My highlights of 2013

Judging by my 2013 ticket collection (below), I possibly wasted a bit too much time watching sport this year. Anyway, I thought I might as well pick out a couple of highlights and try to relive the glory… In chronological order:

January 20: Leicester 9-5 Toulouse, Heineken Cup

Because who doesn’t love watching sport in the snow?

Tigers officials clear snow from the Welford Road pitch

February 9: France 6-16 Wales, Six Nations

A terrible game, but it got Wales’s victorious Six Nations campaign off and running.

France 6-16 Wales, Stade de France

March 16: Wales 30-3 England, Six Nations

Goes without saying. What a performance!

Wales lift the Six Nations trophy after successfully defending their title

June 22: Royal Ascot

My first time at the races, and all three of us who went finished up. Nice.

Royal Ascot 2013

August 16: Mo Farah wins the 5,000m, World Athletics Championships, Moscow

A stunning “double double” for Mo. Made all the sweeter by the disappointment of a Frenchman sitting behind us who had spent the whole race telling us how badly Farah had misjudged the race.

Mo Farah wins his second gold of the 2013 World Athletics Championships in Moscow

September 29: Pittsburgh Steelers 27-34 Minnesota Vikings, NFL, Wembley

One of the best NFL International Series matches there’s been.

Wembley for Steelers @ Vikings

October 5: Cardiff City 1-2 Newcastle United, Premier League

Exciting game – my first football match for ages – and great seats. Thanks Chris!

Newcastle win at Cardiff City Stadium

December 28: Ebbw Vale 45-0 RGC 1404, Championship

Sport-wise, where it all started for me. Good to finish the year watching the Steelmen dominate yet again.

Ebbw Vale v RGC 1404

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Some others:

London Welsh v Sale

Harlequins v Munster

Euroleague basketball, O2 Arena

Leicester Tigers v Harlequins

Northampton v Leicester

Cardiff Blues v Edinburgh

Northampton v Ospreys

 

…and here are those tickets. I love sport.

My collection of tickets from 2013 sports events

The ideal sporting weekend

I thought it would be a shame if the weekend went unrecorded here.

First, it was to Cardiff City Stadium to watch Newcastle’s 2-1 win over the Bluebirds:

Before kick off of Newcastle United’s 2-1 win over Cardiff City

 

Then, the Cardiff Half Marathon:

Colin Jackson and me

 

Great weekend. Plenty of sport, third @cardiffhalf completed and a curry to top it off. @huwsilk @Peter_M_Gray pic.twitter.com/58hoQ9A5tK

— Alex Bywater (@_AlexBywater) October 6, 2013

Followed by cut-price entry to the Blues’ 29-12 Pro 12 win over Edinburgh:

Cardiff Blues 29-12 Edinburgh

 

Wrapped up by watching a thrilling, epic win for my Denver Broncos in the NFL:

 

5-0. pic.twitter.com/zJ8q4Au2vG

— Denver Broncos (@DenverBroncos) October 6, 2013

Rugby World Cup needs to embrace its roots

Not having blogged for a couple of months, I’m a bit late to this story. But the last week has really solidified my opposition to the shortlist of stadiums drawn up by Rugby World Cup 2015 organisers.

Only three rugby-first stadiums are on the list for the first RWC to be hosted by England since 1991: Twickenham, Kingsholm (Gloucester) and the Millennium Stadium.

This rugby ground will not be hosting the Rugby World Cup

In the last seven days I have been fortunate enough to go to Heineken Cup matches at Franklin’s Gardens, Northampton, and Welford Road, Leicester. Both, and particularly the latter, were pretty miffed at having not made the shortlist of 17 (from which 12 will be chosen in the new year).

This football ground (Stadium MK) could host the Rugby World Cup

This rugby ground (Franklin’s Gardens) will not be hosting the Rugby World Cup

Cash injection for Welsh rugby

Despite the recession, it seems Welsh rugby is doing alright.

The WRU must invest – and end the uncertainty surrounding the regional game – if the game is to continue to thrive at all levels

The WRU, which hopes to be debt free by 2021, today announced it would be investing £3.5m in rugby across Wales, including funding facilities for schools, grassroots clubs – up to £50,000 for each club – and the upkeep of the Millennium Stadium.

WRU Group Chief Executive Roger Lewis said today:

Working together for the benefit of all of Welsh rugby has to be the answer.

Quite. But money needs also to be set aside for the regional game, which has suffered through dwindling crowds and an exodus of top players to better-paid leagues.

Read more about the windfall at the blog run by An Early Bath‘s friend Trolley Boy.

Cardiff Blues make permanent return to Arms Park

Cardiff Arms Park playing host to a Swalec Cup semi-final earlier this season

Good, if unsurprising, news was announced today by the Cardiff Blues as the regional side revealed it will make a permanent return to the Arms Park next season.

In sharp contrast to the international game, regional rugby in Wales is currently in dire straits. A player exodus has hindered any attempt to bounce back after a season in which only one Welsh side made it to the Heineken Cup quarter-finals, where the Blues were thrashed 34-3 by Irish province Leinster in April (incidentally, in front of more than 50,000 at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin).

The Blues’ home matches at Cardiff City Stadium – like with the Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea – were played out in front of dire crowds, conveying a depressing sense that the Welsh public were simply disinterested in regional sides, which are often seen (usually justifiably) as soulless and artificially created.