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Post by maelor on Sept 28, 2023 12:15:18 GMT
Yeah I've seen a few videos online of what seems to be 50+ couples and middle/upper class Welsh folk. Crachach basically. Very tame as well by the stuff I've watched, seen a better atmosphere in my late gran's nursing home. So I'm in France. I've been to every Wales game + five other games and id say the majority of Wales fans in Lyon were Males under the age of 40 with friends. Huge groups of of guys in their 20s here with friends. English fans, Australian and Japanese majority seem to be old fans. Wales and Argentinas fan base is looking healthy. On a personal note I love my live sport. Football, rugby union, rugby league, t20 etc etc etc ill watch anything and I've attended a lot. I'm telling you now Wales v Fiji was easily in the top 5 best atmospheres I've ever experienced. Absolutely fucking electric in and out the stadium. Wish I could've bottled that. When you consider it wasn't a semi or a final and just another fixture v Fiji it's insane to think it was so good. I agree with comments above theres bucket hats and Wales football tops everywhere. It's great. I've heard a few don't take me home chants. We literally only have a few sports where we can be Cymru Let's get behind them all. It's shit the elite twats at the top are so out of touch and love 3 feathers but the working class boys on the pitch are a symbol of hard working Wales. I have also been at all the Wales games so far (and am going to the final group game next weekend) but my experience/perception is very different to yours. As a generalisation, I have been struck by how much older and couples-based the rugby demographic is compared to the football. That's not to say, of course, that there weren't groups of younger people there. As for the atmosphere in the stadia, I have found it very disappointing from a Welsh perspective. The game against Australia was one of the most complete Welsh performances in living memory and there must have been around 15-20,000 Welsh fans there. Despite this we could barely muster more than a few weak renditions of Hymns and Arias. I thought it was pitiful and the players deserved so much more. Contrast that to the support the Irish had in their game versus South Africa. The atmosphere versus Fiji was certainly intense but, again, I don't think the Welsh fans made themselves heard despite being there in big numbers. |
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Post by iot on Sept 28, 2023 12:34:27 GMT
So I'm in France. I've been to every Wales game + five other games and id say the majority of Wales fans in Lyon were Males under the age of 40 with friends. Huge groups of of guys in their 20s here with friends. English fans, Australian and Japanese majority seem to be old fans. Wales and Argentinas fan base is looking healthy. On a personal note I love my live sport. Football, rugby union, rugby league, t20 etc etc etc ill watch anything and I've attended a lot. I'm telling you now Wales v Fiji was easily in the top 5 best atmospheres I've ever experienced. Absolutely fucking electric in and out the stadium. Wish I could've bottled that. When you consider it wasn't a semi or a final and just another fixture v Fiji it's insane to think it was so good. I agree with comments above theres bucket hats and Wales football tops everywhere. It's great. I've heard a few don't take me home chants. We literally only have a few sports where we can be Cymru Let's get behind them all. It's shit the elite twats at the top are so out of touch and love 3 feathers but the working class boys on the pitch are a symbol of hard working Wales. I have also been at all the Wales games so far (and am going to the final group game next weekend) but my experience/perception is very different to yours. As a generalisation, I have been struck by how much older and couples-based the rugby demographic is compared to the football. That's not to say, of course, that there weren't groups of younger people there. As for the atmosphere in the stadia, I have found it very disappointing from a Welsh perspective. The game against Australia was one of the most complete Welsh performances in living memory and there must have been around 15-20,000 Welsh fans there. Despite this we could barely muster more than a few weak renditions of Hymns and Arias. I thought it was pitiful and the players deserved so much more. Contrast that to the support the Irish had in their game versus South Africa. The atmosphere versus Fiji was certainly intense but, again, I don't think the Welsh fans made themselves heard despite being there in big numbers. Yeah, I've only been to a couple of away games and a couple at home. The noise generated in away games is pretty non-existent and didn't come through at all on TV. The atmosphere at home is a bit hit or miss - when we're playing well the noise can be very good (although mostly just screaming with an odd song or two jumbled in), and when we're not playing well it's completely flat. I do enjoy rugby, and really hope we do well, but I'm not a fan at all of everything that sits around the game. |
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Post by cogancoronation31 on Sept 28, 2023 12:40:05 GMT
FACT: Our fans in Latvia made MUCH more noise and sang many more songs than those who went to Lyon for the rugby.
