Wearing their red rugby T-shirts, of course, with the iconic dragon I spotted them from a half a mile away. And not a moment too soon, either. After coming out of a press conference where Wales skills coach Neil Jenkins and hooker Ken Owens had spoken, I had little to work with.

The day before England coach Eddie Jones was the type of quote machine that makes a lazy hack even lazier. In front of a large gathering of English and international media he was a maestro of mirth and mystery. With a mischievous grin plastered on his face, he looked like he could stay on the podium for hours.

But not so today, Jenkins makes fairly quick work of things before Owens comes in. So Ken, did Prince Charles give you any advice on how to beat South Africa during his visit with the team a few hours earlier. “No,” Owens says. “He just said, ‘They’re bloody big buggers aren’t they?’ and left it at that.”

In town for the Emperor’s Enthronement, it makes complete sense that Charles would be visiting with the Welsh instead of the English team. He is, after all, the Prince of Wales. Owens talks about the need to be disciplined and how South Africa are hugely physical, which is no surprise to me because they’re bloody big buggers, aren’t they? A woman from BBC Wales asked him a few question in Welsh followed by a few more.

And just like that, he nods his head and is out the door before I can ask him if they feel like they are playing in the shadow of England this weekend and whether that will inspire them.

Luckily I stumbled upon Cardiff Tom and his crew. “Rugby’s got a special place in our country,” Tom says. “You’re born and bred into the game, it’s the national sport in Wales.” He won’t give me his last name, so I have to ask: “Is your last name Jones?”

“No, it’s not,” he says with a smile. “Come on mate, you’re better than that.” Not today Tom, today I’m a desperate soul and other than Tom Jones and Catherine Zeta Jones, I’m a little short on the Welsh and their diaspora.

“So what about it, Tom?” I ask him. “This could be the biggest win ever in the history of Welsh rugby. Will it finally get you out of England’s shadow?”

He looks at me incredulously. “In rugby?” he asks. “Have you been following us lately.” Obviously not because if I had I would have known that the defending Six Nation champs had been ranked number one in the world a scant two months ago after beating England 13-6. When they last met on the World Cup stage four years ago, the Welsh beat England 28-25 and at Twickenham no less.

Tom tells me that while anti-English feelings are much stronger in Scotland and Ireland, “our rugby rivalry with England is the oldest in the game”. They have officially played 134 times with the Welsh winning 59 and losing 63.

Wales will actually come into their match with South Africa ranked one spot ahead of their opponents, for what it’s worth. If you poll most rugby cognoscenti, they will say that the Welsh have a better chance of winning on Sunday than the English do against the powerful All Blacks.

But as Tom likes to say, not going to lie to you and next to the oft-brilliant and even more madcap French team, Wales seemed dreadfully boring when they prevailed by one point over them in the quarter-finals. Even their coach Warren Gatland admitted that because France had to play most of the second half with 14 men after Sebastien Vahaamahina was sent off with a red card, the better team might not have won.

“Disappointed with a few aspects but excited about being in a semi-final of a World Cup,” Gatland said earlier in the week. “We played our get-out-of-jail card yesterday.” A win on Sunday would put Wales in the final of the World Cup for the first time. Imagine if England win the day before as well?

“I mean getting to the finals against anybody would be amazing,” says Tom. “But beating England in the finals? Yeah, that would be tidy.”