Swansea’s council leader blew the first whistle at the rebuilt St Helen’s on Saturday night. On Sunday, he was back on the case against the Welsh Rugby Union.
Cllr Rob Stewart officially opened the ground before the Ospreys’ first game at their new home. They beat the Dragons 31-14, with five tries, in the wind and rain of Storm Boelo.
Writing on Facebook, he called it “a really emotional night”, and said it was “great to be able to bring professional rugby back to our historic rugby ground”.
Rob Stewart says fans packed the new St Helen’s despite Storm Boelo
He wrote that “thousands of amazing fans braved the storm conditions to pack out the new stadium to capacity (even the open terrace)”. The official attendance was 5,592.
Opening the ground and blowing the first whistle left him “proud and humbled”, he said, and he thanked the Ospreys for the chance.
There were thanks too for Swansea Council staff, the Ospreys and the local contractors and trades who he says worked “so hard over the last 16 weeks” to get the ground ready.
The club is putting £2.6m into the ground and has taken a 50-year lease, alongside the council’s own money for the rebuild.
His verdict on the night: “A fantastic first night, great win, amazing fans, great stadium, great atmosphere and huge pride.”
Cardiff, ‘a team from the centre of Wales’, are next at St Helen’s
Cardiff are the next visitors, on Saturday 31 October at 7.45pm. Mark Jones has said he hopes to win more games there as an Osprey than he did as a Scarlet.
Stewart billed the visitors as “a team from the centre of Wales (according to the WRU)”.
The union has already handed Cardiff and the Dragons two of its three licences from the 2028/29 season, leaving the Ospreys and the Scarlets to fight for the last one.
Its board has said it gave more weight to factors unlikely to change, such as population and accessibility.
Rob Stewart says the next job is a new WRU board and chief executive
Stewart says the job now is “securing that long term 4 region plan, a new board and CEO at the WRU”. Then, he wrote, everyone can get “building for a better more successful future for the regions and Welsh Rugby”.
Earlier this month he said the board and chief executive Abi Tierney were “unfit to continue and should resign”, and that the council’s legal challenge against the union goes on.
The union says paying four professional clubs £6.5m each is “unsustainable beyond 2028”.
Lyndon Faulkner, its new chair, will be leading the board by the union’s AGM on 22 November.
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