent season!
www.karlbaker.com
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