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Post by bale-droed on Sept 28, 2023 15:49:12 GMT
So out of football and rugby I am absolutely 100% football over rugby but stil love rugby. Comments saying FACT we generated more noise in Latvia are 100% correct as are the singing v Australia was a bit crap. That's not a Welsh football fan v Welsh Rugby fans thing that's just because football is segregated. I was at Argentina v Samoa. Majority of Argentina fans are also soccer fans. You'd see pockets of fans start the same song jumping up and down but due to being far apart it would filter out quickly. Then restart and the same thing again despite at times thousands trying at the same time. Compare Argentina fans to Jaguares fans (before they were axed) when 40,000 aren't spaced out and you generate the same atmosphere as a football game. Rugby needs to create sections of the same fans imo. I'll absolutely agree the singing in the stadium is quieter than an average Welsh friendly in football but I don't think that correlates with overall atmosphere. Wales 2 Italy 1 2002 is probably the best atmosphere I've experienced and back then all we could do is say Wales x 5 and that's all the singing we had yet no one remembers we didn't sing that night. In the actual streets of Lyon/Bordeaux there was no difference in singing between those Wales rugby fans and a Wales football away game. If I showed you a video from Lyon last weekend of singing outside Le Welsh bar you'd see no difference to a football game. Pre match and the day before it's the same atmosphere and songs
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Post by aberbeeg on Sept 28, 2023 17:51:52 GMT
FACT: Our fans in Latvia made MUCH more noise and sang many more songs than those who went to Lyon for the rugby. FACT: the ground in Latvia was approx 6 thousand capacity. Most grounds in France are 50K plus huge stadia. Throw the 1800 Welsh fans in there and try and create the same atmosphere and it would fall flat on its face. Unfortunately Your comparing apples to pears. The true comparison would be over 25k Welsh rugby fans travelling compared to approx 1800 Welsh football fans. We travelled superbly during Euros16 but never took close to 25k to any match during that tournament. you can’t argue that the rugby fans definitely travel well. |
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Post by cantonwelsh79 on Sept 28, 2023 20:14:58 GMT
FACT: Our fans in Latvia made MUCH more noise and sang many more songs than those who went to Lyon for the rugby. FACT: the ground in Latvia was approx 6 thousand capacity. Most grounds in France are 50K plus huge stadia. Throw the 1800 Welsh fans in there and try and create the same atmosphere and it would fall flat on its face. Unfortunately Your comparing apples to pears. The true comparison would be over 25k Welsh rugby fans travelling compared to approx 1800 Welsh football fans. We travelled superbly during Euros16 but never took close to 25k to any match during that tournament. you can’t argue that the rugby fans definitely travel well. I've also always thought Rugby atmospheres suffer from fans not being segregated. I was in Tokyo four years ago and there were plenty of Welsh fans in there but dotted all around the stadium, so any singing was in small pockets. If they were put together in an 'end' I'm sure it would be better. |
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Post by spiritof16 on Sept 28, 2023 22:00:23 GMT
FACT: Our fans in Latvia made MUCH more noise and sang many more songs than those who went to Lyon for the rugby. FACT: the ground in Latvia was approx 6 thousand capacity. Most grounds in France are 50K plus huge stadia. Throw the 1800 Welsh fans in there and try and create the same atmosphere and it would fall flat on its face. Unfortunately Your comparing apples to pears. The true comparison would be over 25k Welsh rugby fans travelling compared to approx 1800 Welsh football fans. We travelled superbly during Euros16 but never took close to 25k to any match during that tournament. you can’t argue that the rugby fans definitely travel well. I’m sure there was at least that many in Bordeaux for the first match. And it certainly felt like there were similar numbers at the other matches too. |
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Post by aberbeeg on Sept 29, 2023 7:29:24 GMT
