I had been looking forward to a weekend on the sofa watching the 4 rugby quarter finals on the big screen until Mark called. His son had pulled out so there was a spare ticket for the England v Fiji match and a hotel room. A 5 hour train journey from Agen and there I was back in the chaotic heaving Mediterranean mess that is Marseille. It is quite something to behold and a stroll around the streets away from the Vieux Port delivers some astonishing sights, sounds and smells that are a constant reminder of the city’s connection with Africa. A stroll around the Vieux Port on a rugby weekend delivers quite the opposite. Expectant Englishmen confident that their chariot would roll over Fiji. Anxious Aussies who had booked tickets expecting their team to be there only to find that they were already back on the beach in Bondi. Argentinians partying after their win over the Welsh and bemoaning the lack of a decent steak. Hardly any Welsh to be seen after their capitulation on Saturday afternoon. And of course a sea of French blue expecting their heroes to defeat the almighty Springboks from South Africa. It was not to be. Their dream of winning their home world cup now a nightmare of regrets and refereeing decisions.
As for Ireland, their quarter final hoodoo continues for another 4 years. They have never won a knock out match at the world cup and despite crossing the try line in the dying minutes of their titanic tussle with the All Blacks they couldn’t quite down the ball on the other side of the black wall. Astonishing drama in Paris whilst Marseille was definitely the warm up act with the rugby being played at a slower, almost Mediterranean, pace compared to the fireworks in the Stade de France. And so the old refrain of an Irishman, a Welshman and a Scotsman walking into a pub continues. There should be an Englishman but he’s still at the World Cup. Apologies for the unintended gloating. The official ticket site for the semi finals has now been flooded with Irish and French tickets so for €300 you can be there. Expect to see rows of empty seats as we have seen all through this World Cup. As Gerry Rafferty said, I hope they get it right next time.
The normally belligerent English support has been strangely low key - even to the extent of booing their own players and fighting each other in the stands. What does Owen Farrell, the captain, have to do to win over the hearts of his public. Perhaps he is seen as being symptomatic of the ‘Borthball’ style of play (Steve Borthwick is the England head coach) which is more Leicester than Barbarians. I don’t think either English winger touched the ball in their match against Fiji. Everyone loves the Fijians. They have minimal funding and none of them play in Fiji but every time they get the ball in hand the crowd collectively holds its breath to see what magic they can conjure up with that odd shaped ball. Anyone who has seen them play Sevens will appreciate their magic touch at the smaller format game and if they had more resources available to them they would dine at the top table of rugby. Sadly they never seem to get invited. Do they have a voice on the board of World Rugby or is it just an elite club of former players from the big rugby countries? I hope Portugal are given more funding and a crack at playing in the Six Nations tournament but I doubt this will ever happen. France v Portugal in Porto? Yes please.
So despite terror threats and the occasional strike the World Cup reaches its final 10 days. Back in 2007 I thought that France should always host the World Cup but now I’m not so sure. Expensive tickets and partially empty stadia have plagued the tournament even though that may be more the fault of World Rugby than the host country. No fan zones screening the games and those that were open were heavily patrolled by armed guards. We shouldn’t forget that France continues to suffer alarming, isolated terror attacks based on religious fervour and a state of emergency existed across the country until very recently. Plus with the Olympics arriving next year there is the omnipresent worry of something awful happening. With the Louvre and Versailles closed to visitors this week there must be trouble brewing somewhere.
But for all that the infrastructure works wonderfully well and the atmosphere in the rugby cities I have visited has been pleasant and respectful and not in any way over the top - despite some rowdy English supporters fighting each other. What a joy to see the Portuguese celebrating their win over Fiji in Toulouse in front of thousands of their home supporters who had made the journey by car and bus across Spain. Even Ronaldo was impressed!
So England, as everyone’s least favourite team, somehow end up in a semi final and a rematch of the final in Japan four years ago. The general opinion would be a one sided stroll for the Springboks into another final and for England’s chariot to be sent homeward. How Paris wishes it was Ireland in the semi final as their supporters came in their thousands and drank the bars dry thinking this was to be their year. How harsh it was that they had to play the All Blacks in a quarter final and the Kiwis didn’t put a foot wrong. The glorious uncertainty of sport which is why, as the Ireland coach Andy Farrell reflected, is possibly why we love it.
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