Prince William meets triumphant Welsh Rugby World Cup players in their dressing room in unseen pictures after cheering them on in France

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Prince William has met Welsh Rugby World Cup players in their dressing room after cheering them on in France.

The Prince of Wales, 41, was pictured chatting to triumphant team members in photos taken after their successful match against Fiji on Sunday.

Father-of-two William was among the 42,000 crowd to watch Warren Gatland’s men take to the pitch during their opening Pool C game in Bordeaux.

Wearing a red tie with white stripes, the future King was on his feet bellowing out with pride the words in Welsh to Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau – Land of Our Fathers as he sang along to the Welsh national anthem. 

William, patron of the Welsh Rugby Union, was seen laughing and joking with players such as Nick Tompkins and George North as he visited them in the team’s dressing room. He also posed with the likes of Coach Gatland and player Dan Biggar.

Prince William has met Welsh Rugby World Cup players in their dressing room after cheering them on in France. Pictured, Prince William with Nick Tompkins and George North

A collection of images from yesterday’s event was shared to the Prince and Princess of Wales’ Instagram account today, alongside the caption: ‘Congratulations on a winning start @WelshRugbyUnion! #RWC2023.’

During the match, the Prince sat alongside Gerald Davies, the 50th President of the Welsh Rugby Union.

William spoke of enjoying the opening matches of the Rugby World Cup as he visited Bordeaux to watch Wales’s Pool C fixture against Fiji. 

William was greeted by Mr Davies, venue director Paul Couet-Lannes and WRU president Gerald Davies after arriving at Stade de Bordeaux. He then met Fijian President Wiliame Katonivere before taking his seat.

The prince initially commented on the warm weather in the French city, where temperatures have this weekend reached 36C, before discussing the tournament, which began on Friday with hosts France beating three-time champions New Zealand 27-13 in Paris. 

‘I can’t believe another World Cup has come around again,’ he said to Mr Davies. ‘It’s exciting when it all kicks off. There have been some good matches already. The France-New Zealand game was fantastic.’

He also expressed admiration for former Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones, Test rugby’s most-capped player, who retired from international duty earlier this year and currently plays for French club Toulon. 

‘I’ll be looking for where Alun Wyn is,’ William said during his conversation with Gerald Davies. ‘He’s been there so long, he’s a stalwart.’ 

The Prince of Wales, 41, was pictured chatting to triumphant team members in photos taken after their successful match against Fiji on Sunday. Pictured, William chatting with Louis Rees-Zammit

William, patron of the Welsh Rugby Union, was seen laughing and joking with players such as Nick Tompkins and George North as he visited them in the team’s dressing room. He also posed with the likes of Coach Gatland and player Dan Biggar (pictured)

Father-of-two William (pictured left with Jac Morgan) was among the 42,000 crowd to watch Warren Gatland’s men take to the pitch during their opening Pool C game in Bordeaux

Wearing a red tie with white stripes, the future King was on his feet bellowing out with pride the words in Welsh to Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau – Land of Our Fathers as he sang along to the Welsh national anthem

Prince William, Prince of Wales and Patron of the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU), shakes hands with First Lady, Filomena Katonivere, as Wiliame Katonivere, President of Fiji looks on prior to the Rugby World Cup France 2023 match between Wales and Fiji at Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux on September 10, 2023 in Bordeaux, France

It is not the first time William has been captured singing the Welsh national anthem. In February, the Prince and Princess of Wales were in Cardiff to watch England v Wales in the Six Nations.

It was the couple’s first outing at a rugby match since gaining their new titles and both were spotted singing the anthem in Welsh. 

In 2016 he spoke of how ‘when the Welsh national anthem goes you know you are home’.

William’s outing at the match came just 24 hours after The Princess of Wales, 41, was spotted in the crowd cheering on England at the Stade de Marseille as the Red and Whites made the perfect start to their campaign in the 27-10 win. 

Kate stood in the stands and appeared in good spirits as she chatted with Bill Beaumont, the chairman of World Rugby, ahead of the match.

After England’s triumph, a video was shared on Instagram of Kate meeting the England Rugby team – and joking with George Ford, asking whether he has been practising drop goals.

A clip of the meeting was shared by England Rugby on Instagram, where it quickly garnered in excess of 15,000 likes within an hour.

Prince William was among the 42,000 crowd to watch Warren Gatland’s men take to the pitch during their opening Pool C game

William, patron of the Welsh Rugby Union, was seen laughing and joking as he sat alongside Gerald Davies, the 50th President of the Welsh Rugby Union

The Welsh rugby team passionately sing their national anthem anthem ahead their game against Fiji 

Wales have been drawn in the same group as Fiji, Australia, Portugal and Georgia and will be hoping to make it to the knock-out stages 

In the short video, the royal is seen asking George Ford: ‘Have you been practicing your drop goals?’

The player laughs, as another teammate says ‘he’s a natural’, and Kate says ‘amazing’, presumably in response to the player’s performance.

The Royal couple are in France supporting the Home Nations during the tournament. 

It comes weeks after the Prince, who is president of the Football Association and therefore responsible for promoting the game nationally and internationally, chose not to attend the World Cup final which saw England lose 1-0 to Spain in Australia.

The cost of the trip and carbon footprint were cited as reasons for him not to go.

Critics rounded on the Prince, as the Government frantically scrambled Foreign Secretary James Cleverly to Sydney to support Sarina Wiegman’s side.

A post shared by England Rugby (@englandrugby)

A delighted Princess of Wales was cheered by the 60,000-strong crowd as she watched England win against Argentina in the Rugby World Cup in France

The mother-of-three is becoming famed for her sartorial elegance as well as being the wife of the heir to the throne

Kate stood in the stands and appeared in good spirits as she chatted with Bill Beaumont, chairman of World Rugby, before the match at the Stade de Marseille, France

The princess, as patron of the Rugby Football Union, cheered on England as the team swarmed to victory

The Princess of Wales pictures arriving at her seat in the Orange Velodrome in Marseille

The Princess of Wales sand the national anthem alongside other World Rugby officials prior to the Rugby World Cup France

Kate shakes hands with Owen Farrell of England in the dressing room following the Rugby World Cup France 2023 match between England and Argentina

Kate shakes hands with Jamie George of England in the dressing room following the team’s victory last night 

Kate speaks to Alex Mitchell in the dressing room following England’s victory over Argentina

Mandu Reid, leader of the Women’s Equality Party, told MailOnline: ‘It’s utterly ridiculous that England wasn’t and still isn’t prepared to celebrate the women’s World Cup final.’

This week, William discussed the important lesson he hopes his children, Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, eight, and Prince Louis, five, will learn while playing team sports.

It came to light with the release of a special Rugby World Cup edition of the former England international Mike Tindall’s podcast: The Good, the Bad and the Rugby.

Talking about the skills you gain from ‘those early years of playing team sport’, William said: ‘Learning to lose, which I think we’ve got to concentrate more on nowadays.

‘I think people don’t know how to lose well. Talking about our children particularly, I want to make sure they understand that.

‘I think it’s really important from a young age to understand how to lose, and why we lose, and to grow from it and what you learn from that process.

‘But also to win well, and not boast. There’s so many life lessons that help us all through life, in friendship building, in relationship building, workplace, that you gain from those early years of playing team sport.’

It was then the turn of Kate to explain why she loved team sports, with Mike joking: ‘I’m not going to say you’re really competitive… [but] I’ve seen her play beer pong.’

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