FACT: the ground in Latvia was approx 6 thousand capacity. Most grounds in France are 50K plus huge stadia. Throw the 1800 Welsh fans in there and try and create the same atmosphere and it would fall flat on its face. Unfortunately Your comparing apples to pears. The true comparison would be over 25k Welsh rugby fans travelling compared to approx 1800 Welsh football fans. We travelled superbly during Euros16 but never took close to 25k to any match during that tournament. you can’t argue that the rugby fans definitely travel well. I’m sure there was at least that many in Bordeaux for the first match. And it certainly felt like there were similar numbers at the other matches too. It may have felt like it but we certainly didn’t take those kind of numbers. The England game for example was played in a 35 stadium with us only having one section behind one goal and another side of the one grandstand. I’d guess we had less than 10k at that game. By the time we got to the semi finals a lot of our fans had either ran out of steam or money ( maybe both). Again we were behind the one goal and I doubt we had 10k inside the stadium. Probably Bordeaux was our biggest following where we had the one end and lots of fans sprinkled around the stadium but I doubt it was anywhere near 25k. You can knock the rugby fans for a few things but definitely not for the numbers they travel in. |
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Post by underwood on Sept 29, 2023 9:40:05 GMT
The rugby team in this World Cup get to play all their matches at weekends in the most accessible country in Europe. You wouldn’t even have to take much time off work to see the games.
The two games that we had on a weekend during Euro 2016 were easily our best attended matches, Bordeaux & Paris.
I would be extremely interested to see how many rugby fans would travel to Doha for a Monday night fixture just before Christmas ….
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Post by iot on Sept 29, 2023 9:53:40 GMT
I’m sure there was at least that many in Bordeaux for the first match. And it certainly felt like there were similar numbers at the other matches too. It may have felt like it but we certainly didn’t take those kind of numbers. The England game for example was played in a 35 stadium with us only having one section behind one goal and another side of the one grandstand. I’d guess we had less than 10k at that game. By the time we got to the semi finals a lot of our fans had either ran out of steam or money ( maybe both). Again we were behind the one goal and I doubt we had 10k inside the stadium. Probably Bordeaux was our biggest following where we had the one end and lots of fans sprinkled around the stadium but I doubt it was anywhere near 25k. You can knock the rugby fans for a few things but definitely not for the numbers they travel in. You're wrong I'm afraid. We had 24k in the stadium in Bordeaux, and probably a fair bit more that didn't have tickets: www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/wales-euro-2016-heroes-cried-8172827Also officially recognised by UEFA as one of the best sets of fans in the tournament: www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/wales-fans-land-uefa-award-11890100Where did you get the 25k figure for the rugby world cup from out of interest? Not to turn this into a dick-measuring contest, but Welsh football fans are far louder and provide much better support imo |
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Post by dai on Sept 29, 2023 10:48:23 GMT
Wasn't the intention to turn this is into a rugby v football debate, cba with that back and forth. However I cannot agree with this idea that Welsh rugby punches way above their weight? C'mon, a bit of realism here. They only have like 8 other proper nations to compete with, it's hardly a competitive sport is it? It's easy to be good when you're one of the big fishes in a small pond. There's been very little development in rugby outside of the top nations in 20 years. Like I said, the RWC is laughable competition. It's just a combined Six Nations / Rugby Championship tournament with a sprinkle of crap teams on top to bulk it out. Fiji perhaps being the exception this year. I don't support Welsh rugby and never will, but for every person like me, there will be another 10 who are just as apathetic towards football. Sorry mate we all have our moments of saying silly things on forums especially Me but that's utter shite. Apart from football, basketball and baseball rugby is probably the sport that's made it into the top 5 most played sports within a nation. For example did you know the national sport of Madagascar is Rugby? Sri Lanka I believe is the country 7th in the world for registered players. It's a lot bigger than we realize but then ironically a lot smaller in Australia, Canada and Japan than we think. Fiji for example with a smaller population have all the advantages of having a team in super rugby and changed eligibility rules basically