2023-09-07 19:30:18
This is a schedule change noticed by all the media. The Blues, who launch their World Cup at home on Friday evening (9:15 p.m.) with a shock against the All Blacks at the Stade de France, arrived on the pitch at the Saint-Denis grounds on Thursday shortly after 11 a.m. More than an hour behind the official schedule sent to the media by the international federation, World Rugby. The latter indicated that the Blues had to train and hold a press conference between 10 a.m. and noon.
The reason ? The French rugby federation invoked the traffic jams. Antoine Dupont and his partners would have been significantly slowed down by heavy traffic on the journey which separates them from the Renaissance hotel in Rueil-Malmaison, where they took up residence on Saturday, from the Stade de France to the north of the capital.
But the police headquarters, in charge of escorting the Blues to Saint-Denis, has a completely different version. The police officers responsible for opening the road for the tricolors arrived at 8:30 a.m. in front of the residence of the XV of France, for a departure initially scheduled for 9:20 a.m. However, according to the authorities, the tricolor staff only gave the green light to start the bus at 9:55 a.m. That is, given the approximately 17 kilometers of the journey, far too late to hope to arrive in time at the Stade de France.
Fabien Galthié and his players finally arrived around 10:40 a.m. in Saint-Denis, before continuing with training in the heat and a press conference around noon. They will benefit from a new escort, as the prefecture concerned can guarantee to the 20 teams in the competition, Friday for the clash against the New Zealanders. Where there, you really shouldn’t arrive late.
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