ALL SMILES THE GAME
But fans are left disappointed and deflated after Wales’ poor performance
WALES’ rugby supporters were left feeling deflated, disappointed and some were even asking for a refu fund yesterday, after Wales’ humiliating d defeat to Australia at the Principality Stad dium.
It proved to be a pretty dismal start to th the autumn international campaign w when Rob Howley’s men were outplayed, lo losing 32-8 to the Wallabies.
As usual, Cardiff city centre was bustl tling with supporters in the run-up to Wales’ autumn opener at the Principality Stadium, with fans eager to see the camp paign kick off on the dry and sunny autu tumn day in the Welsh capital city as they h headed to the ground to cheer Wales on.
The game saw the Wales players pay t two touching tributes, after the Welsh R Rugby Union announced earlier this week that the squad would wear black armbands in respect of Alun Wyn Jones’ father Tim, who died earlier this week. Players also wore strips on their kit emblazoned with a tribute to the victims of the Aberfan disaster, following the 50th anniversary of the disaster which claimed the lives of 116 children and 28 adults on O October 21, 1966.
After the anthems were played out, the v visitors controlled the game from the off and Wales seemed to have lost well before the final whistle.
Frustrated fans vented their frustration on social media afterwards, dubbing their team’s performance as “shambolic”, “pathetic” and “embarrassing”, with some even asking for a refund.
During the match, with the stadium r roof open and an attendance of just 55,776 turning out to support Rob Howley’s men, the atmosphere inside should h have been the usual cauldron of noise. B But this time the fans were largely silent, with some choosing to leave the stadium early in an effort to beat the rush home.
The full city centre road closure was due to be lifted at 5.30pm and rugby spectators were always going to face a busy journey home, with queueing systems and crowd control in place at Cardiff Central train station, while Cardiff Queen Street train station was due to reopen at 9pm last night after being closed from 4pm.
Some fans faced delays on their way home, with many waiting up to 25 minutes for Valleys lines from Cardiff Central.
A passenger was also taken ill at Cogan, which led to delays of up to 30 minutes on trains between Bridgend, Barry Island and Cardiff Central, via Cogan.
With the first of Wales’ autumn internationals now out of the way, the country looks to next Saturday, when Cardiff will play host to not one, but two huge international matches.
That will first see Wales’ rugby team welcome Argentina to the Principality Stadium and the national football team begin their fourth and arguably biggest game of the World Cup qualifying campaign, against Serbia at the Cardiff City Stadium.
Local authorities are confident of handling potential gridlock in the centre from the unprecedented staging of international rugby and football matches on the same evening for the first time.
With Wales rugby kicking off at 5.30pm and the footballers at 7.45pm, the day will see more than 100,000 sports fans flood into the capital to attend the games, with many more packing the city’s pubs and clubs.
In terms of trains, customers are advised to take the earliest service possible into Cardiff and to head straight back to the station after the event.
Extra capacity will be added to services where possible; however, this will be very limited and services will be busy. Customers are also advised to take extra notice of the queue plan for this event as the entry points to some of the queues have changed from their usual position. The full details of these will be released next week.
Cardiff council said it was unable to release details about any potential road closures at this stage.
But it said that if there are any safety concerns relating to the queuing system at Cardiff Central Station, certain streets will remain closed until the issues are resolved.
Buses will be diverted out of the city centre bus stops on Saturday and will relocate to either Churchill Way for the east, Greyfriars Road for the north or Tudor Street for the west. Customers are advised to check before travelling.
For the Wales v Serbia football match, the council said there will be parking available at Cardiff City Stadium on a first-come, first-served basis.
There will also be park and ride available for football fans at the regular multistorey car park in Cardiff Bay on Pierhead Street.
The day will also see the launch of the fan zone at Sully’s Yard on Quakers Street, Cardiff.
The pop-up venue will be open every Saturday for six weeks, and will see a collaboration between brewers Carlsberg, Guinness and Crafty Devil Brewery and some of Cardiff’s street food operators.
A spokesman from Sully’s Yard said: “It’s the big one. Rugby is without doubt the busiest time of year for us. With the football match, too, it will be a brilliant atmosphere in the city.
“We’ve never put on a fanzone before but we are very much looking forward to it and have already had inquiries about it from people who want to know more.”