just for them yet us with no help and a shit league can still beat them. We have no business winning the amount of 6 nations that we have in the 21st century. Rugby world cup is only behind football world cup and the Olympics for attendance. That's because rugby is huge..... just not as big as football. Basketball world cup was last month and rwc viewership is smashing it. I'm not sure that half of that is relevant to my argument that the RWC itself is bit laughable and that Wales are a big fish in a small pond. I can't say I agree with rugby potentially being in the top 5 sports played within the majority if countries, but will admit defeat if I see some stats. Fair enough, rugby might be reasonably widespread, but the standard outside the current RWC is abysmal. Wales will always be a reasonable force within rugby because of how significant it is within our sport, culture and communities. Children are brought up playing it, and coached reasonably well from an early age. It's in our 'blood'. And I don't get the statement that 'we have no right winning as many Six Nations in the modern era'. Why not? That's like saying a team like Croatia have no right being as good as they are in football. We are the only country in the Six Nations where rugby could be considered the national sport. Football is far more popular in Eng, Fra, Italy and Scotland, whereas Ireland have GAA at the top. Obviously the participation stats in that wiki article make it seem like 'we punch above our' weight, but the quality of those participating is important as well. Italy have like 160k compared to our 60k, however I can guarantee that only a small number of those Italian participants will be decent players. Their lack of progress as a nation in the SN over the last 10 years is proof of that. |
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Post by abercymru on Sept 29, 2023 16:04:13 GMT
You're bound to see some negative opinions of the rugby on here, Welsh football was shunned and near ridiculed by the media for decades. Football fans have been made out to be thugs a long time after that sort of thing had (mostly) passed. Rugby fans on the other hand, until the last few years, have been celebrated and the regular fighting in Cardiff after games just glossed over.
That said, I played rugby for years, growing up and in my early twenties, would go watch Wales and occasionally the Dragons up to about ten years ago. But the fact is the experience just doesn't come close to football for passion from the fans. The singing, when it happens, is the same monotonuous, unoriginal rubbish. But when Wales are doing well, the 'buzz' is massive, as there are usually 60-70k plus in the stadium. But a decent chunk of those miss half the game by being back and fore the bar and toilets.
The WRU actively make it difficult for grass roots clubs and essentially try to starve them out of existence (fairly successfully), as well as hiking tickets prices so high that tickets for a family of four cost about the same as holiday cottage for a week, before travel and spends are even factored in. The club sides and structure are a total shambles, pushed away any sense of belonging or community, and the crowds (or total lack of) are a testament to that. Most fans only know half the players due to reading about them or the Wales matches.
Welsh football has a total contrast in direction, decent crowds for the clubs, investment going into grass roots, reasonable prices, a real culture and identity.
You have to applaud the success of Welsh Rugby over the decades, but I think that's likely to continue tapering off because of the points I've mentioned. Football is the biggest sport in the country, and I'd guess is only growing, likely at rugby's expense.
The RWC is a good display of the direction of rugby, the same normal top countries, a few plucky smaller teams, plenty of ridiculous scorelines. Then rather than build on those smaller teams and encourage it's growth, they'll continue to favour the normal top cast and do nothing to try to close the gap, in funding, opportunities and therefore competitiveness.
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Post by surge on Oct 1, 2023 9:48:55 GMT
Welsh football's first tournament (proper) in donkey's years versus a tournament we're experienced in but where the feeling was that we'd potentially lose all but one game - it's a bit like apples and oranges.
Well done to all those who have gone out there and are being a positive example of Welsh sports fan.
WRU (under Gatland) have done at World Cups to represent our nation, and there has already been conversations held, but plenty still needs fixing at home when they come back.
