Image source, Ann and Wyn Williams
Ann and Wyn Williams say they have watched Wales in over 100 away games
A Wales rugby fan says travelling around France for a month by train has been the perfect way to celebrate her 80th birthday.
Ann Williams and husband Wyn, 76, from Cardiff, arrived in Nice for the latest leg of their journey as Wales prepare to face Portugal on Saturday.
“We’re celebrating like we’re still young,” said Ann.
The couple have visited around a dozen countries on rugby trips, as well as watching Wales in over 100 away games.
They spent a month at the last Rugby World Cup tournament in Japan and previously backpacked together in New Zealand.
“We had a fantastic time then, and that gave us encouragement to do it again,” said Ann.
“I’m glad and I’m very lucky that we’ve reached this age, and we can still do things like this.”
With a train pass costing £200 each, Wyn said it was the perfect way to see the country.
“The railways here are so easy to use, so good – people are so friendly and helpful,” he said.
As veterans of several world cup tournaments, the couple have many stories to tell from their travels.
At the Parc des Princes in Paris in the 1980s, Ann remembers leading French fans singing their national anthem.
“I think we started them off singing La Marseilles,” she said.
“My friend Diane had printed off sheets [with the words] and handed them around, and we got them going.”
Image source, Ann and Wyn Williams
The couple say they’re “celebrating like we’re still young”
Wyn remembered a similar scene at Twickenham, when Ann was unimpressed by English fans sat behind her “mumbling” the words to Jerusalem.
“She got up and said ‘you don’t know the words, follow me’, and started leading them – by the end they were singing it quite well,” he said.
With music playing such a huge role in their rugby trips, the couple took part in the impromptu performances of famous Welsh songs in Bordeaux city centre before the game against Fiji on Sunday.
It is those examples of camaraderie among supporters that make events like the Rugby World Cup so special to Ann.
“You meet people from all over the world. We made so many friends – people who follow rugby are so friendly,” she said.
With their daughter and other friends joining them later in the trip, Ann said she had no regrets about her choice of milestone birthday celebrations.
“I didn’t want to do a cruise or anything like that.”.
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