Today, Ireland will step into the cauldron at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff. Wales will be chasing a Grand Slam in the final round of 2019 Guinness Six Nations. As Ireland found out in 2005, a Welsh team hunting glory can be a very difficult thing to stop.
There is something special about the Welsh and their connection to the rugby. From the first notes of ‘Old Land of My Fathers’, there’s little in Northern Hemisphere rugby to match the electricity of the Principality Stadium, which is why a win for Ireland today would be so sweet.
If you’re looking for a story that epitomises the bond of Welsh rugby - and indeed the greater rugby fraternity - just look at the Rees brothers, David and Gareth - who feature in the brilliant ad from Guinness launched around this Six Nations. As the ad called ‘The Purse’ explains, the Rees brothers received their inheritance from their rugby-mad mother Olive via a purse and instructions that the money must only be spent supporting Wales.
And so at their mother’s behest, David and Gareth have been at every Wales game since their her passing.
Speaking to Balls.ie on Friday, David and Gareth spoke of their family’s love for rugby.
“We were born in a strong Welsh rugby family,” David said. “And our mother was as passionate as anyone.”
“We’d be going to Wales matches and she’d say things like ‘you’re not going to take me with you?’ We’d say ‘Mom, you’re 85.’
Their mother lived a full and happy life and before she passed, she let her sons know how she wanted her inheritance spent: with them watching Wales play and remembering her.
“Obviously the time leading up to it wasn’t great for us. Dave and I used to go see us every day of the week,” Gareth says.
Now every time that Wales play, the Rees brothers get a chance to honour their mother’s love of the game.
“The story is about her wish that we would continue following with the family passion,” Gareth said.
“The legacy is fantastic. We took the purse to South Africa. I took it to Japan. We bring the purse to all of those games and we always toast her,” David said.
The brothers listed Wales’s win over England this year as one of the most enjoyable of the all the games they’d ever been to, and mentioned the many memorable trips to Dublin as some of their favourite days as rugby supporters.
And tomorrow afternoon, they’ll be there, front and centre, with their mother Olive’s purse in hand, as Ireland look to halt Wales from glory.
The Rees brothers spoke about just how intense the atmosphere will be in Cardiff today.
“They’ve estimated that 250,000 people will be coming to Cardiff on the day. Only 74,000 will be in the ground. The town will be rocking from early on. Win, lose or draw, the atmosphere will be rocking,” David said.
“I remember 2005. There were just thousands and thousands of people coming down from the Valley. It’ll be one big party,” Gareth said.
It's hopefully it's one that ends with an Ireland win.
