Welsh WRC drivers meets the Wales Rugby Team

Two of Wales biggest sporting events – the 2015 Rugby World Cup and Wales Rally GB – joined forces on Tuesday when a group of home-grown stars from both disciplines met at a training session in north Wales.

As part of its final preparations for rugby’s showpiece tournament (18 September – 31 October), the Welsh squad was put through its paces at an open training session at Parc Eirias in Colwyn Bay. And a trio of Wales’ top rallying talents Elfyn Evans, Osian Pryce and Tom Cave went along to wish members of the Welsh team the best of luck in their World Cup campaign.

After training, captain Sam Warburton, centre Scott Williams and other players joined the drivers for discussions and had a look around Evans’ M-Sport Ford Fiesta RS WRC and Pryce’s Junior World Rally Championship Citroën DS 3 R3.

Elfyn Evans, born and bred in Wales, said: “I’d like to wish all the boys good luck for the Rugby World Cup, which is such a big event for everyone in Wales. Coming from mid-Wales, there’s no escaping rugby and it’s the only sport outside of motor sport that I actually follow. Now to have these two fantastic world sports events in Wales back-to-back later this year is just fantastic.”

Warburton said there at been a great reception for both rugby and rallying at Parc Eirias; “It’s great for the spectators that live in Wales to have world-class events that put Wales on the map. To have so many Welsh sportsmen competing at the top level of world sport is good for Welsh sport as a whole. A lot of the boys are petrol heads and love the adrenaline sports so it’s great for us to mix the sports.”