The talismanic properties of Cardiff Arms Park (latterly the National Stadium, Cardiff) to Irish rugby are no more, consigned to the rubble of a World Cup dream. Once a haven for the shamrock-crested combatants who found victory impossible outside the principality, the famous stadium has been raised to the ground and with it biennial Welsh green-tinged nightmares.
Ireland has not lost on Welsh soil since 1983. But the canny Welsh have set about banishing those demons by constructing a new home on the old site, a state-of-the-art structure with the appropriate sobriquet of Millennium Stadium, Cardiff Arms Park. When it will be completed is a source of contention at present.
Ostensibly the Welsh Rugby Union have undertaken this £125 million millstone so that they may enjoy the privilege of hosting the 1999 World Cup final. While Cardiff lies in ruins, they have trudged southwards to London, begging the use of Wembley where Ireland find themselves today. It seems a rather intricate plot to deprive the Irish of the psychological edge they have enjoyed in recent times.
Wembley offers a different backdrop, although hardly a more inspiring one judging by a recent defeat to South Africa. The atmosphere, though, is not altogether dissimilar, with 50,000 Welshmen expected to raise their voices in support of Graham Henry's men. London's Irish population and the traditional travelling hordes should make for a colourful and tuneful occasion.
What odds the draw, a familiar fate to the Republic of Ireland soccer team one of their better nights in Wembley. While Wales focus on the Five Nations Championship, their governing body, the WRU, is beginning to feel the pressure. The reason for their angst is speculation that the building of the Millennium Stadium is behind schedule and that there is little chance of it being ready on time - June 12th to be precise. Despite the assurances of World Cup chairman Leo Williams, there remains a healthy smattering of scepticism, particularly as there has been talk of contingency plans even at this juncture.
Williams reaffirmed that a contingency plan remains in place should the Welsh Rugby Union fail to meet its target completion date. The five-week tournament is scheduled to kick off on October 1st, with Wales tackling Argentina in Cardiff. It is understood that Wembley, Murrayfield and Stade de France are potential alternative World Cup Final venues.
Williams has just completed a World Cup fact-finding mission in Wales and has promised to monitor progress "on an ongoing basis". He says that he was not in the principality to deliver any ultimatums. "I am in Cardiff to monitor the progress of the tournament and to discuss the progress of the Millennium Stadium.
"The Welsh Rugby Union and the Millennium Stadium officials I met assured me that the stadium would be ready on time. However, as in all previous Rugby World Cup tournaments, we have set in place a contingency plan in line with our insurance requirements."
Union officials and the project management team maintain there is no problem. Those who walk past the building site with the 13 cranes in situ find it harder to visualise the end product. John Laing Construction, who undertook the project, face a very hefty penalty clause, believed to be £63,000 per day, if they do not meet the completion date.
When work is eventually finished Cardiff will boast an ultra modern stadium with a sliding roof, the first of its kind in Britain, and a pitch that is wheeled into place on pallets, allowing for easy removal. A capacity of 72,500, with 110 corporate hospitality boxes, will ensure that the WRU can maximise their financial return.
The pitch will be christened by the South Africans on June 26th with a reduced capacity of 42,000, a figure that will be maintained for further matches against France and Canada in August, so satisfying the safety officer and thereby earning their certificate.
Ireland must wait another two years to resume the pilgrimage to Cardiff and hope that the ghosts of Five Nations past have not been driven from their resting place.
