City a sea of red and green as Varsity ties take place

IT’S one of the biggest dates on the Welsh university sporting calendar – and yesterday saw thousands descend on Cardiff for the Welsh Varsity.

Students from Cardiff and Swansea universities made their way to the city centre in a sea of red and green to cheer on their teams in more than 30 sporting events.

Students from Swansea travelled across early in the morning, with the party atmosphere in the Welsh capital fully flowing by lunchtime.

The crowning jewel of the historic event was the rugby grudge match between the two foes at the Principality Stadium, with more than 15,000 fans expected to attend.

But some fans got a little too excited during the day and were spotted swimming naked in the River Taff, prompting a warning from organisers.

The Welsh Varsity tweeted a warning, saying: “Enjoy your day, but please stay safe near the river. Alcohol and water don’t mix.”

Others lit barbecues by the riverside as the April sunshine attracted even bigger crowds.

Welsh Varsity has been held in Swansea for the past two years but returned to the Cardiff venue for this year’s event.

For the first time ever, events took place at the SSE Swalec, the home of Glamorgan Cricket, with events including ultimate frisbee and the T20 cricket match.

A triathlon event was held at Maindy pool and track while golfing events took place at Radyr Golf Club and the rifle event took place at Penarth Rifle Range.

Lacrosse, archery, Tae Kwon Do, netball, basketball, hockey, kickboxing, fencing, squash and volleyball events took place at Sports Wales.

Swimming and water polo took place at Cardiff International Pool while men’s and ladies’ tennis took place at Cardiff Castle and badminton at Talybont Hall.

IMG and staff football matches took place at the Llanrumney 3G pitch while the men’s and ladies’ football matches took place at the Cardiff Arms Park, as well as the fresher rugby matches.

The main events – the ladies’ and men’s rugby matches – took place in succession at the Principality Stadium.

The inaugural Welsh Varsity Rugby match was first played in 1997 and in the early years was held alternately at Cardiff Arms Park and St Helens.

From 2003 until 2007, the game was held at the neutral Brewery Field ground in Bridgend but since 2010 the match has either been played at the Principality Stadium, which was at the time named the Millennium Stadium, or the Liberty Stadium.

Swansea University has won the match 13 times out of a possible 20, including a 16-10 win last year at the Liberty.