General Chat

Ireland only had one today... Ireland's call.

My IRISH OH is wearing neutral today! :-D :-D :-D

but... THE WELSH SCARVES ARE DRAPED ON THE CURTAIN RAIL! :-P :-P :-D :-D :-D

Here are the anthems ... get ready

There's the GOAT ....where's THE FLY? ;-) :-D :-D :-D

Yoooooo Hooooo Ffffffllllyyyyyyyyy! Where's our mascot? :-S :-D :-D :-D

THEY ARE COMING OUT!

WHAT A PROUD MOMENT FOR SCOTT WILLIAMS<3

TODAY'S CAPTAIN!

Wales' 1st choice number 13- Jonathan Davies is pitch-side today, as he is injured, and probably out of the World Cup this year :-( :-(

Lovely boy <3

I'm here in my Welsh Rugby Top and shorts :-D :-D :-D

Waiting for "MY BOYS" to come out!

AND THEY ARE ON THEIR WAY! :-D :-D :-D

AND HERE IT IS ... THE WELSH ANTHEM!

MAE HEN WLAD FY NHADAU

Mae hen wlad fy nhadau yn annwyl i mi,
Gwlad beirdd a chantorion, enwogion o fri; Ei gwrol ryfelwyr, gwladgarwyr tra mad,
Dros ryddid collasant eu gwaed
Cytgan/ Chorus Gwlad, gwlad, pleidiol wyf i'm gwlad.
Tra môr yn fur i'r bur hoff bau,
O bydded i'r hen iaith barhau.

For Non-Welsh Speakers ...

MAE HEN WLAD FY NHADAU

How to sing the words to the Welsh National Anthem phonetically (if it were English)

My hair-n w-lard ver n-had-eye un an-ooyl ee me

Goo-lard by-rrr-th ah ch-ant-orrr-ee-on en-wog-ee-on aw vree

Eye goo-rol rrr-uh-vel-wirrr goo-lad-gahrr-wirr trah mard

Dross rruh-thid co-LL-ass-ant eye goo-w-eyed (don’t forget the Welsh LL sound in collasant)

Cytgan (Kit-garn) / Chorus

Goo-lard, Goo-lard, ply- dee-ol ooy-v ee’m goo-lard

Trah more (but rolled rrr) un vee-rrr, ee-rrr bee-rrr h-or-ff bye

O buh-thed ee’rrr h-air-n ee-eye-th (soft th as in thin) bah-rrr-high


DO YOUR BEST GANG ;-) ;-) :-D :-D

For those who want to sing along with the anthems...

Here are the lyrics

First the Visitors!

They have two anthems, the Country's Anthem and the Irish Rugby Union Anthem (to unite both North and South)

A SOLDIER’S SONG
We'll sing a song, a soldier's song,
With cheering rousing chorus,
As round our blazing fires we throng,
The starry heavens o'er us;
Impatient for the coming fight,
And as we wait the morning's light,
Here in the silence of the night,
We'll chant a soldier's song.
Chorus:
Soldiers are we
whose lives are pledged to Ireland;
Some have come
from a land beyond the wave.
Sworn to be free,
No more our ancient sire land
Shall shelter the despot or the slave.
Tonight we man the gap of danger
In Erin's cause, come woe or weal
"Mid cannons" roar and rifles peal,
We'll chant a soldier's song.
In valley green, on towering crag,
Our fathers fought before us,
And conquered 'neath the same old flag
That's proudly floating o'er us.
We're children of a fighting race,
That never yet has known disgrace,
And as we march, the foe to face,
We'll chant a soldier's song.


IRELAND'S CALL (the 2nd verse is usually omitted)

Come the day and come the hour
Come the power and the glory
We have come to answer
Our Country's call
From the four proud provinces of Ireland

Ireland, Ireland
Together standing tall
Shoulder to shoulder
We'll answer Ireland's call

From the mighty Glens of Antrim
From the rugged hills of Galway
From the walls of Limerick
And Dublin Bay
From the four proud provinces of Ireland

Ireland, Ireland
Together standing tall
Shoulder to shoulder
We'll answer Ireland's call

Hearts of steel
And heads unbowing
Vowing never to be broken
We will fight, until
We can fight no more
From the four proud provinces of Ireland

Ireland, Ireland
Together standing tall
Shoulder to shoulder

and here's....

WALES <3

Backs:
15 Hallam Amos,
14 Alex Cuthbert
13 Tyler Morgan
12 Scott Williams (Captain)
11 Eli Walker
10 James Hook
9 Mike Phillips

Forwards:
1 Nicky Smith
2 Richard Hibbard
3 Aaron Jarvis
4 Jake Ball
5 Dominic Day
6 Ross Moriarty
7 Justin Tipuric
8 Dan Baker.

Replacements:
16 Rob Evans
17 Kristian Dacey
18 Scott Andrews
19 James King
20 Taulupe Faletau
21 Lloyd Williams
22 Gareth Anscombe
23 Matthew Morgan

Here again are the Starting Teams for today

IRELAND:


Backs:
15. Felix Jones
14. Andrew Trimble
13. Keith Earls
12. Darren Cave
11. Fergus McFadden
10. Paddy Jackson
9. Eoin Reddan

Forwards:
1. Jack McGrath
2. Richardt Strauss
3. Mike Ross
4. Iain Henderson
5. Donnacha Ryan
6. Jordi Murphy
7. Tommy O'Donnell
8. Jamie Heaslip

Reserves:
16. Rory Best; 17. Dave Kilcoyne; 18. Michael Best; 19. Dan Tuohy; 20. Chris Henry; 21. Kieran Marmion; 22. Ian Madigan; 23. Simon Zebo

CAPTAINING WALES TODAY IS... SCOTT WILLIAMS

24 year old Scott Williams, currently playing Inside Centre for SCARLETS is outstanding!

