page_title: Millennium Stadium
section_title: Rugby union
hierarchical_section_title: Millennium Stadium / Usage / Rugby union
caption_attribution_description: English: This screen was put up for the Wales v France World Cup Semi-Final
context_page_description: The Millennium Stadium, known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national rugby union team and has also held Wales national football team games. Initially built to host the 1999 Rugby World Cup, it has gone on to host many other large-scale events, such as the Tsunami Relief Cardiff concert, the Super Special Stage of Wales Rally Great Britain, the Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain and various concerts. It also hosted six FA Cup finals and several other high-profile football fixtures while Wembley Stadium was being redeveloped.
  The stadium is owned by Millennium Stadium plc, a subsidiary company of the Welsh Rugby Union. The architects were Bligh Lobb Sports Architecture. The structural engineers were WS Atkins and the building contractor was Laing. The total construction cost of the stadium was £121 million, of which the Millennium Commission funded £46 million.
  The Millennium Stadium opened in June 1999 and its first major event was an international rugby union match on 26 June 1999, when Wales beat South Africa in a test match by 29–19 before a crowd of 29,000.
context_section_description: The stadium is the home of the Welsh rugby union team, who play all of their home fixtures at the venue. These games include those during the Six Nations, as well as the Autumn Internationals against nations from the Southern Hemisphere. Apart from the national team, the stadium has also hosted Heineken Cup finals on five occasions. In total, the site, including the National Stadium, has hosted the final of the Heineken Cup on seven occasions.
  2002 Leicester Tigers 15–9 Munster
  2006 Munster 23–19 Biarritz
  2008 Toulouse 13 – 16 Munster
  2011 Leinster 33–22 Northampton
  2014 Toulon 23–6 Saracens
  The stadium has also been used for Celtic League games, and the semi-finals of the Anglo-Welsh Cup in 2006 and 2007. Since 2013, the Millennium Stadium has hosted Judgement Day, a double-header between the four Welsh Pro12 teams. The 2015 edition had 52,762 spectators, the highest in the history of the league.
  The stadium hosted the first match in the 2005 British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand when they drew 25–25 against Argentina in a warm-up test match.
  Welsh Varsity rugby matches
  On 30 March 2011, the stadium hosted the Welsh Varsity rugby match for the first time in the history of the match between the senior teams of Cardiff University and Swansea University. The stadium is used alternating years with Liberty Stadium in Swansea. The Welsh Varsity event celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2016.
  Rugby World Cup
  The Welsh Rugby Union hosted the 1999 Rugby World Cup with the Final being played at the stadium. The stadium also hosted 3 pool matches and 1 quarter-final match (New Zealand 18–20 France) of the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
  On 15 October 2011, the stadium was open to Welsh Rugby Union fans free of charge, providing that they wear red so that they could watch a live screening of the 2011 Rugby World Cup semi-final between Wales and France that was played at Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand. The match was screened on the stadium's existing large screens, on all of their television screens and on a screen that was brought in for the occasion. The same was done for the Bronze Final between Wales and Australia which saw Wales defeated and take fourth place.
  The stadium hosted six pool matches, including two featuring Wales, and two quarter-final matches during the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
caption: The big screen and some of the fans just after the doors opened for the semi-final between Wales and France
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