In excess of 4,000 fans took up the opportunity to watch Warren Gatland and his coaching team put the players through their paces at the Millennium Stadium during the 2011 tournament and supporters took their enthusiasm to another level when 62,000 accepted the Welsh Rugby Union’s invitation to watch Wales on the Millennium Stadium big screens for last year’s Rugby World Cup semi-final.
The session falls in the middle of the Championship, a week after Wales face Scotland in their first home game of 2012 – at the Millennium Stadium on Sunday 12th February (Kick-off 3.00pm), and a week before their away visit to Twickenham.
Over 70,000 tickets have already been sold for the Scots’ second round visit to Cardiff, with the few thousand left expected to fly out over the next ten days. The Championship climax against France is already sold-out, leaving just the limited availability at the Scottish game, the Italy fixture (on Saturday 10th March, 2.30pm), which is also selling well, and this open training session as the remaining opportunities for fans to show their support for Wales.
To attend the training session fans must register their interest first at www.wru.co.uk/watchwales4free to register your attendance – Gates open at 2pm with the session starting at 3pm and the team will train until 4.15pm. .
“As excitement around the tournament grows we are expecting this free-to-enter training session to be extremely popular,” said Welsh Rugby Union head of commercial and marketing Craig Maxwell.
“We have had a growing amount of interest over the three sessions we have done already, it’s a great day out for all the fans and rewards the loyal supporters who come to all of our games and allows new fans to come and sample the Millennium Stadium atmosphere and see their heroes in action.
“Everyone is welcome to attend as long as they register first, but if fans can’t wait until the middle of February, don’t forget there are still a limited amount of tickets on public sale for our home game next Sunday against Scotland.”
Wales coach Neil Jenkins has urged fans without a ticket to see Wales versus Scotland on Sunday 12 February to act fast, following huge demand for the first of Wales’ home 2012 RBS 6 Nations games.
“It would be great to think we will be playing in front of three packed out full-houses at the Millennium Stadium for those home fixtures, so hopefully the fans will react positively to the news that tickets are still available,” said Jenkins.
“We have the Ireland game on Sunday as our sole focus at the moment, but a full-house in Cardiff the following week is certainly something to look forward to.”
While tickets are still available for Wales versus Scotland and the clash with Italy on Saturday 10 March, fans are advised to get their tickets now to avoid disappointment.
Tickets are available online at www.wru.co.uk and www.ticketlineuk.com or from the telephone hotline 02920 230130.