'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.”
WATCH: RugbyPass goes behind the scenes with the Barbarians for their recent match with Wayne Pivac's Wales
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I’m looking forward to attending the Twickenham match, I don’t think it will have a bearing on the outcome of the grand prize itself but it will tell us more about each teams’ preparation and game plan. It’s hard to look past one of the big four (I’m including Canada) lifting the trophy in 2025 but sport is a curious thing, there will still be twists and turns in road ahead.
Go to commentsThe better side seems to be the losing side a lot these days. As far as narrative goes. Must be the big emergent culture of “participation awards” that have emerged in nanny states. ”It looked like New Zealand would take the game from there but lapses in execution let South Africa get back into the game. New Zealand’s goal kickers left five points out there, including a very make-able penalty on the stroke of half”. Sounds like a chronic problem… I wonder how the better team has lapses in concentration and execution? Or are those not important factors in the grand scheme of total performances? In 2023, the ABs at least didn’t give up a lead to lose. They just couldn’t execute to get the points and take the lead. This Baby AB result points to a choke - letting the game slip through your fingers. In the words of the great Ricky Bobby’s dad - “If you’re not 1st you’re last!” Loosely translated - if you didn’t win, you’re a loser.
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