They’ll be watching the big match
They’re groups of four or five and are at least 75% men. They are not as tall as anyone else and they are a bit sheepish in the bars they don’t know, huddled at a table eating bacon and eggs.” Paul Lewis splits his time with wife Janet between Durants, Barbados, and Llangrannog, Ceredigion. He moved there to run TTE Electronics.
He said: “We’ve got a local sports bar called Bert’s and all the rugby followers watch, the Welsh, the English, the Scottish and the Irish, go to Bert’s to watch the games.
“It’s a good atmosphere for watching rugby. I haven’t been back home at Six Nations time in 20 years, but I think on rugby days here people tend to make the most of it.
“It’s different but you feel part of a circle. When the anthems come on the hairs on the back of your neck go up. You just feel Wales is where your heart is, it’s where you were born and the majority of the friends you’ve got are back there.
“You’re a long way from home but you’re still a part of it.” Jessica Fletcher, from Newport, now lives in Wellington, New Zealand. She’s a Ministry of Education adviser.
“I’ll be watching the Six Nations in the Welsh Dragon Bar in Wellington, the only Welsh bar in the Southern Hemisphere,” the 24-year-old said.
“I’ll be watching it with my fellow Welsh people in Wellington and my boyfriend Mathew Price who is also Welsh.
“It’s nice being away and watching the rugby because the Welsh unite and I feel proud to wear my rugby jersey over the other side of the world, putting Wales on the map.
“Saying that, though, there’s noth- ing like being in Cardiff on a match day.” Rob Jenkins, from Llangynidr, Powys, now lives in Perth, Australia, where he works as a painter and decorator.
“I’ll be watching the Six Nations at home on the TV, I bought the Foxtel sports package to watch the Moto GP, they also show the Six Nations,” the 42-year-old said.
“It’s always on at odd times here, sometimes in the evening which is good but other times it can be 3am, I usually record those games and watch the following day, trying my best not to see the results via Face- book from my Welsh friends.
“The Six Nations reminds me of times back in Wales when I’d get together with friends for the matches, they were always good times, better when Wales wins of course.
“It’s different watching it here as I’m usually by myself or with my partner Denise. She’s not Welsh but enjoys watching the games with me, or watching me watch as Wales are about to score.
“This year I’ll also be watching it with my son, Evan. He’s coming up to six months, my friends gave him a little Welsh rugby kit, so I’ll get him wearing that for the Welsh games, if he’s awake.”