By Ossian Shine
PARIS (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of rugby fans began flocking to the Stade de France north of Paris — some dressed as roosters and many sporting berets — as France prepared to launch the 2023 Rugby World Cup with a blockbuster opening clash against New Zealand on Friday.
With the mercury tipping 34 degrees Celsius (93.2°F), trains from the centre of Paris were packed and walkways thronged with vocal ebullient supporters several hours before the 1915 GMT kick-off.
Bugles were blown and beer was flowing as fans began massing outside the stadium.
“I think it’s the match everyone’s been waiting for,” French supporter Michel Decaup told Reuters at the fan zone in central Paris. “I think there will be an audience for the TV which will break all the records, that’s for sure. But… despite the quality of the All Blacks, I think France will win.”
Not everyone was so sure of a French triumph.
“I’d like to see France win the overall competition — that was my thought for a few months now — but I’d really like the All Blacks to win tonight,” England fan Jeremy Broatch told Reuters.
“France are obviously going be really up for it, so they (New Zealand) will obviously have to play really well, but I would still like to see them (…win) I think it’s going to be the tightest game, probably of the whole tournament really, tonight.”
Jeremy’s father Jim came down firmly on the French side, though. “Hopefully France will do the business,” he said.
The tournament was due to be opened by French President Emmanuel Macron and World Rugby Chairman Bill Beaumont at a ceremony before the match.
The ceremony will tell a story, organisers say, in the spirit of French film-maker Jacques Tati, and will be as much “a tribute to rugby as to the values that go with it, an ode to what makes France a unique place”.
(Editing by Toby Davis)
