The Principality pointed way perfectly for the new millennium

Brendan Gallagher continues his enthralling series by looking at rugby’s best grounds

1: The Principality Stadium (Cardiff)

The Old Cardiff Arms Park was great but everything about the Millennium Stadium – renamed later as the Principality Stadium – is nigh on perfect save from some early teething problems with the turf which can struggle a little when the roof is on for prolonged periods. The noisiest ground? Yes, when the roof is on but what noise, ranging from world-class Welsh singing and passionate home support to the definitive version of Fields of Athenry that randomly broke out during a tense period of the 2002 Heineken Cup final between Leicester and Munster.

Even from the off there was a special feel about the Millennium, I remember sitting next to some hard-hatted construction workers, who had plonked themselves down in the Press seats, in June 1999 when the half-finished stadium had been opened to host South Africa. The game had to be played to get a safety certificate for RWC1999 but it relied on health and safety turning a Nelsonian eye at every corner. A restricted crowd of 20,000 picked their way through rubble and miles of scaffolding and wires but there was no disguising this was going to be a very special place and the Wales team responded with an impressive 29-19 win over the Boks. It has never looked back. World Cup finals, Heineken Cup finals, Wales Grand Slams and even an Irish Grand Slam have been won here. You never depart with anything other than a spring in your step.

2 Parc des Princes (Paris)