{"id":62258,"date":"2022-02-15T11:23:26","date_gmt":"2022-02-15T11:23:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/?p=62258"},"modified":"2022-02-15T11:23:30","modified_gmt":"2022-02-15T11:23:30","slug":"clueless-in-cardiff-a-non-fans-first-six-nations-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2022\/02\/15\/clueless-in-cardiff-a-non-fans-first-six-nations-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Clueless in Cardiff: A non-fan’s first Six Nations experience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Wales beat Scotland in a nail-biter and Cardiffian <\/em>writer Eliot Raman Jones <\/em>was there to watch … his first rugby game ever<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I HAVE always been awful at rugby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My dyspraxia and poor sight crippled my coordination skills so catching and throwing were out of the question from day one, and at school my thin frame meant that there was a very real chance of serious injury from a regular tackle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asthma prevented me from being a fast wing player, which essentially ended my chances of occupying any position on the team, and relegated me to a passive observer role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I stopped playing rugby as soon as I could, hoping it\u2019d be one of those things you remember learning at school but never become relevant in adult life \u2013 like the role of mitochondria in the cell or Pythagoras\u2019 theorem. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I found out I\u2019d be studying journalism in Cardiff, I knew I would eventually have to cover rugby. At best, I was unfamiliar with the sport, and any trivia I knew was at least 10 years out of date (Jonny Wilkinson, anyone?).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite its importance to Welsh culture and it being a stone\u2019s throw away from my university building, when my sister and her boyfriend suggested going to see a Six Nations game, I hesitated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By taking a ticket to such a prestigious event in the rugby calendar, would I be depriving a “real fan” of the chance to do the same? Or was it a blessing in disguise, a second chance for me to get into a sport I may have been too hasty in rejecting the first time?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reasoning that it would be an important cultural experience and I wouldn\u2019t actually be on the pitch this time, I agreed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My sister Maya and her boyfriend Gus did not share in my childhood dislike of the sport and were both more knowledgeable than me about the sport, so I had a chance to learn from them what I\u2019d missed out on all these years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Going to the Principality Stadium itself was amazing. I\u2019d been to several large football stadiums before, but it was a different world inside Wales\u2019 largest stadium. The pre-match rendition of Land of My Fathers sung by close to 70,000 Wales fans was very inspiring, and stirred my heart, even though the only Welsh thing about me is the Jones in my last name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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