Fans will be able to return to pubs for the Six Nations tomorrow for the first time since the start of the pandemic.
Wales play away to Ireland tomorrow in the first match of the tournament and are aiming to retain their title after last year’s win.
However, if you’re planning on supporting Wales from the comfort of the pub, the advice from publicans is to get there early.
Gary Corp, the manager of Cardiff pub The City Arms, said pubs will be “hugely busier (than a usual Saturday)”.
When asked if fans will have to queue at the door, he said: “I would have thought so.
“We don’t know yet. I don’t know if there’s going to be a bit of anticipation as to whether people feel safe to going out. It’s hard to tell.
“Our function room upstairs, that’s fully booked.
“I wouldn’t have thought (it will be) as busy as the home games obviously, but I think it’s going to be really busy because people just can’t wait to get back out.”
He explained how tomorrow would be even busier because “we got the England game on later which will keep people in town”.
The all-important questions rugby fans want to know is – given the move out of lockdown and the supply issues that has caused – will there be enough beer?
“Oh, I’ve got enough beer, don’t you worry about that, that orders been in the last week or two. So there’s no problem there.
“Plenty of beer, plenty of staff, plenty of food so we will go from there!”
What time should you get to the pub to avoid the crowds?
Mr Corp quipped: “8am.
“It’s really nice to see the city coming back to life again, even today we can see the atmosphere changing, and everyone just looking forward to a good day’s rugby.
“Getting back together, meeting old friends, we may not have seen for a couple of years and just really exciting to get going again.
“The feedback coming from other managers in the city centre as well is that we are looking forward to a really busy weekend. Kick starts the six nations. Fantastic.
And “obviously” the manager of the City Arm’s is backing the Welsh Side.