A new Rugby World Cup addict says: “I watch almost every match”

2023-09-25 09:13:38

15.4 million supporters in front of France-New Zealand, 11.8 million in front of France-Uruguay… The Rugby World Cup is a hit. And among these millions of viewers, many of them are “rugby players”, new oval addicts, converted by the World Cup in France. This is the case of Claire, a 53-year-old civil servant, resident of the Paris region.

Before the World Cup started, were you a big rugby fan?

CLEAR. Honestly, I was only planning on following because it’s in France. I’m a chauvinist through and through. Otherwise, I have never watched a championship match in my life. For the French team, I happened to watch a match here and there from the 6 Nations Tournament. I started to be very interested in rugby at the time of Frédéric Michalak because I found it beautiful, but that stopped there… Today, I rediscovered the values ​​of rugby, when they ‘all kiss at the end of the match… It makes you want to watch!

Have you followed all the matches of the French team?

I dragged my daughter to a fan zone for France – New Zealand. It was great ! For the second match against Uruguay, I went to a bar. But it doesn’t stop at the France team. I watch almost every match. Last weekend, I wasn’t at full strength, but the TV was on all day. I even kept my daughter updated on the New Zealand – Namibia score because she couldn’t keep up.

And what did you discover during this World Cup?

There are lots of teams that I didn’t know. When I saw Portugal or Romania, I fell off my chair. At the same time, the Romanians didn’t even score points against South Africa… (laughs). Japan, I didn’t know they played rugby either. Fiji’s victories against Australia and Tonga also surprised me a lot. The other thing is refereeing. I don’t know much about it, but I have the impression that a lot of hype is being overlooked.

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Are there things you don’t understand?

Full, but it doesn’t matter (laughs). It’s still more complicated than football. I know the basic principle of going to score a try on the opposing side. I know how to count points. But for the mistakes, I have the impression that even the players don’t understand everything, so me behind the TV… With the comments on television, that helps me a little. I captured the offensive and defensive bonuses, and even the 50:22 (a new rule which offers an advantage to the team in possession of the ball if it finds from its camp an indirect touch in the opposing 22 meters) in Teach me a little bit!