Martin Lange / Photo credit: ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT / AFP
The blazing heat did not cool the inhabitants of Rueil-Malmaison. In this commune of Hauts-de-Seine, where the XV of France established its base camp for the Rugby World Cup, many fans came to attend the training of Fabien Galthié’s men this Monday . After the opening victory against the All Blacks (27-13), it is now time to prepare for the next confrontation, which will take place Thursday evening against Uruguay.
A training session which took place in a good mood under the delighted gaze of the spectators. Equipped with caps, bucket hats and sunscreen, there were a little more than 3,000 this Monday, the limit set by the town hall. The councilor’s chief of staff, however, confided to Europe 1 that the municipality could have filled a stadium with 10 or 12,000 people.
“They are much more impressive in real life than on TV”
Gaspard, a young rugby player, was delighted to meet his idols. “It’s a lot of emotion, it’s the best of rugby. It’s nice to see them, we see them all year round on TV. But they are much more impressive in real life on TV and when we see them sees playing there, we see that the level and the speed are very high. Of course, I will say that they are favorites for the World Cup and then as Antoine Dupont said, if by playing an average match, we manage to putting 30 pawns (27) on the All Blacks, we can be quite confident.”
There was therefore an air of Stade de France this Monday at the Parc stadium in Rueil-Malmaison, between the students of the city’s schools, chanting “Allez les Bleus” and the beginning of hola, which, unfortunately, is not unable to go around the stadium. For their part, the Blues are focusing on their future meeting, during which Fabien Galthié could carry out a squad review. Only three starters for the match against the Blacks should keep their place, namely Yoram Moefana, Cameron Woki and Gabin Villière. The Blues will head to Lille on Tuesday where the match against Uruguay will take place. It is also there that Fabien Galthié will unveil the official composition.