Games are only going to get bigger now though. Still lots to do at the tournament.
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Post by hooky on Oct 1, 2023 10:36:23 GMT
Oh and the Welsh rugby women team are continuing to develop rapidly after getting belated investment from the WRU as we not only beat the US for the first time ever (the US have always been one of the strongest teams in the women's game) but thrashed them 6 tries to 3 in a 38-18 victory. Its remarkable what we achieve with our tiny playing pool - this is what I put on the rugby chat: Just looked at the stats and according to them Wales has a tiny number of female rugby players compared to other nations. US is still amateur I believe but its still incredible to compare the registered number of female players between them and us and also between Ireland and us, I think the Irish number may be much higher due to their far higher private school numbers (9% of Irish are privately educated vs. 2% in Wales): If the stats are correct this perhaps suggests massive potential in the years ahead with the women's team now playing a decent standard 1.3k in Wales 1.7k in Australia 2.3k in Scotland 5.5k in Canada 7.7k in Italy 14k in France 14k in New Zealand 17k in Ireland 182k in US 562k in England (but they need two of ours to bolster their side - Megan Jones and Lucy Packer - both Welsh speakers I believe!) If anyone on this forum like Welsh rugby and love Jac Morgan, then check out Alex Callendar - the women's team equivalent. This is the link to the game if anyone if interested: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz8dYNE2SX4Look at the team try from 2:16:50 Still lots to develop but these girls were treated really badly in the past - 2+ years ago at the bottom they got humiliated by Ireland at home 36-0 or something. Since they have beaten then both times, thrashing them in Cardiff, and beaten everyone of note but the top 5 teams. US was a stepping stone and we have the top 6 teams including us playing in a tournament in 3 week's time. We can perhaps beat Australia in our 3 team pool, and if we beat Canada then that would be a massive result for us. We are still a big distance behind England, New Zealand and then France, but the gap is narrowing and the rate of improvement in this team is massive |
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Post by bale-droed on Oct 1, 2023 13:08:50 GMT
Oh and the Welsh rugby women team are continuing to develop rapidly after getting belated investment from the WRU as we not only beat the US for the first time ever (the US have always been one of the strongest teams in the women's game) but thrashed them 6 tries to 3 in a 38-18 victory. Its remarkable what we achieve with our tiny playing pool - this is what I put on the rugby chat: Just looked at the stats and according to them Wales has a tiny number of female rugby players compared to other nations. US is still amateur I believe but its still incredible to compare the registered number of female players between them and us and also between Ireland and us, I think the Irish number may be much higher due to their far higher private school numbers (9% of Irish are privately educated vs. 2% in Wales): If the stats are correct this perhaps suggests massive potential in the years ahead with the women's team now playing a decent standard 1.3k in Wales 1.7k in Australia 2.3k in Scotland 5.5k in Canada 7.7k in Italy 14k in France 14k in New Zealand 17k in Ireland 182k in US 562k in England (but they need two of ours to bolster their side - Megan Jones and Lucy Packer - both Welsh speakers I believe!) If anyone on this forum like Welsh rugby and love Jac Morgan, then check out Alex Callendar - the women's team equivalent. This is the link to the game if anyone if interested: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz8dYNE2SX4Look at the team try from 2:16:50 Still lots to develop but these girls were treated really badly in the past - 2+ years ago at the bottom they got humiliated by Ireland at home 36-0 or something. Since they have beaten then both times, thrashing them in Cardiff, and beaten everyone of note but the top 5 teams. US was a stepping stone and we have the top 6 teams including us playing in a tournament in 3 week's time. We can perhaps beat Australia in our 3 team pool, and if we beat Canada then that would be a massive result for us. We are still a big distance behind England, New Zealand and then France, but the gap is narrowing and the rate of improvement in this team is massive Just to add it was a cracking atmosphere in the rain in Colwyn Bay yesterday. 2,000 there. Really enjoyed it. I came here to say Mark Williams on ITV 3 in the British final v Selby 👍 for anyone interested in getting behind any Cymro |
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Post by welshrover on Oct 1, 2023 22:44:02 GMT
On a more somber note the 15 year old girl who died in the M53 coach crash represented Wales at rock climbing.
