The Six Nations kicks off this weekend with Wales playing on home turf against Ireland which will be their first game back at the stadium since February last year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fans will have to watch from the sofa as the stadium is staying empty for this tournament due to Covid-19. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Wales squad was announced earlier today by manager Wayne Pivac with Alun Wyn Jones as captain. Hallam Amos will take the place of Josh Adams\u2019 who was suspended for breaking Covid-19 rules and Dan Lydiate is also making a return for the first time in two years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This week Wales have been training in the stadium with hopes of improving on their losses in the Autumn Internationals last year. Fans remain confident though and sports reporter for WalesOnline Ben James said: \u201cI\u2019m very hopeful that we’re going to see Wales turn the corner because I think some of the results last year didn\u2019t reflect the performances.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Regardless of what happens on the pitch, it will be a challenging couple of weeks for Cardiff\u2019s pubs. They\u2019re bracing themselves for a year without Six Nations income. They must remain closed under the Welsh Government\u2019s coronavirus regulations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nick Newman is Chair of Cardiff licensees forum, he told us how valuable matchday is to Cardiff\u2019s bars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe one day alone will be the equivalent of maybe two weeks of normal trading. That figure increases if you\u2019re talking about a Grand Slam game. \u201c <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are very few ways pubs can make money in the current situation. Newman told us that whilst some bars were able to make some money selling takeaway beers, the rules meant very few places could do this and it wasn\u2019t making a significant difference to the industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This has left Cardiff\u2019s night time economy facing a difficult future. Cardiff Licensees Forum has 100 members, Newman told us: \u201cWe\u2019ve probably lost ten businesses in the last year. Some of them may get to reopen, but others won\u2019t.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, it was announced today that the Women\u2019s Six Nations would go ahead in April in a shorter format. The Women’s teams will play in three rounds each weekend to determine who will reach the finals on the 24th<\/sup>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Former Welsh Women’s International player Non Evans thought having the women\u2019s tournament after the men\u2019s could help the game saying: \u201cHopefully they\u2019ll get more crowds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou don\u2019t get the crowds that would (usually) come because it clashes with the men’s games on television.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Six Nations Kicks of this weekend but fans will have to watch from the sofa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":581,"featured_media":27283,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[276,56,213,657],"coauthors":[577],"class_list":["post-27268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport","tag-covid-19","tag-six-nations","tag-wales-rugby","tag-womens-rugby"],"yoast_head":"\n