The only one standing in his way for the First Choice number 12 Shirt for Wales is the phenomenal JAMIE ROBERTS.
Scott will be his natural successor.

Usually coming on as a replacement, Scott always reinvigorates the game, often scoring a Try soon after coming on the pitch.

Scott has earned 81 Caps for The Scarlets.

He has represented Wales in the Under 20s team, winning 19 caps over a 2 year period.

He made his Wales Seniors debut in 2011. Since then he has won 29 Caps and 45 points for Wales.


RADIO JEM WISHES SCOTT & WALES TEAM EVERY SUCCESS TODAY!

30 MINUTES TO GO!

Well 29 cos my screen froze! :-D :-D :-D

To get you all into the mood for the match

Here is the Welsh Anthem

And Ireland's two!

WALES:
MAE HEN WLAD FY NHADAU ... BRYN TIERFEL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLb5aqugDH8


IRELAND:
SOLDIER'S SONG
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysXPUg8GLQ0

IRELAND'S CALL (Rugby Anthem)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAtMzIacbMQ

More from the Newswroom.....

Along with our new young players, Wales today sees the return of some old favourites, namely ...
MIKE PHILLIPS and JAMES HOOK.

Former Wales’ First Choice SCRUM-HALF Mike, has in recent times lost his regular place to the younger Ospreys RHYS WEBB.

I love Mikey <3 - he is a BIG favourite of mine, but he has not been on top form of late. Old age comes to us all! ;-) :-D

Mike will still be behind Rhys Webb in the pecking order. This is especially so, as Rhys’ double act with DAN BIGGAR at Fly-half is outstanding!

However, Mike will be pulling out all the stops to make the second-choice Scrum-Half, ahead of Gareth Davies and Lloyd Williams.

Speaking live on BBC Wales news last night, Scrum V presenter ROSS HARRIES said “If anyone can back themselves out of a hole, it’s Mike Phillips. Expect BIG FIREWORKS FROM HIM!”

Mike also has the reputation for being one of the most competitive players ever.

Mike is currently playing for Paris’ RACING 92 (formerly known as Racing Metro 92)


In his heyday, Mike was phenomenal in partnership with former Wales Fly-Half STEPHEN JONES.
This partnership worked really well, especially as Stephen used to “rein in” Mike when he was about to lose it! Mike Phillips is known for his quick hot temper!


BACK AT FLY-HALF IS JAMES HOOK
James, who has been playing Fly-Half for Gloucester all season, has “history” of also working well with Mike Phillips, at their old club- OSPREYS and also for Wales.

Hooky has has been overlooked in recent years for Wales. But ever loyal and fair, Warren is giving him another go!


This partnership could work really well. Not least as he and Mike are the most experienced players in today’s Welsh side.

The total Caps for all the team today stands at 326.
Mike and James account for 170 of those between them!
“So doing the Math” as they say, between them these two boys account for more than half the total caps!


RADIO JEM WISHES THESE TWO OLD FAVOURITES THE BEST OF LUCK TODAY!

Here's a song for the Irish!

IF YOU'RE IRISH COME INTO THE PARLOUR ... RUBY MURRAY
(But stay of the pitch!) ;-) ;-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCueMl54FdQ

OVER TO THE NEWS ROOM!

There will be four New Wales Caps today-

Making their Wales Seniors Debut are:

TYLER MORGAN:
Tyler Morgan, 19 years old, is currently playing at CENTRE for Newport Gwent DRAGONS.
He was a prominent part of the Wales Under 20s team in 2014, winning 8 caps.


ROSS MORIARTY:
21 year old Ross is a FLANKER for GLOUCESTERSHIRE and has started for Wales Under 20s.


ELI WALKER:
Swansea born Eli, who is 23, plays FLANKER for OSPREYS.
Eli has represented Wales in the Under 16S, Under 18s and Under 20s, winning 9 Caps in the latter.


DOMINIC DAY:
Pembrokeshire (Haverfordwest) born Dominic Day is the oldest of our new capped players. He is 29 years old.
Dom is currently a LOCK for BATH.
He has represented Wales in the Under 19s and Under 20s teams.


This will be a wonderful experience and opportunity for our new players.

RADIO JEM WISHES THEM ALL THE BEST FOR TODAY! :-) :-) :-)

Now, in a spirit of fairness ;-), are some great Irish Tries!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS81RrjKvLg ;-)

Receiving you loud and clear Pat ....Radio Jem's Correspondent in Cyprus! ;-) ;-)

Congratulations to England's Cricket team :-)

Sorry to hear about The Neville Brother's father, Pat :-(
OH is a huge Man U fan!

Yes I think it's too hot for high kicks here too Pat! :-D :-D :-D :-D

Cyprus calling, Cyprus calling.

Have watched England win the Ashes at Trent Bridge and now it's Man Utd v Spurs. Man Utd in black armbands due to the sudden death of Neville Neville in Australia - he was Gary and Philip Neville's father the Man Utd/England/Everton defenders.

This is of course just preparation for the main event at 16.30 our time. :-D

Pompoms fluffed out and ready but still too hot for the high kicks, think I'll get my virtual bells out instead or maybe a tambourine. :-D

Cyprus over and out. :-) <3

HERE'S A BATTLE CRY! ;-)

MEN OF HARLECH

A very young and sweet Charlotte Church with the London Welsh Male Voice Choir!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hz9_ELpil9w&list=PLB33C3267D5BA16CC

A MUST LISTEN TO ... ESPECIALLY HER LAST "MONEY" NOTE!

How could anyone reach those heights