2023-10-01 05:00:11
The back of the XV of France Melvyn Jaminet with supporters on the Place de l’Hôtel-de-Ville in Aix-en-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône), September 26, 2023. ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT / AFP
While strolling between the golden walls of the old town of Aix-en-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône), you may come across a player from the French XV, seated on the terrace of a restaurant or enjoying an ice cream. Arriving in the Provençal city ahead of their match against Namibia, on September 21 at the Stade-Vélodrome in Marseille (96-0), the Blues have been preparing there for the rest of their World Cup.
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As the competition enters its fourth week, the French are in no way cut off from the world. This is evidenced by the crowd bath that a handful of them enjoyed on Tuesday, September 26, during a reception organized by the town hall or the triumphant welcome they received from the 2,000 spectators who came to witness , Thursday, at a training open to the public. ” That warms the heart. We feel supported, and we know that we have all of France behind us”blows the back of Melvyn Jaminet.
If the Tricolores are aiming for the Holy Grail in the tournament, they have also set out to conquer fans and territories, they who have been roaming France for months, from Capbreton (Landes) via Rueil-Malmaison (Hauts-de-Seine ), Lille and soon Lyon – for the match against Italy, October 6, at 9 p.m. “We have the advantage of hosting this competition and it’s a chanceexplained captain Antoine Dupont before the opening of the World Cup. We did all our preparation in our country, with our people and our supporters. » Like his partners, the scrum half – who should soon return to the group in Aix, a week after his operation for a maxillo-zygomatic fracture – appreciated “the choice of the staff to establish proximity” with the country.
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This guideline was drawn up by the management of the Blues from the first gatherings, at the end of 2019, in Montgesty (Lot), stronghold of the Galthié family – the coach’s father is the mayor of the village –, then in Hossegor (Landes), not far from the roots of general manager Raphaël Ibañez. “Our motto is to bring together, unite and share with all French people”, recalled Fabien Galthié on the sidelines of the match against Uruguay on September 14. Regularly, before meeting their players, the staff “trains to train” in a small club in the country, like in Belvès, in the heart of the Dordogne, at the beginning of January.
“We don’t live in a bubble”
Tuesday September 12, the French rugby players were cheered as they got off the TGV at Lille-Europe station – 80% of the World Cup teams’ journeys are made by train. An hour earlier, it was possible to queue at a bakery in the Gare du Nord, in Paris, behind the Uini Atonio pillar and some of its partners, in search of a hearty snack. All obviously under the discreet but permanent protection of RAID agents, incorporated into the group since the beginning of July. “We don’t live in a bubble, we have done everything to be close to the people who follow us, who will be in the stadiums and aroundexplained Karim Ghezal, the co-trainer of the conquest, at the beginning of September. Everywhere we went, we made sure to mix with people. »
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