There was no mistaking it; empty seats high the rafters of the Principality Stadium, a sort of unreal atmosphere, and the half-hearted cheer when Wales won the first of a series of early, kickable penalties for needless Scottish offences.
Perhaps they’re just accustomed to beating Scotland in Cardiff now – it was the tenth time in a row after all. But more likely is, it’s different, and not nearly as good, in November.
In February and March, the stadium almost crackles with tension. Every decision that goes Wales’ way is cheered to the rafters. Thousands of spring-loaded seats fly up and smack against their back rests as fans leap to their feet when George North gets space, sounding like a herd of buffalo coming up from the 22.
All of it missing on Saturday. The biggest roar early on came when Doddie Weir appeared on the big screens.
The ailing hero was given a warm and heartfelt standing ovation when he presented the trophy in his name with his wife and sons before kick-off, but even that had none of the sheer emotion of the much simpler setting of Murrayfield prior to the New Zealand game last year.
The Principality, it has to be said, is not nearly as good as when it was the Millennium, which was not nearly as good (atmospherically at least) as when it was plain old Cardiff Arms Park.
The fans habitually sing the Max Boyce song “Hymns and Arias” instead of actual hymns and arias like they used to do. You never hear Cwm Rhondda or Sosban Fach now.
It’s also a different crowd. You still see the old diehards down from the valley villages confused at Cardiff city centre pedestrian crossings on their way to the ground.
But inside it has, in the words of one Welsh writer, become “the world’s biggest Witherspoons” where consumption of alcohol sometimes seems to be paramount to actually watching the rugby.
At least in February, it seems to mean something. In November, it was flat as a pint of Brains.
Even Warren Gatland couldn’t be bothered to be disparaging at the end. Keep Wales-Scotland for the 6 Nations, and forget these extra, unnecessary cash-grabbing games.
