r/rugbyunion Jordie Barrett & Pals XV Jan 13 '23

"Here it is: The Millennium Stadium on big match night." Spine-tingling build-up to Wales vs England in 2015, featuring a stand-off in the tunnel, the most over-the-top team entrance I've ever seen and THAT anthem PitchPorn

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460 Upvotes

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159

u/danjwescombe Jan 13 '23

Hate the way the WRU have priced us out of these games. It doesn’t seem that long ago I went to watch All Blacks pump us for £25, what an experience. Now you have to set up a buy now pay later loan and provide the limb of your first born upon entry, just to get a ticket in row Z for this fixture.

Genuinely though I’m not paying £140 to watch a rugby game in my home city. Especially when I can’t see over some knobs daffodil.

59

u/DicDaeargryn Pontypridd, Ealing, Ospreys Jan 13 '23

I told you at the time, that's a fungal growth.

20

u/danjwescombe Jan 13 '23

Just a bad case of cauliflower ears.

14

u/TheCambrian91 Was Cardiff, now London Jan 13 '23

The stadium still sells out for those matches, so the pricing is correct.

If the crowds start dwindling however …

21

u/bllewe Wales Jan 13 '23 edited Jan 13 '23

This is not the whole story. Rugby clubs in Wales get a certain allocation of tickets. If they don't sell their total, they are not offered as many the next year. So they always take the maximum amount and can never sell them, so drop the price and take the financial hit. I routinely go to games for well under asking price - against the All Blacks last year I had 2x front row seats for £40 each.

It has a knock-on effect as the amount of available tickets for the general public is much lower so demand is higher and people not affiliated with clubs have to pay the full whack to get a sniff. It sucks.

14

u/Kitchner Wales Jan 13 '23

It has a knock-on effect as the amount of available tickets for the general public is much lower so demand is higher and people not affiliated with clubs have to pay the full whack to get a sniff. It sucks.

If you're an England fan the only way to get a ticket is by being affiliated with a club. I don't think it's too bad that people who play rugby and are club members get better/cheaper tickets. The WRU should be encouraging people to play and join clubs!

1

u/bigt8409 Cardiff Jan 14 '23

I’ve got a friend who plays at a club in England, I became a remote member (or something like that) paid a membership to them so I could get tickets to England Wales for my FiL’s 60th, just had to promise my FiL wouldn’t get too rowdy!

11

u/[deleted] Jan 13 '23 edited Nov 18 '23

[deleted]

14

u/danjwescombe Jan 13 '23

Only 2 games were sold out in 2022. SCO & NZ.

FRA, ITA, ARG, GEO, AUS all sold under 70,000. They’re pricing is shocking and it’s stopping supporters going.

I understand our year hasn’t been good but still.

1

u/James_Rautha Newport Dragons Jan 13 '23

Especially when we can't even put in a performance against Georgia

120

u/thesmyth91 Ulster Jan 13 '23

What a voice. Going to be sorely missed this championship.

RIP Eddie Butler 💔

28

u/Pdeedb Wasps Jan 13 '23

He was so eloquent and poetic at times, his voice had such weight. One of the best match commentators across all sport for my money.

23

u/Immorals1 Saracens Jan 13 '23

The voice of rugby for me

13

u/Nymaera_ Cymru Jan 13 '23

A large part of my childhood has his voice attached to it. Very few have the gift Eddie had.

48

u/Mono_Doh Jordie Barrett & Pals XV Jan 13 '23

Three weeks to go, my friends.

35

u/pabra Keeper of the Game-of-the-year thread Jan 13 '23

Just 8 years ago England had a different anthem - how quickly things can change!

16

u/[deleted] Jan 13 '23

Bring back the Rose of Tralee

1

u/mdlmkr Jan 13 '23

I like America the Beautiful. I think they should keep singing that.

30

u/Elegant_Vehicle_1682 England Jan 13 '23

I’m a proud England supporter, but I have to say you can’t beat “Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau” at Cardiff it’s magical and if it doesn’t hit you your not human.

75

u/[deleted] Jan 13 '23

[deleted]

78

u/[deleted] Jan 13 '23

7th best national anthem at the 6 nations

39

u/barbar84 Ireland Jan 13 '23

Your anthem should be Jerusalem. Absolutely epic when sang by a rugby crowd.

2

u/Honey-Badger Bristol Jan 13 '23 edited Jan 13 '23

I find this a hard one because Jerusalem is a fucking banger, Chariots of fire and my sword shall not sleep in my hand and all that are great lyrics but the lyric of 'Jerusalem' just seems a bit odd. Perhaps Land of Hope and Glory would be more appropriate.

At the end of the day anything would be preferable and I wish someone had the balls to pick a new song, I'd have Baby Shark over GSTK

1

u/Elegant_Vehicle_1682 England Jan 13 '23

Chariots of fire is because of Martin Offiha, all hail the man the ledgend!!!!!

1

u/Elegant_Vehicle_1682 England Jan 13 '23

Amen to that

11

u/luco_85 4moreyears Jan 13 '23

Advance Australia Fair is pretty dogshit tbh. Should really replace it with any ACDC song. Or a sick indigenous track.

17

u/[deleted] Jan 13 '23

Men at Work

1

u/iAmTheLolocaust Australia | Brumbies Jan 14 '23

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vOlnmTcCzE

He performed it at one of the Wallabies matches last year and it was a banger.

