2023-10-28 10:06:00
If the chips are not yet decided, we can already take stock, in three chapters, of the tenth Rugby World Cup which, this Saturday, October 28, will lower the curtain at the Stade de France.
The unexpected triumph of the southern hemisphere
With a New Zealand-South Africa final (Saturday October 28, 9 p.m., TF1) and Argentina, lucky third or fourth (depending on the verdict of the very “small final”, played Friday against England), the Southern hemisphere will have achieved an almost full success, where a transfer of power with the North was predicted which, to date, therefore only retains England as the only winner, in 2003. The disillusionment is all the greater that at the start of the damned year, Ireland and France still occupied pole position, while, at the antipodes, their rivals were lost in conjectures. The umpteenth sporting variation of the fable (the Hare and the Tortoise, or the Cicada and the Ant, both work) or the Gospel (“Thus, the last will be the first and…”), here we are confronted with an almost theatrical coup, even a massive one.
Remake of 1995, which saw the redemptive victory of a South Africa barely freed from the segregationist yoke, the present shock which we wish to be Dionysian for reasons other than its sole location, will therefore bring together the All Blacks, who arrived in France in an unusual costume of outsiders (which will have allowed them, ultimately, to calmly gain strength) and the Springboks, who have just twice in a row forced destiny.
In mid-July, in the Rugby Championship, New Zealand won 35-20. A month and a half later, in a preparation match, the revenge had not gone far: 35-7 for Siya Kolisi and company. According to the latest stats, with a dashing Will Jordan in the role of serial scorer (eight tries scored, one more and he will beat the record in a single edition), the Blacks have once again become the alpha team, so expert in their subject that she doesn’t even need to make boxes to irradiate again. While South Africa, for its part, fuels a curious cocktail of stubbornness and unpredictability, both boosted by the hopes of transcendence of a country in trouble (economic, social, etc.) and hampered around the edges by a story (unheard of, or just sadly fair?) of racism on the negative, black hooker Bongi Mbonambi suspected of insulting the Englishman Tom Curry in the semi-final. The only certainties: 1) With the prospect of a fourth coronation, whether “néozed” or “sudaf”, there will only be one nation left to stand on the oval Olympus; 2) The Webb-Ellis Cup is about to take off for a very long flight from Marcoussis (Essonne), headquarters of the French Rugby Federation (FFR).
The Fiji comet and the Portugal crush
More full of tests than twists and turns, the World Cup will once again have illustrated the dizzying gap that separates the moguls from the plebs. Qualified in the quarter-finals, Fiji were a comet capable of making England tremble in the final moments – if only they had been able to show more consistency… But the real crush is Portugal. Barefoot rugby, the Wolves (“Os Lobos”, in the original version) tied with Georgia, annoyed Wales and Australia… and beat Fiji, in a benchmark match.
A flattering result, but for what dividends? Portugal’s coach, Frenchman Patrice Lagisquet, hands over. Several emblematic players, such as hooker Mike Tadjer, have decided to bow out of this feat. And, above all, Portugal represents peanut (7,000 licensees, amateurs and students in the national team) in the eyes of the international authorities which have just launched a new “Nations Cup”, biennial, from 2026), magnetized by TV rights, which will change nothing in the fate of those without rank. Also, we will see Portugal again in Australia for the 2027 World Cup (with 24 nations, instead of 20, and six weeks instead of seven), for possible other fleeting exploits… which will make you want to see them again in 2031… Until 2035 and the hypothesis as attractive as it is fragile of an alliance with Spain to organize the main event.
A smooth atmosphere
Around the stadiums and, in a way, on the pitches, there have been not one, but two World Cups. As we have already written, the group stage was, for a month under a complicit sun, a bubble of cordiality as illusory as it was joyful, with colorful and demonstrative speakers, almost always packed to the brim – then, sometimes, stuffed completely short. Even, at the margins, the “protest” aspect, embodied by the Greenpeace “climate team” denouncing the sponsorship of TotalEnergies, caught according to the NGO in the act of “greenwashing”, was expressed in a playful tone.
And then, in the space of a weekend, the smiles faded. As soon as Ireland was eliminated, several tens of thousands of green supporters, good-natured and fervent, fled, as if zombified. And what can we say about France which, the next day, in turn fell by the wayside? Otherwise, to a lesser extent, England, defeated at the finish in the semi-final? Usually thunderous, the exit from the stadium suddenly resembled a funeral procession, where the idea of a stop at the refreshment bar suddenly seemed preposterous, almost out of place.
TF1 had its best audience of the World Cup, with an average of 16.5 million viewers – and even a peak of 18.4 million – for the quarter, France-South Africa. To know much more than the two semi-finals combined. Likewise, the rugby village of Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis), which was supposed to crystallize passions, encourage consumption and, thus, bring in money for the FFR, was a fiasco. But eight other cities were also involved, expecting tens of millions of euros in economic benefits in the region. However, despite prohibitive prices (a slum in Marseille for 100 euros, an Ibis in Lyon for around 400, etc.), hoteliers have gorged themselves, as have cafe owners, restaurateurs and transporters, all blessing the Anglo-Saxon clientele. A fiery atmosphere, without a hitch (assessment of a month of jubilation in Nantes, scrutinized from the security PC: fourteen complaints, two arrests!), which was scheduled to last until October 28. In theory.
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