The first rugby at the rebuilt St Helen’s has slipped from Wednesday to Saturday, and the first crowd will watch from one stand.
Gower College v Cardiff and Vale College and Swansea University v Bath, which were to open the ground on Wednesday 7 October, have been moved to other venues, the Ospreys said on Tuesday, along with Friday’s Dewar Shield match between Swansea Schoolboys’ two sides.
The club says the change is “to allow additional time for final operational sign-offs to be completed across the venue”.
That makes Swansea RFC’s Super Rygbi Cymru match against Ebbw Vale at 2.30pm on Saturday 10 October the reopening fixture, 150 years after the club first made the ground its home.
Saturday’s game will “operate from the JCP Solicitors Stand only”, the new stand on the Mumbles Road side, which the planning application describes as a purpose-built 1,938-seat stand with changing rooms, hospitality and media areas. Anyone with a ticket for the Family Stand or the Terrace will be contacted by Swansea RFC and given a seat there instead.
Everything from Monday 12 October stays as announced, the club says, including Swansea RFC v Cardiff RFC on Thursday 15 October, the fixture planned to draw the biggest crowd before the Ospreys arrive.
The Ospreys’ first game, against the Dragons, remains Saturday 24 October at 7pm, with Cardiff Rugby on Saturday 31 October at 7.45pm.
“Bringing areas of the venue into use as they are signed off”
Richard Lancaster, the Ospreys’ managing director for business, said: “Bringing a ground with this much history back to life is a major undertaking, and we are bringing areas of the venue into use as they are signed off.”
“We’re grateful to the teams and supporters affected this week for their understanding and flexibility, and we’re looking forward to welcoming competitive rugby back to St Helen’s from Saturday.”
“There is a fantastic programme ahead of us throughout October, culminating in our first two Ospreys home fixtures against the Dragons and Cardiff Rugby.”
A phased opening that was always built around approvals
When the October programme was announced on 19 September, the club said the ground would open in phases so that “a series of operational milestones and remaining venue approvals” could be completed before the Ospreys’ first game, and capped the first ticket allocation for the same reason.
Fifteen days before Wednesday’s planned opener, the new floodlights were still lying on the pitch, sand was going into the artificial surface and the steel for the new stand was going up.
The terrace will have no roof when the Ospreys move in: the club pushed a covered terrace to a later phase last month with no date, and offered terrace season members seats in the Family Stand.
The ground’s October programme has grown since September too: the Toyota Cheetahs will play their four Challenge Cup home games there in December and January, announced on Tuesday morning.
October at St Helen’s: the updated schedule
- Sat 10 Oct: Swansea RFC v Ebbw Vale, 2.30pm
- Wed 14 Oct: Gower College v Ystalyfera, 2.30pm
- Thu 15 Oct: Swansea RFC v Cardiff RFC, 7.30pm
- Fri 16 Oct: Ospreys in the Community girls’ rugby festival, closed event
- Fri 16 Oct: Ospreys season members’ event, from 4.30pm, closed
- Fri 16 Oct: Dewar Shield, Swansea Black v Bridgend and Swansea White v Pembrokeshire, 6.30pm
- Tue 20 Oct: Sporting Memories, 1.30pm to 3.30pm
- Tue 20 Oct: Founders Club event, from 3.45pm, closed
- Wed 21 Oct: Swansea University v Exeter University, 6.30pm
- Sat 24 Oct: Ospreys v Dragons, 7pm
- Sun 25 Oct: Ospreys in the Community walking rugby festival
- Mon 26 to Fri 30 Oct: Ospreys in the Community holiday camps
- Fri 30 Oct: Swansea RFC v Bridgend Ravens, 7.15pm
- Sat 31 Oct: Ospreys v Cardiff Rugby, 7.45pm
Correction, 6 October: this article originally gave the JCP Solicitors Stand as 1,000 seats, the figure Swansea Council’s leader used in a written answer in July. The planning application puts the purpose-built stand at 1,938 seats.
Related stories from Swansea Bay News
ST HELEN’S: Rugby is back at the old ground on 7 October, and Gower College get first go at the new pitch – The programme as announced on 19 September.
ST HELEN’S: Floodlights on the ground, sand on the pitch and the old terrace stripped bare, 15 days from the first game – Paul Rogers’ photographs from the ground.
ST HELEN’S: Terrace will have no roof when the Ospreys move in next month – The roof pushed to a later phase.
ST HELEN’S: South Africa’s Cheetahs to play their European home games in Swansea – Four Challenge Cup games added to the ground’s calendar.
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