Matchday

The Autumn Internationals kick off today. Or if we are to use the official sponsor's title... the Under Armour Series starts today. Nah, sounds rubbish. Autums Internationals it is. In case you're not a rugby fan, each year, a group of touring teams visit Europe. It gives the Welsh national team a chance to host some of the other top teams in the world. It's not a tournament or even tournament qualifiers, but they are competitive games (certainly not friendlies) and carry ranking points with them.

This afternoon, Wales, currently ranked 5th in the world, play Australia, ranked 2nd, at the national Principality Stadium (formerly known as the Millennium Stadium) in Cardiff. It's going to be a tough game, and we don't have a great history against the Aussies. In fact, in 39 meetings since 1908, Wales have won just 10. Traditionally, we don't do so well during the Autumn series. I've been to a couple of games in recent years with TheMadster. Wales lost them both. We generally fare much better in the Six Nations tournament in February/March. The other three matches in the series this month are against Argentina (8th), Japan (12th, and the surprise package at last year's World Cup), and South Africa (4th).

There's always an amazing atmosphere in Cardiff on matchday, with fans from both sides mingling together in the pubs and in the streets before, during and after the game. Rugby is something of a religion in Wales, and in Australia too, so I expect there will be a lot of singing and drinking going on throughout the rest of the day.

To get us in the mood, here's a track I've been saving for today. I featured Pontypridd's The People The Poet in my Welsh Wednesday series. This track, called Matchday, is taken from their new EP. The video is hilarious and features the band playing in a rugby sevens match (a smaller-scale version of rugby with 7-a-side teams). The acting leaves something to be desired, but it's supposed to be a bit of fun and it sums up Welsh humour perfectly.

Hopefully Wales won't suffer a battering like the Beddau Vickings... Come on boys!




Soundtrack:

• Matchday - The People The Poet (from 'Paradise Closed')

This is my last Saturday post for the time being. Going to try posting on Fridays for a bit instead.