The Principality Stadium was not the only venue for a big Wales v England sports competition last week.

Another important event took place at Ross-on-Wye Sports Centre where Wilton Bridge Petanque Club took on the might of Abergavenny in a series of pairs and triples matches.

The play was keen and so close that the scores were level at seven wins each at the lunchtime break.

It was just as challenging in the triples matches in the afternoon, so tension mounted as the combined results started to come in.

Much to the delight of the Wilton Bridge team, when the final scores were totted up, they had pulled off a 10-9 triumph.

The real winners on the day though were the sport of petanque and the camaraderie between players from both sides of the border.

Wilton Bridge Petanque Club meets at Ross Sports Centre on Wednesday afternoons (1.30pm) and Friday mornings (10am).

Beginners and experienced players are welcome. See wiltonpetanque.co.uk for further details.

Petanque is pronounced pay-tank and is also known as boules.

It is a favourite national pastime in France and can be enjoyed by all abilities, from those who just want a relaxed social game to others who want to compete at club, regional, or international level.

A target ball, called a cochonnet or “coch”, is thrown down the piste first. Then the players compete to throw their boules nearest to the coch and score points towards a total of 13.

Not many sports clubs have a piece of architecture as their logo, but Wilton Bridge does. Located just 100 metres from the ancient Wilton Bridge, which spans the River Wye, they have adopted its unusual, vertical sundial as their logo.

The bridge was originally built in 1599 and the sundial was added in the early 18th century, standing there as a beacon overlooking the Wye.