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THE Welsh Rugby Union has told the Six Nations they are not prepared to stage any more Friday night matches in the Championship.
Wales have been involved in all eight Friday games since they were introduced into the tournament in 2009, hosting seven of them, including last weekend’s Cardiff clash with Ireland.
But they will not be staging any more for the foreseeable future, having told the competition organisers they have done their bit.
WRU chairman Gareth Davies said the travel difficulties the evening games present to fans was a major factor behind the decision.
There have been lengthy traffic jams going into Cardiff pre-match and tales of woe for supporters trying to get home on packed public transport late at night.
Now the WRU have responded by saying it’s time for other countries to carry the burden.
“We have told Six Nations we won’t be hosting Friday nights,” said Davies.
“I think primarily because of all the adverse criticism we do get.
“Coming into Cardiff is hellish on Friday anyway.
“Our line to the Six Nations was, ‘look, we have done our bit, so we think other people should share the burden’.
“There’s a lot of adverse publicity about Friday because of infrastructure in Cardiff. We have carried the burden of Friday nights now for a while. What we have told the Six Nations is we won’t host games then for the next two year period.
“The only thing to say is France seem quite happy with Friday, so we could play in Paris on a Friday, but we can’t control that.”
Six Nations chief executive John Feehan wants more Friday night matches, with the fixtures having proven popular with the broadcasters.
But the Rugby Football Union have made it clear England won’t stage them at Twickenham and now the WRU have followed suit.
While the Cardiff games have drawn strong criticism over travel issues, they have actually been successes financially.
“Every Friday night, we have sold out, so commercially it works,” said Davies.
“My information is the Union went to the clubs when this was initially discussed some years ago.
“They were asked whether they would prefer a Friday or a Sunday and the overwhelming majority of clubs preferred Friday to a Sunday, if it came to a choice.
“We may go back to the clubs and get their views afresh.”