Guernsey Welsh Male Voice Choir to sing at Six Nations

The opportunity to perform comes three years after a previous opportunity was cancelled due to the pandemic

The Guernsey Welsh Male Voice Choir is set to perform at the Six Nations rugby tournament.

The 40-strong group is due to sing in front of more than 70,000 spectators at the Principality Stadium as Wales host England on Saturday.

They will perform alongside 80 singers from the Pendyrus Male Choir, from the Rhondda Valley.

It comes almost three years after their original opportunity was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The choir's music director, Fiona Le Tissier, said they had "nearly touched the stadium ground" when they heard the "absolutely devastating" news of the 2020 match's cancellation.

She said: "We're so fortunate and grateful to the Welsh Rugby Union for honouring the fact that we missed out first time round, and for allowing us to go back and have another opportunity to sing at that fabulous stadium."

Fiona Le Tissier said the cancellation in March 2020 had been "absolutely devastating"

All together there will be about 120 men singing the national anthems of both countries.

The Welsh choirs will also sing the traditional song Cwm Rhondda [Bread of Heaven].

Guernsey choir member Eifion Thomas said the stadium had a "unique atmosphere".

He said: "I've been going to the stadium since I was about 10 years old, so it's always a pleasure to go back there.

"To actually go back there and appear on the pitch is a tremendous thrill.

"One would never have expected it to happen until a few years ago when we were invited to take part, so it's great."

Eifion Thomas said performing on the pitch would be a "tremendous thrill"

Another choir member, John Good, said: "It's going to be phenomenal. My home town is Cardiff, so I can't wait to get back there again.

"When I was a young lad, I lived very near [neighbouring stadium] Cardiff Arms Park at the time.

"We used to kick a ball about on the field there, listening to the crowds singing.

"And we used to play a game of rugby, and it was Wales against England and we never lost."

The game kicks off at 16:45 GMT and will be shown on BBC One and iPlayer.

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