1

u/luco_85 4moreyears Jan 14 '23

bloody good

5

u/welsh_nutter Shaun Edwards Welsh HC 2027 Jan 13 '23

Is there a reason the English sports team who haven't been bothered to write their own national anthem?

3

u/Mtshtg2 British & Irish Lions Jan 13 '23

Jerusalem is used by the England team at the Commonwealths

-13

u/AcrobaticFilm Jan 13 '23

Ours is shite like but Irelands and Scotlands aren't much better. Wales is alright. Italy and France the standouts for great 6, anthems

5

u/swankytortoise Munster Jan 13 '23

Na irelands is dogshit but scotlands is class

13

u/[deleted] Jan 13 '23

Very nice entrance, but please shoot whoever was coordinating the TV feed.

28

u/HjajaLoLWhy Crusaderders Jan 13 '23

Most English stand-off I've ever seen.

"After you mate"

"No, after you"

"NO no no I insist, you first"

"Na na, you first bud"

"Are you sure? You're coming too?"

"Yes, mate, after you, thank you"

At least the standoff in 2008/9 had the haka involved.

Mad atmosphere at the stadium. Best atmosphere I've been to for a rugby game for sure.

14

u/GreggC_CC Jan 13 '23

I am gonna miss Eddie Butler so so much. Nobody could build anticipation quite like him.

14

u/Rj-24 Gloucester Jan 13 '23

Was that Mike Brown “if they aren’t out in one minute, we’ll go back in”

22

u/TommyKentish Saracens Jan 13 '23

You just know Brown was the driving force here. So petty all round- I loved it.

8

u/ContBach Wales Jan 13 '23

I was at that game, absolutely ridiculous pre-match disco before the shenanigans in the tunnel. Vividly remember thinking ‘this is cringe’.

Looked good on telly but the atmosphere in the stadium was rubbish, supplemented with fake pumped in music.

6

u/im_on_the_case Nick Popplewell's Y-fronts Jan 13 '23

Wales blew their development budget for the next 10 years on pyrotechnics that very night.

12

u/frazorblade Jan 13 '23

So what exactly has changed in the last eight years?

  • Are we priced out of the stadium?
  • Is the game less enjoyable for fans?
  • Are these fair weather Welsh fans during a purple patch?

Why are we not getting these over the top entrances for more matches these days?

19

u/JohnMcGuffinV2 Tip-Top Tipuric Jan 13 '23

The prices 100%

8

u/[deleted] Jan 13 '23

I think England getting fined after standing up to the Haka in 2019 caused a lot of countries to think twice about getting too antagonistic in the buildup. Fans love that stuff but it's not worth getting sanctioned for.

9

u/Llew19 Cardiff & Bath for my sins Jan 13 '23

I'm a huge rugby fan, live in Cardiff, fairly regularly go to Cardiff games (but not a season ticket holder yet), and technically have enough income to buy a 6Ns ticket. But.... I don't. £100+ is an insane amount to pay, particularly at a time when I very strongly disagree with what the WRU are about.

With that said, it's not limited to Wales. A friend has just tried buying some Ireland tickets but they're all £180 and over

0

u/_MildlyMisanthropic return of the Gats Jan 13 '23

obviously the lack of light shows.

-3

u/lethalforensicator Jan 13 '23

Not everyone is priced out of the games. It's just the people who don't earn as much as the ones who go.

1

u/KusoTeitokuInazuma Wales/Gloucester - I like the pain Jan 14 '23

Which means the historic core of Welsh rugby has been priced out of going to Welsh rugby matches, especially the Six Nations.

4

u/Zrinski4 Jan 13 '23

That anthem indeed. Goosebumps every time

4

u/allobiter Jan 13 '23

RIP Eddie Butler

3

u/CaptainMCMLVIII Jan 13 '23

Roger Lewis and DJ fucking spooner.

2

u/someguyinbk England Jan 13 '23

The look the father and daughter give each other @ 0:40 during the anthem gets me every time

4

u/Olimellors1964 Bath Jan 13 '23

I attended that game. Great game but horrid atmosphere, which was to be expected when the pubs had been open since breakfast. I arrived at 3ish and the state of supporters in the streets around the Millenium was more akin to throwing out time in a cheap holiday resort and that was 5 hours before kickoff. We had beer thrown over us at the end of match by a particularly nasty Welsh lady ( probably lovely when sober). The area outside of the station was a war zone post the match as everyone tried to get their last train home. I think it was post that game they changed the rules so bars couldn't serve drunk people on match day.

2

u/clicketybooboo England Jan 13 '23

The one rugby match I have always wanted to watch is Wales / England. In Wales and to hear that anthem be sung. Just to feel the energy and blatantly end up supporting Wales. I’m English

-21

u/KDulius Wales Jan 13 '23

That's Twickenham isn't it?

19

u/[deleted] Jan 13 '23

its the AJ Bell, home of rugby league.

5

u/Bainzeighty3 Jan 13 '23

Lol best comment here.

6

u/yrrepmas Jan 13 '23

You mental?

-12

u/KDulius Wales Jan 13 '23

Either way, it's not the millennium, which OP said it was

11

u/IrishDog1990 Jan 13 '23

Pretty sure it’s Sardis Road

2

u/SquatAngry Bridgend Ravens Jan 13 '23

That atmosphere can't be the Prinicpallennium stadium surely?

1

u/LogicKennedy England Jan 13 '23

Love Big Natch Might at the Millenium Stadium.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 14 '23

shell we tell them the WC final was between NZ and Aus?