By Bethan Croft
There isn’t a feeling that compares to walking through the streets of Cardiff on a match day. Swarms of supporters, a sea of red t-shirts and a chorus of Welsh chants. Everyone arrives early in a rush to queue up for merchandise and to get the dragon painted upon their face. As far as the eye can see, there are heads donning the daffodil, sheep, leek and dragon hats.
From the moment you step inside the stadium, the atmosphere changes. Moving from the excitement on the streets to a more intense thrill of adrenaline. People arriving to take their seats, in preparation for the 1.40pm kick-off, from noon onwards.
Today, the seats were filled in anticipation of the first Welsh game of the Autumn International Series. The sound of the choir filled the stadium as people squeezed past you to find their seats, their hands full with hot dogs and pints.
Friendly bets are always made by loyal fans concerning whether the roof will be open or closed. Today, it was shut – maybe this was part of the bad omen for Wales? However, the lack of open air meant that the atmosphere was trapped and the eagerness for the game to begin grew to a loud buzz.
Not long after, the fire display warmed the stadium as the opening ceremony began. Calon Lân, Bread of Heaven and Yma O Hyd were belted and then everything came to a stop.
Silence ensued as the Last Post began, both teams and the audience showed their respects in honour of Remembrance Sunday. Those paying attention may have noticed the names of Welsh rugby players who had died serving their country in WWI and WWII being presented on the large screens.
In some stadiums there is a separation of home and away fans, but not at the Principality, both sit side by side. We were a row of Welsh supporters but behind and in front of us sat Fijian fans. Instead of animosity and bad sportsmanship, there was laughter and banter.
The opposing sides teased each other but all in good nature. In juxtaposition to the boos the haka had received during New Zealand’s game against England last week, the traditional Fijian battle dance (the Cibi) was met with a roar of applause.
One comment overheard made by a Welsh to a Fiji fan was, “We’ll support and cheer you on… until you win!” The comment wasn’t taken to heart and both laughed as Fiji turned the ball back over and scored a try.
The game had begun with a strong and promising beginning for Wales as they almost scored a try within the first three minutes. Everyone was on the edge of their seats, hearts racing at such a fast-paced beginning to the match.
Just a few minutes later and Blair Murray, with his first cap, proved his right to be on the pitch by triumphantly carrying the ball over the try line. The score was followed by a neat conversion from Gloucester’s Gareth Anscombe. The Welsh fans were jumping out of their seats in excitement at the prospect of being seven points up within the first ten minutes of the game.
Yet, the joy was short-lived as Fiji soon closed the gap after being awarded a penalty. This was when it became clear that the game would be a close one. The rest of the game consisted of multiple no-tries from both sides, a yellow card for Wales, a yellow and a red for Fiji. For the first time, the new red rule was played as Byncer made a high tackle against the Welsh side.
Introduced at the beginning of the Autumn International Series, the rule is very different to the previous red card rule and instead allows for a player to be sent off for 20 minutes, but he can be replaced after his time is up to allow a 15-man squad again.
Towards the end, the Welsh hope was restored as Ellis Bevan came on and within just two minutes he had scored. Yet, with a missed conversion Wales lost their chance to even out the score and Fiji stepped up once again to make one last push which ended the game on a punishing 24-19 win.
Scoring 19 of the points for his team, Caleb Muntz was rightly named the Player of the Match. Whilst Wales had a strong defence, Fiji was faster and today they were the better team – officially making history by winning their first game on Welsh soil.
As the camera panned to a silently fuming Warren Gatland throughout the game, most fans began to question if today’s performance was down to the fault of the players or to Gats himself. After a devastating 10th Test loss in a row, people are beginning to wonder – should Gatland stay or should he go?
