WELSH and Irish fans were surprised a battling pair of choir singers ahead of last Saturday’s Six Nations clash in Cardiff.
Ahead of Ireland’s 28-17 win against Matt Sheratt’s side, guests at the Voco St David’s Cardiff hotel were left stunned.
It all took place when The Guinness Choir from Dublin squared off against Cardiff-based Ardwyn Singers in a surprise pre-match performance of both national anthems.
The sing-off, organised by IHG Hotels & Resorts, the official hotel partner of the Guinness Six Nations, set the tone for the day’s big clash at the Principality Stadium.
Ireland’s rugby team were also staying in the same hotel, and were given a rousing rendition of Ireland’s Call before they went onto win a 14th Triple Crown title.
Ciarán Kelly from The Guinness Choir was delighted with the special performance prior to the clash
He said: “To surprise the hotel guests with a taste of home in Cardiff before the big match was an absolute thrill. Seeing the passion and pride of fans, united by the sound of Ireland’s Call, was something special.”
Ardwyn Singers’ Musical Director David Leggett added: “With excitement already buzzing for the game, what a great way to kick off match day in Cardiff!
“The shared sense of national pride is what makes these occasions so memorable.”
But Ireland vs Wales wasn’t the only musical battle before the big games last weekend.
Ireland securing now host France in Dublin in two weeks as they hope to keep their Grand Slams dreams alive with two rounds of fixtures remaining in the 2025 Six Nations Championship.
Meanwhile, Ireland interim boss Simon Easterby admitted that Ireland dug themselves out of a hole during the Six Nations win over Wales.
But the visiting tournament champions had to do it the hard way after trailing to their under-fire Welsh hosts in Cardiff.
And they managed to show their grit at Principality Stadium to turn the result on its head.
Easterby, who is in charge of Ireland due to Andy Farrell taking the Lions job later this year, says his team should have performed better against the winless Welsh side.
He said: “Pleased with the result but lots of things in the game that we feel we could have done better.
“We go down in the game, we go down a man and then we go down on the scoreboard.
“We came in at half-time and felt like if we played in the right way and did things better our way then we felt we could dominate them.
“We had a lot of possession and territory for 30 minutes, just didn’t quite get our accuracy right in terms of scoring the points that we needed.
“We knew that Wales would come back into it if we gave them an opportunity and we did that.
“I was pleased that we responded to being in a bit of a hole and we dug ourselves out and took the game away from them in the last 20.”
