Couple's rugby trip in doubt after flight change

Sam Morgan was desperate to watch the Lions in Dublin, but a flight change may have scuppered their plans

A rugby-mad couple fear they will miss a rare British and Irish Lions fixture on home soil after their flight was moved to land five minutes after kick-off.

Sam and Karen Morgan, from Cardiff, booked flights to Dublin a year in advance to ensure they could attend the match against Argentina in June.

It is the first time the Lions - a touring team made up of players from Wales, England, Scotland and Ireland - will play an international test in Dublin.

A Ryanair spokesperson said: "When schedule changes occur, passengers are notified approximately 90 days in advance of their flight by email/SMS and advised of their options to either accept the flight time change, change flight free of charge or to receive a full refund."

The match will take place as a warm-up test for the Lions before a tour of Australia.

Mr Morgan, 46, a physiotherapist who played for Wales under-18s and 19s, said he was not told by Ryanair that the flight had changed, and only noticed when he checked the airline's app.

"I didn't think much of it after booking, and then a few weeks ago I randomly looked on the app and saw that the flight times had changed," he said.

The flight was originally scheduled to take off from Bristol Airport at 13:35 BST, landing in Dublin at 14:40, ahead of a kick off at 20:00.

"I thought even if we're delayed a bit, we should still have plenty of time to get to the hotel, have a few drinks before the game," he said.

But take-off time has been changed to 19:00, landing at 20:05, five minutes after kick off and about nine miles (15km) from the Aviva Stadium.

"I was too organised, which is not something my wife would normally say about me I don't think," he said.

Mr Morgan said his wife had never seen the Lions play and there was "no prospect" of seeing the team, which usually visits the southern hemisphere every four years, on tour with a young family.

He said he had not been able to resolve the issue with Ryanair, despite repeatedly trying to speak to the airline, and called the situation a "shambles".

"Essentially at the moment my only options are to sit tight because officially from Ryanair the flight hasn't changed, despite the time changing on the app," he said.

However, Mr Morgan said Ryanair has now scheduled another flight from Bristol, due to leave five minutes before his original flight, but tickets were “double the price".

He said he suspected other rugby fans may be in a similar position.

"I'm probably not going to be the only person in this boat, on this plane, as I'm sure other people probably had the same idea as me," he said.

"I suspect they're thinking the worst right now.

"I'd imagine there's a few people that might not even realise the flight has changed, because they might not have checked the app randomly as I did."

Sam Morgan played for Loughborough University and Wales' youth teams

Mr Morgan said he was considering driving to the port of Holyhead on Anglesey and getting a ferry to Ireland if he could not sort out his flights.

"I'm gutted, whenever rugby trips have come up in the past I've always jumped on it quickly - and it's always worked out well," he said.