CROWD & CLEAR FOR WALES

JAMIE ROBERTS closes his eyes but still sees the carnage. On the field, in an ambulance, laid out across a hospital ward.

Six years have passed since he felt the force of South African rugby like never before, a Pretoria afternoon of such ferocity that five British and Irish Lions ended it in pieces.

The memory remains burned on his soul and he is in no doubt Wales must be braced for “physical warfare” today at Twickenham, where a World Cup semi-final place is at stake.

“I’ll never forget that second Test at Loftus Versfeld in 2009,” said Roberts. “Five of us in hospital afterwards: Adam Jones with a shoulder which took two to three hours to get back in.

“Gethin Jenkins with a smashed face, Brian O’Driscoll with a head twice its normal size, Tommy Bowe with a strained elbow and me with a wrist which needed surgery.

“I remember all of us in the WALES are proving a box-office smash at this World Cup, with the Dragons playing in front of more spectators in the pool stages than any other team.

That included hosts England – who took one pool game to Manchester – and world champions New Zealand. Sam Warburton’s side pulled in more than 71,000 for each of their games at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium. And more than 80,000 attended each match at Twickenham against England and Australia, making a total 305,455 in four games.

Now they are set for another bumper crowd at Wales .................. 305,455 England .............. 292,932 Ireland ................283,140 Australia ............. 268,731 New Zealand ........ 261,011 today’s quarter-final against South Africa at HQ. Wales assistant coach Rob Howley said: “We’ve always said our supporters travel in numbers and great voice wherever the games and I’m sure it will be the same this weekend.

“There’s also a lot of South African support in London so it will be interesting to see the balance.”