AHEAD of a bumper day of sport with County and Wales in action, there were mixed opinions among fans over how the sides would fare.

Newport County AFC are looking to end a six game winless run, dating back to the start of December, as they host Swindon Town, while Warren Gatland’s first game back in charge of Wales is at home to Ireland in this year’s Six Nations opener.

Among fans, there was pessimism surrounding the Wales side, in particular after last year’s home defeats to both Italy and Georgia and with ongoing scandal surrounding the WRU.

“It’s bound to have an effect,” said Caroline Pitt.

“Gatland needs time to build.”

“I think we’ll get hammered,” said Wayne Pitt. “It has gone stale, there’s too many old ones about.

“If we’re going to get hammered, we might as well play with young players to give them experience.”

Switching their attention to County, the couple said: “We’re desperate for a win. It’s hard to predict.

“The new players have to blend in.”

When asked whether Gatland’s appointment would improve Wales’ chances, Paul Buttress said: “Definitely, no question. We’ve got the team and the players.

“But I think we’ve lost a lot of credibility recently.”

“We’ll be catching the second half [of the Wales game],” said Simon Strickland and Michael Sergeant, who were on their way to Rodney Parade.

“We’re more hopeful of County winning than Wales.”

The pair said they were looking forward to seeing Manchester United loanee Charlie McNeill making his debut.

Mr Buttress was less hopeful that County would produce the goods in the early kick-off.

“Not against Swindon – we never do well against Swindon at home,” he said.

“We haven’t been playing that well, the best game we’ve played was Walsall at the start of the season – and we lost that.

“Bogle hasn’t been getting service, and Zanzala looked good when he first started but has faded.

“We’ve been leaking goals. It’s good to see Townsend in today.”