Matthieu Jalibert seems to be the perfect reflection of the feeling that has dominated in France since last Sunday at 11 p.m. “For me, it’s going to be too hard to see the teams who are in the semi-finals of the World Cup,” announced the Blues flyhalf, Wednesday on RMC Sport. There, I’m going to take a break from rugby and clear my head for ten or fifteen days. » Until the end of this World Cup, which an entire country dreamed of winning at home, for the first time in its history. The cruel elimination of the French XV, at the end of an epic quarter-final against South Africa (28-29), is not without consequences on the excitement around the end of the competition.
“We noted that around 4,000 tickets were deposited on our resale platform on the night from Sunday to Monday, Jacques Rivoal, president of the France 2023 organizing committee, indicated this week. But as soon as they were deposited, the majority of these tickets were bought by other fans. » However, this Friday morning, respectively 600 and above all 2,513 tickets (from 350 to 550 euros) are still looking for takers for the Argentina – New Zealand (this Friday) and England – South Africa (Saturday) halves at the Stade de France. Suffice it to say that the Saint-Denis venue should be quite far this weekend from the 79,486 spectators who thrilled to the ultimate quarter-final of madness. It must be said that for five days, thousands of Irish fans have returned home, and the French public admits to being sullen at the end of this World Cup. Likewise, the two now ultra-favorite nations, New Zealand and South Africa, are not accompanied by a crowd of supporters in the Paris region.
“We don’t want to fade an Argentina-England”
At 26, Adam is one of the 2,100 oval fans who hope to have their ticket purchased for the match for third place, even though he will be in Paris on October 27: “Several friends had the same reaction as me: we doesn’t want to fade Argentina-England, it has already been the most horrible match of the group stage. This is why this Lyonnais is crossing his fingers to have a buyer for his place at 120 euros, in order to “have a good restaurant” during this time in the capital. The following day, however, he will honor his precious ticket (at 450 euros) for the final. “I find myself in the general French disinterest since Sunday evening but I am still going to attend this event which remains a World Cup final,” specifies Adam. With my father, we thought we were experiencing the match of a lifetime, July 12, 1998 in rugby, so it’s difficult to swallow. It won’t have at all the same flavor as if the Blues were there, but it will still be a great poster. »
In the meantime, World Rugby may be struggling on the marketing side, by promoting by email “two prestigious matches not to be missed under any circumstances”, these will almost suffer from competition at the same time from the League’s programming 1, with Nice-Marseille on Saturday (9 p.m.), and even Le Havre-Lens this Friday evening. The excitement caused by the France-South Africa clash, with historic audience success for a rugby match in France (16.5 million viewers on TF1), seems a long way away. There, these two halves perceived as extremely unbalanced should have a figure much lower than France-Uruguay (11.7 million viewers), and even the Ireland-New Zealand quarter (9.3 million).
“Rugby fans or exclusive supporters of the French XV? »
Another symbolic element of the disinterest shown in France regarding these last nine days/last four matches of this World Cup: we learned on Thursday that the last main fan zones were closing in all directions, in Bordeaux, Nice and Toulouse (the largest in France with nearly 200,000 visitors welcomed since September 8 in the pink city). Other victims of the cursed decisive scratching of the Springboks second row Eben Etzebeth: the bars and restaurants having relied on the broadcasting of the matches on giant screens, in Paris and throughout France.
“We are obviously not going to hide it: we are disgusted to have been eliminated also for commercial reasons,” says Charles Louette, director of The Place to… Wagram, in Paris 17th century. As much as we were full at full with 140 customers for France-South Africa, we had almost no reservations for this weekend. We have fears about the crowds for the next two weekends: do we have major rugby fans in France or exclusive supporters of the French XV? » There is little doubt about the answer, when we see to what extent everything tends to make these two halves a flop in terms of audience and enthusiasm. Well, except for the kings of denial, who are jubilant at the idea of enjoying a Crunch on Saturday evening.