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Post by ontheroadagain2 on Oct 1, 2023 22:46:18 GMT
Mark Williams won 10 - 7. Came back from behind in the last 2 frames including needing a snooker in the last.
It is his 25th ranking title.
Well done Mark.
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Post by dai on Oct 2, 2023 8:29:21 GMT
Mark Williams won 10 - 7. Came back from behind in the last 2 frames including needing a snooker in the last. It is his 25th ranking title. Well done Mark. Great news. I used to play a bit of snooker while younger, and still tune in when the Welsh boys or O'Sullivan plays. I had to tune off last night though as I had a feeling that Selby was going to pinch the last few frames. Snooker is dying a bit though imo. As someone who grew up with O'Sullivan, Williams, Stevens, Higgins, Hendry, Doherty and a few others from the 90's / 00's, it's pretty mental that a lot of those players are still at the top. Once the likes of Williams and O'Sullivan retire, I'm not sure how much I'll watch. I only really enjoy watching those two. There are so many bores in the modern game. However that Brecel guy is a proper joy to watch, like a sort of throwback to a young O'Sullivan's early and a bit of Hurricane Higgins. Loved it when he won the WC this year with attacking snooker. Jack Lisowski is another one I like watching. |
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Post by ontheroadagain2 on Oct 2, 2023 21:02:44 GMT
Mark Williams won 10 - 7. Came back from behind in the last 2 frames including needing a snooker in the last. It is his 25th ranking title. Well done Mark. Great news. I used to play a bit of snooker while younger, and still tune in when the Welsh boys or O'Sullivan plays. I had to tune off last night though as I had a feeling that Selby was going to pinch the last few frames. Snooker is dying a bit though imo. As someone who grew up with O'Sullivan, Williams, Stevens, Higgins, Hendry, Doherty and a few others from the 90's / 00's, it's pretty mental that a lot of those players are still at the top. Once the likes of Williams and O'Sullivan retire, I'm not sure how much I'll watch. I only really enjoy watching those two. There are so many bores in the modern game. However that Brecel guy is a proper joy to watch, like a sort of throwback to a young O'Sullivan's early and a bit of Hurricane Higgins. Loved it when he won the WC this year with attacking snooker. Jack Lisowski is another one I like watching. Snooker is still popular here in Abertysswg but not as good as it was. The local WMC have won the national CIU championship at least three time. Doug Mountjoy played for them at one point along with other Welsh Amateur Champions. If you want to see some old greats check out the link below. I was there for the filming in the local WMC when I was in my early 20's. The best bits didn't make the show as it was the banter between the players. youtu.be/QBw2I0z8Now?si=OfiRVmOqFpxX03fZThere is a teenager in Tredegar who is expected to make a name for himself in the future. I will post his name later. |
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Post by abercymru on Oct 3, 2023 5:51:21 GMT
Great news. I used to play a bit of snooker while younger, and still tune in when the Welsh boys or O'Sullivan plays. I had to tune off last night though as I had a feeling that Selby was going to pinch the last few frames. Snooker is dying a bit though imo. As someone who grew up with O'Sullivan, Williams, Stevens, Higgins, Hendry, Doherty and a few others from the 90's / 00's, it's pretty mental that a lot of those players are still at the top. Once the likes of Williams and O'Sullivan retire, I'm not sure how much I'll watch. I only really enjoy watching those two. There are so many bores in the modern game. However that Brecel guy is a proper joy to watch, like a sort of throwback to a young O'Sullivan's early and a bit of Hurricane Higgins. Loved it when he won the WC this year with attacking snooker. Jack Lisowski is another one I like watching. Snooker is still popular here in Abertysswg but not as good as it was. The local WMC have won the national CIU championship at least three time. Doug Mountjoy played for them at one point along with other Welsh Amateur Champions. If you want to see some old greats check out the link below. I was there for the filming in the local WMC when I was in my early 20's. The best bits didn't make the show as it was the banter between the players. youtu.be/QBw2I0z8Now?si=OfiRVmOqFpxX03fZThere is a teenager in Tredegar who is expected to make a name for himself in the future. I will post his name later. Riley Powell? Still young, but I think he has started entering adult events. |
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Post by ontheroadagain2 on Oct 3, 2023 19:01:33 GMT
