Yesterday saw the London Welsh Rugby Club Choir round off an eventful year by travelling to support London Welsh at an away game for the first time; and whilst they may not have had an impact on the result, they certainly made their presence felt around Adams Park. Having already dressed up as ‘traditional Welsh women’ to perform “Always Look on the Bright Side” for an audience of millions during the London 2012 Olympics Closing Ceremony, the 30-strong choir were always unlikely to be fazed by the partisan Adams Park crowd. They worked their way through a repertoire of traditional Welsh hymns and could even be heard revisiting their Olympics performance shortly after Tom Varndell’s second try left Welsh 15 points adrift.
Arranged by Premiership Rugby sponsors Aviva, the choir set off from Old Deer Park in an Aviva Premiership coach and made a rousing entrance at Adams Park when they performed an impromptu concert for passing fans. The rugby community are famous for embracing traditions that have survived in the modern game and so it was that the choir almost managed to block the entrance to the ground with enraptured spectators.
Having heard about the choir’s story, Aviva were keen to welcome the London Welsh Rugby Club Choir into the Aviva Premiership and help them travel to an away game for the first time. Unfortunately for London Welsh, the rousing sound of ‘Bread of Heaven’ was not enough to fuel a London Welsh comeback and they fell to their third London derby defeat this season.