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Wales Online
Wales Online
Sport
Katie Sands

Alun Wyn Jones belting out the Welsh anthem without fans to help him is a thing of beauty

It was the Welsh national anthem as we've never heard it before.

Inside an empty Stade de France - in the curfewed city of Paris - Wayne Pivac's Wales side lined up alongside each other to sing the anthem together for the first time in seven months.

With a backing track played, TV cameras panned the matchday 23 from left to right.

Such is the passion of Welsh rugby fans, we're normally used to the crowd's singing efforts drowning out all other noise even with TV cameras feet away from Wales' players.

But this time, it was very different.

With the chorus kicking in, fans viewing back at home - on the first day of fire-break lockdown restrictions - were able to hear the players themselves belting out the anthem.

Unsurprisingly, Alun Wyn Jones - equalling Richie McCaw’s world cap record of 148 Tests when he took to the field to face France - could be seen putting his all into Mae Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau.

You can watch the full moment here:

In the 100th meeting between Wales and France, Jones took the field against Les Bleus for a record 15 th time – overtaking the record of 14 matches between the two nations he shared with Gethin Jenkins and Philippe Sella.

He also extended his world record of Test starts as a second row to 131, moving him 10 ahead of Springbok ace Victor Matfield.

Follow the match live here now.

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