Snooker is still popular here in Abertysswg but not as good as it was. The local WMC have won the national CIU championship at least three time. Doug Mountjoy played for them at one point along with other Welsh Amateur Champions. If you want to see some old greats check out the link below. I was there for the filming in the local WMC when I was in my early 20's. The best bits didn't make the show as it was the banter between the players. youtu.be/QBw2I0z8Now?si=OfiRVmOqFpxX03fZThere is a teenager in Tredegar who is expected to make a name for himself in the future. I will post his name later. Riley Powell? Still young, but I think he has started entering adult events. Yes, that's the one. |
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Post by maelor on Oct 5, 2023 10:23:25 GMT
I’m sure there was at least that many in Bordeaux for the first match. And it certainly felt like there were similar numbers at the other matches too. It may have felt like it but we certainly didn’t take those kind of numbers. The England game for example was played in a 35 stadium with us only having one section behind one goal and another side of the one grandstand. I’d guess we had less than 10k at that game. By the time we got to the semi finals a lot of our fans had either ran out of steam or money ( maybe both). Again we were behind the one goal and I doubt we had 10k inside the stadium. Probably Bordeaux was our biggest following where we had the one end and lots of fans sprinkled around the stadium but I doubt it was anywhere near 25k. You can knock the rugby fans for a few things but definitely not for the numbers they travel in. I was in Bordeaux in 2016 and last month for the rugby. I'd say the number of Welsh fans was similar in both (again demographic was different). But, if I had to guess, I'd say there were more in the football. Absolutely no comparison in the quality of support given in terms of singing. Your point re the England game is a complete red herring. The only reason there weren't at least 4 times more Welsh there was our inability to get hold of tickets. Huge numbers of Welsh in Toulouse too. I agree with the points that others have made about the rugby atmosphere suffering due to non segregation in games. I've said the same at every game. It's much harder to get something going when you're surrounded by neutrals or opposition fans. There's no doubt that Welsh rugby fans travel in numbers - I'm one of them again this weekend in Nantes - but imho they could learn a lot from their football brethren. |
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Post by maelor on Oct 5, 2023 10:34:00 GMT
So out of football and rugby I am absolutely 100% football over rugby but stil love rugby. Comments saying FACT we generated more noise in Latvia are 100% correct as are the singing v Australia was a bit crap. That's not a Welsh football fan v Welsh Rugby fans thing that's just because football is segregated. I was at Argentina v Samoa. Majority of Argentina fans are also soccer fans. You'd see pockets of fans start the same song jumping up and down but due to being far apart it would filter out quickly. Then restart and the same thing again despite at times thousands trying at the same time. Compare Argentina fans to Jaguares fans (before they were axed) when 40,000 aren't spaced out and you generate the same atmosphere as a football game. Rugby needs to create sections of the same fans imo. I'll absolutely agree the singing in the stadium is quieter than an average Welsh friendly in football but I don't think that correlates with overall atmosphere. Wales 2 Italy 1 2002 is probably the best atmosphere I've experienced and back then all we could do is say Wales x 5 and that's all the singing we had yet no one remembers we didn't sing that night. In the actual streets of Lyon/Bordeaux there was no difference in singing between those Wales rugby fans and a Wales football away game. If I showed you a video from Lyon last weekend of singing outside Le Welsh bar you'd see no difference to a football game. Pre match and the day before it's the same atmosphere and songs You're right about the bouncing atmosphere outside Le Welsh in Lyon. It was top notch. My experience/perception having been in Bordeaux and Nice too was that that was the exception rather than the rule. It all felt a bit low key compared to the football. It might be just down to where I went, but that was my impression. My intention is not to knock rugby fans (of which I am one, albeit football will always be my no.1). They/We're there in numbers and everyone seems to be having a good time, which is great. Long may it continue. |
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Post by quetzal on Oct 7, 2023 14:52:29 GMT
Gatland a results man
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Post by hooky on Oct 7, 2023 15:11:17 GMT
Well I'd love that for the football too!
