'The wing started tipping right over and Rhys Webb was shouting... the landing was a bit hairy'

Hadleigh Parkes has spoken about the hairy plane ride back to Cardiff experienced by Wayne Pivac’s Wales squad following their Guinness Six Nations defeat by Ireland last weekend.

Beaten 24-14 on the Saturday, the Welsh team and its supporters were caught up in Storm Ciara when they tried to travel home on the Sunday from Dublin. 

Writing in his column on the BBC, Parkes described the adrenalin rush of the team’s plane trying to land in Cardiff after a delayed flight from Ireland.

“Our flight home on Sunday was quite eventful as we, like thousands of Welsh supporters, battled with Storm Ciara to get back to Cardiff,” wrote the Wales midfielder. 

“We were delayed a few hours and were hearing stories about flights going to Bristol or Manchester or being cancelled altogether.

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“The take-off was a little bit bumpy but most of the journey was pretty good until we started to come into land through the clouds towards Cardiff.

“You could see the change in the boys who had headphones on or who were watching iPads or laptops. The headphones soon came off and electronic devices were shut down, while a few hoods came up and there was some nervous laughter from certain quarters.

“We were just coming into land when a huge gust of wind hit us and turned the plane around quite a long way before the pilot straightened us back up with a superb piece of flying.

“But then the wing on our side started tipping right over and Rhys Webb was sitting behind me. He was shouting: "He can't land this, he can't land this, he has to pull back up!" As you can imagine that is a huge confidence-booster when you are sitting in front of him!

“So the landing was a bit hairy and an adrenalin rush but we got home safely and hopefully all the Welsh supporters did as well. Those who didn't get back straight away I am sure enjoyed their extra time in Dublin.”

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