Wales rugby stars back Six Nations home games being moved to England

01/06/2022

Amid the uncertainty of whether fans will be permitted to attend Six Nations games in Wales, some stars are resolute they'd prefer to see games moved to England than played without crowds.

The Welsh government introduced new Covid measures on Boxing Day banning all spectators from attending fixtures in an effort to limit the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant.

Authorities in Scotland have restricted attendances to a maximum of 500, while as many as 5,000 supporters can watch matches in Ireland and France.

Frustration from sections of the Wales support has been clear considering there are currently no crowd restrictions across the Severn, leading to proposals that home games could be moved to England.

And it's not only fans who have backed the idea to export fixtures over the border after emerging superstar Louis Rees-Zammit threw his weight behind the idea.

The Wales and Gloucester speedster took to Twitter and linked to a story regarding the prospect of moving games to England, posting exasperated emojis as he pleaded: "Rugby is nothing without fans. Make this happen!!"

Penarth-born Rees-Zammit, 20, was formerly part of the youth set-up at Cardiff before moving to Hartpury College at the age of 16.

He's since established himself as a star for Gloucester in England's Premiership, earning a call-up for last year's British and Irish Lions tour defeat to South Africa.

Do you think Wales should be allowed to play their Six Nations home games in England? Let us know in the comments section.

And fellow Lions star Josh Adams also backed Wales to potentially move games rather than play behind closed doors, replying to his Wales team-mate: "I’m with you mukka."

There's a possibility Wales' government could opt to ease restrictions ahead of the Six Nations start date on February 5, but it may be unlikely after the United Kingdom recorded 334 Covid-related deaths on Wednesday.

That's the highest daily death total in the UK since March 2021 and is up from the 57 deaths recorded the previous Wednesday (December 29).

Six Nations titleholders Wales are scheduled to host Scotland (February. 12), France (March 11) and Italy (March 19) in the second, fourth and fifth rounds of this year's competition, respectively.

Cardiff's Principality Stadium welcomed back capacity crowds for the recent autumn internationals against New Zealand, South Africa, Fiji and Australia after last year's Six Nations was played entirely without fans.

Exeter Chiefs director of rugby Rob Baxter spoke on Wednesday in support of the 2022 tournament being played in a single host country, citing concerns over revenue for those unions forced to cap attendances.

It's been estimated the WRU could lose out on around £20million if their upcoming home games take place behind closed doors, strengthening the argument to utilise alternative English venues.

Wales fly-half Dan Biggar also recently expressed his desire for fans to be allowed into games, having grown accustomed to seeing fuller attendances in England with Premiership employers Northampton Saints.

"It would be great if we could have fans, wouldn’t it? You see what a difference it makes to an occasion. You saw it in the autumn, getting crowds back," he said.

"Everyone coming to games now has to have a passport, they’ll be double or triple-jabbed and it’s an outdoor event, so I don’t see why they wouldn’t be allowed in. As long as it’s safe, that’s the most important thing."

Biggar went on to suggest England, Scotland and Wales should be synchronised on restrictions in future, adding: "I’m just relieved to have signed for a club in England. I think the rest of the lads in Wales are pretty frustrated with it. That’s normal, frustration, isn’t it?

"We are probably getting into different things with politics now, but I think everything should be aligned.

"I hope for an event like the Six Nations and for the game up and down the UK moving forward that we get some sort of sensible outcome."

The WRU is understood to be in frequent contact with the Welsh government, with more updates expected regarding Covid measures ahead of the Six Nations.

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