A Pivac led team may have lost that you know
Unfortunately losing Anscombe and more importantly Faletau (if confirmed) will lose us even the remote possibility of hope of winning the WC!
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Post by marsvolta on Oct 7, 2023 15:13:10 GMT
It may have felt like it but we certainly didn’t take those kind of numbers. The England game for example was played in a 35 stadium with us only having one section behind one goal and another side of the one grandstand. I’d guess we had less than 10k at that game. By the time we got to the semi finals a lot of our fans had either ran out of steam or money ( maybe both). Again we were behind the one goal and I doubt we had 10k inside the stadium. Probably Bordeaux was our biggest following where we had the one end and lots of fans sprinkled around the stadium but I doubt it was anywhere near 25k. You can knock the rugby fans for a few things but definitely not for the numbers they travel in. I was in Bordeaux in 2016 and last month for the rugby. I'd say the number of Welsh fans was similar in both (again demographic was different). But, if I had to guess, I'd say there were more in the football. Absolutely no comparison in the quality of support given in terms of singing. Your point re the England game is a complete red herring. The only reason there weren't at least 4 times more Welsh there was our inability to get hold of tickets. Huge numbers of Welsh in Toulouse too. I agree with the points that others have made about the rugby atmosphere suffering due to non segregation in games. I've said the same at every game. It's much harder to get something going when you're surrounded by neutrals or opposition fans. There's no doubt that Welsh rugby fans travel in numbers - I'm one of them again this weekend in Nantes - but imho they could learn a lot from their football brethren. Yeah, there were surely 20000 in Toulouse for the Russia game, especially as loads stayed there for a few days after travelling there after the England game in Lens |
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Post by quetzal on Oct 7, 2023 15:14:28 GMT
Well I'd love that for the football too! A Pivac led team may have lost that you know Unfortunately losing Anscombe and more importantly Faletau (if confirmed) will lose us even the remote possibility of hope of winning the WC! We’re actually not that good. The scoreline didn’t do Georgia justice. This World Cup we’re only playing for semi final. 2011 we were playing for the win! |
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Post by quetzal on Oct 7, 2023 16:04:27 GMT
Faletau out! Game over for us
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Post by surge on Oct 7, 2023 16:08:08 GMT
Worrying lack of depth in certain positions probably going to end our chances - many already worried about Talupe going off - but longer term being able to give Costelow, Dyer and LRZ game time at World Cup is positive.
Scrappy play at breakdown gave Georgia penalties, gave Georgia line-outs in good positions and helped them back into the game. Wrestled momentum back in the end but can't do that in knock-out rugby.
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Post by allezlesrouges on Oct 9, 2023 10:09:47 GMT
It was a rotated team against Georgia to be fair, which was the right move as we only needed a point. I think in a lot of ways our group was the group of death, with Fiji, Australia & Portugal all taking points off each other. Portugal being a big surprise and increasing calls for relegation in the 6 Nations and Fiji at times being scintillating - I still think they could very well beat England
Ultimately no one predicted us to get past the semis so I don't think we should be judged by that. The fact that it could be Wales vs Ireland as the semi is very interesting too. Psychologically Ireland have never gone that far, whereas we've been to that place quite a few times, and I think that does give us some sort of edge compared to if we played New Zealand who we've not beaten in donkeys years. Even though they are better than us pressure does weird things and the fact we have beaten Ireland plenty of times in recent memory and at World Cups also helps us
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