Bosses at The Liberty Stadium have announced that the £27million venue will host its first-ever international rugby fixture next month, when the Wales Under 20 side kick off their 2007 Six Nations campaign against Ireland.
It will be the first ever competitive fixture for Wales at this age-group, following the restructuring of age-group rugby, and the game on Friday 2nd February (K.O 7.10pm) is the latest pat on the back for the Liberty Stadium, and marks the first time that the WRU have brought a fixture to the home of the Ospreys.
A spokesman for the Stadium Management Company commented:
"We are honoured to be chosen to host this fixture, and are delighted to be able to welcome the WRU along with Wales U-20 head coach Dai Rees and his squad to the Liberty Stadium. Having already hosted international football here, the fixture will provide a further boost to the growing reputation of the Liberty Stadium as one of the leading new stadiums of its size in Europe.
"Two of the star performers in last season's Under-21 Six Nations were James Hook and Alun Wyn Jones, who have gone on to big things over the last twelve months and will, of course, be on senior duty this year, so who knows who will come to the fore this time around. The Wales V Ireland game here at Liberty Stadium will offer rugby supporters in south west Wales a great chance to watch the stars of tomorrow in action and provides young fans the chance to enjoy international rugby for the first time.
"We want to ensure that the first ever international fixture to be held at the Liberty Stadium is a huge success, and have priced the tickets for the game accordingly. If the rugby public of Ospreylia get behind this fixture, then hopefully, we will see international rugby returning to Swansea on a regular basis."
Four young players from the Ospreys region are likely to feature in the match, Marc Breeze and Richard Thomas of Aberavon, Neath's Robert Lewis and Ospreys U20 skipper Sam Kiley who plays for Swansea.
Wales Under 20 head coach Dai Rees said:
"We are pleased with the strength in the current squad, many of whom were part of the Under 19 Grand Slam squad last year. Thirteen of our squad members have already played professional rugby while many of the squad will earn senior Sevens call-ups this season.
"A core of these players could still go on to represent Wales at the IRB Under 21 World Championships in 2008 which is fantastic in terms of their development pathway - and a number of these players could be a key part of Wales' 2011 World Cup campaign so the big emphasis for us is on looking forward and developing players for the future."
Tickets for the Wales V Ireland match have been priced to attract families and young rugby supporters, with special family packages available, costing just £20 for four children and two adults. Adult tickets are priced at £8, OAP's, students and 14-16 year-olds £4 and under-14's just £2. In addition, there are special hospitality packages available for the evening priced at £35 per head plus VAT. For this match only, car parking is available at the Liberty Stadium at a price of £5 per car. Parking passes must be purchased at the same time as match tickets.
The Welsh youngsters will follow up their visit to the Liberty Stadium with consecutive away fixtures in Scotland (9th February), France (23rd February) and Italy (9th March) before closing the campaign with a home fixture against England at Rodney Parade.