Rugby World Cup: why is the French XV returning to Rueil-Malmaison this Monday?

2023-10-09 07:31:08

A good sign ? The players of the XV of France return this Monday to the Renaissance Paris Hippodrome de Saint-Cloud hotel in Rueil-Malmaison (Hauts-de-Seine), the same place where they had stayed before their successful entry into contention against the All Blacks (27- 13 on September 8). They will train again at the Parc stadium, 4 km from their hotel, on the home ground of the local club. A return to the roots of this World Cup, before entering the final phase: the Blues face South Africa, defending champion, in the quarter-final on Sunday at 9 p.m. at the Stade de France. “A first World Cup final”, according to Fabien Galthié, the French coach.

The French XV had already established its base camp for the World Cup in Rueil-Malmaison, from September 2 to 17, with a detour to Lille for the France-Uruguay match on the 14th. Then the Blues stayed in Aix- en-Provence, host city, for its matches on September 21 against Namibia in Marseille and on October 6 against Italy in Lyon, and the (long) moment without a match between the two.

Once qualified for the quarters, the teams must all find a new base camp, according to the procedure of World Rugby, the international federation. Each nation made its choice about a year ago, and a draw took place, which was only used in case two teams had chosen the same base camp.

Good memories

Now that we know the qualifiers for the quarters, the new distribution of the base camps has been made. Unsurprisingly, the XV of France will therefore return to Rueil-Malmaison. The Blues have their landmarks there and the memory of great victories, against the All Blacks at the opening of the World Cup or that of the Grand Slam against England in 2022.

Rueil-Malmaison is located 16 km from the Stade de France. The other possible base camps around the Saint-Denis enclosure offered to the teams were INSEP, in the Bois de Vincennes in Paris (12th), Domont (Val-d’Oise) and Croissy-sur-Seine (Yvelines ). The four quarter-finalists who will play in Saint-Denis have divided them up. New Zealand will go to INSEP, Ireland to Domont and the South Africans to Croissy.

For the Blues, in Rueil, training will resume on Monday. We will also know more at that time about Antoine Dupont’s ability to return to rugby, after his appointment with his surgeon in Toulouse. There will then be a session on the Parc stadium pitch on Tuesday around 5 p.m., another on Wednesday around 1 p.m. At that time, we should know more about the composition of the team that will face the Springboks.

Thursday will be a day of rest before, Friday, training probably at the Stade de France and the announcement of the team composition. Last rehearsal in Rueil on Saturday, before the big match on Sunday October 15, at 9 p.m. at the Stade de France. The famous finale avant la lettre.