Tom Shanklin, Ex British and Irish Lion’s player and Director at Genero Group tells tales of events he hosts in and around this Six Nations.

February is easily my favourite time of the year, not because dry January has finished but because the Six Nations begins.

Ireland first coming to the Welsh Capital as the number one team in the world, and favourites for the win. I always feel slightly jealous of the travelling fans, knowing exactly what fun and laughs they’ll have in Cardiff. But I had my own fun in the ‘Locker Room’, a new and hugely successful signature event, in association with Cardiff Rugby, held at the iconic Cardiff Arms Park stadium. 450 guests pre- and post-game were entertained by former players Colin Charvis , Geordan Murphy, Gordon D’Arcy and obviously me. Live music, rugby, food and drink is just the perfect combination for a Six Nations Saturday.

‘Wales v Ireland Six Nations game hospitality’

The old enemy, England, will be the second and last home game this year, and by far the biggest attraction. We must be careful not to have too many English supporters in the Locker Room, we don’t want them to feel like it’s a home game!

Two RWC winners in Ben Kay and Matt Dawson will join me on stage and are guaranteed to still be reminiscing about the 2003 World Cup. Our very own bomb and legend Adam Jones should bring them down to earth.

On behalf of Cardiff Rugby in January, we arranged a sponsors and fans trip to Brive to watch Cardiff play in the Challenge Cup. Sir Gareth Edwards and Nicky Robinson joined us to add some stardust, well Sir Gareth did. We joined the team on their flight out of Cardiff and made sure to stay well away from the team hotel. It was a short, fun, and lively trip and we did manage to walk around Brive-la-Gaillarde town centre and soak up some of the beautiful city, as well as discover the large food markets it’s famous for. It was a one-night stay, and we returned straight after the game with the team. I’m not sure some of the travelling party could have lasted another night. Put it this way, there was plenty of sleeping on the plane.

These next few months will be hectic and then we have The Long Lunch with Mike Tindall MBE and jungle legend in Le Monde. Mike has plenty of tales to tell and we find out what happens in the jungle after dark.

These are the events I look forward to the most, chatting with old friends and occasionally stitching them up.

For more information about any of our up-and-coming events email events@genero-group.co.uk