Wales v Fiji
Edwards joins chorus against boo boys
ESPN Staff
November 13, 2014
Shaun Edwards has criticised the Wales fans who booed Rhys Priestland against Australia © Getty Images
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Wales defence coach Shaun Edwards is the latest figure to hit out at the small pocket of Welsh fans that booed fly-half Rhys Priestland during last Saturday's 33-28 defeat to Australia at the Millennium Stadium. Priestland will start this Saturday's match against Fiji at the same stadium but was jeered as he took the field as a second-half replacement for Dan Biggar.

"With Rhys Priestland, it is important to remember that most of the crowd is behind us, but you boo one of us, you boo all of us," Edwards told fans. "If you boo Rhys Priestland, you boo myself, you boo Warren Gatland, you boo Leigh Halfpenny, you boo the Welsh jersey. Personally, I don't think that is on.

"Over the last number of years we have performed admirably as a Welsh nation, with only 20,000 players and three million people, we've tried to wear that Welsh shirt with a lot of pride. For someone to boo that shirt, to be honest, I am not very happy about it. If people are around those people in the crowd, and they are silly enough to do it again, I would like to think that the rest of the crowd would let them know what they think about them."

Edwards joins Head Coach Warren Gatland, members of the current squad and former captain Ryan Jones in criticising the small minority of fans who boo and he called on fans to uphold rugby's image as a family game.

"What has always been fantastic about rugby is that it has always been a family game," he said. "You can take your wife and kids along, and we don't want it to be dragged down at all. You can have a vociferous crowd against you, but at the end of the game, both teams are clapped, which I think is very important. The dignity of rugby must be upheld.

"The thing about rugby is that it is a dignified game. All the aggression comes out on the pitch, not from the crowd. The crowd are there to enjoy and have a fantastic day. You go to a game of rugby, you can have a pint, you can take your children and feel that you are absolutely safe, and long may that continue."

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