Very rarely in life have I felt truly overwhelmed by an experience , but standing in one of the greatest stadiums in the world watching our boys, and indeed my boy, singing the National Anthem to a sea of faceless fans and opposition was truly unforgettable

Saturday 17^th March

07.15am
It's too early to be up on a Saturday and I’m predictably regretting the last shot of sambuca from the night before. Surprisingly I find myself too nervous to eat – again I remind myself that its not me having to play. The long drive to Cardiff gives me time to think, I need to come up with supportive and motivational words, enthusiastic and concise.

10.15am
Eventually I arrive and stepping out of my car escorted by at least five malteser packets I muster the gracious words ‘I’d be cr***** myself if I were you.’ Yes, things could not have gone better. Luckily for me, my partner seems unreasonably calm this morning and proceeds to impart this upon me for the next hour or so.

13.30pm
The RWAGS coach leaves for the Millennium Stadium. I’m assured by the girls that there is no sense of seating order, but with the Leicester ladies at the front and the Wasps women at the back I decide to sit in the middle of the huddles of immaculately tamed blond hair.

15.00pm
With a lunch fit for royalty being served to us inside the stadium I feel that it is time for us to introduce ourselves to our Welsh opponents, the equally gorgeous ladies that have been sitting opposite us for at least 5 mouthfuls of gravadlax by now.  And as they go around naming their other halves it becomes abundantly clear that if in doubt simply muttering ‘Mrs Jones’ should do the trick - at least that’s one less thing to worry about.

17.30pm
As I enter the stadium the noise of the crowd is engulfing, and although we are treated to at least 6 renditions of ‘Bread of Heaven’ I feel immeasurably privileged to be part of the whole experience. And as I watch the England team run out and gather to sing our National Anthem I suddenly realise how a life of eating, sleeping and drinking rugby all becomes worth every second for 80 minutes on a Saturday afternoon.

19.30pm 
With England sorely defeated we make our way out of the stadium past the rows of gleeful Jones’ waving goodbye and back to the safety of the England WAG bus. The Six Nations is over and even though Wales were joint bottom (I'm not bitter) the streets are flooded with red shirts waving flags holding blow up daffodils(?).

19.45pm
With under 10 minutes to turn myself from Wilma Flintstone into Jessica Rabbit, time is precious and as a herd of RWAGS come crashing into the lifts I realize that the lucky man sharing this experience with us happens to be Simon Cowell.  For a moment I’m tempted to pull out a short rendition as we ascend three floors, but decide against this when the only tune I seem to be able to find is that of ‘ Swing low…’

20.30pm
We arrive at the Hilton Hotel to a multitude of  gloating Welsh fans, I’m beginning to feel like a bit of a celebrity and as I take the last steps off the bus I hear cheers of ‘wahey’ and  the inevitable wolf whistles. This I think I could get used to, until I look up to see that in the gale force winds that had consumed Cardiff that weekend one girl had her skirt up round her head , another had taken out a Welsh supporter with an umbrella making its bid for freedom and in sheer panic my shoe had just given way.

After endless supplies of wine and champagne, the rest of the night as they say is ‘history.’  

Brian Ashton may have made more than a few changes to the England squad in recent weeks but sitting at a table with some of rugby’s brightest future stars that night I couldn’t help but feel that this is one of the most exciting times for English rugby to date.  Among the likes of Dave Strettle, Tom Rees, James Haskell and Toby Flood are not only some of our youthful World Cup hopes, but some of the most affable people we could hope to take us to victory.  I now wait with prolonged anticipation to see if my other half will be included in the World Cup squad and pray that he will have the chance to be part of making history.

Annie xx