Robb writes: Walking through the streets of Marseilles last night was a fairly mundane affair. The locals were crowding around televisions outside their favourite cafes and bars but there really wasn’t the buzz that you might expect after their crushing victory over the Irish squad.
To an avid rugby fan, this lack of passion from the Cup’s host nation spells the end of Northern hemisphere hopes of retaining the prize. Whereas the French victory was convincing, it was scrappy and everyone on the park looked rushed, they don’t look ready to face a gruelling match against a well drilled pack.
France still looks like the Northern Hemisphere’s best chance given that they are capable of unsettling a team with their swift outside backs and a penchant for devastating counter attack (a similar gamestyle to the Kiwis), but this year you will need more than that…and you at least need some passion for the game.
Reports from Paris suggest that the lead up to the Euro 2008 game between France and Lithuania (Oct 17) is getting more interest than the current Rugby fixtures…
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Spiro Zavos said | September 23rd 2007 @ 11:15am | Report comment
The thing about Marseilles is that it is a football town. They turn up for the rugby for big matches, but the city loves football. You see all the kids playing football. I don’t think I saw anyone with a rugby ball when I was there for the All Blacks opening match against Italy. The ground was packed though and the spirit in the town in the Old Port that night was buzzing. But mainly because of the Italian and New Zealand visitors.
This has been a problem in France throughout the RWC tournament, in fact. The rugby has been terrific. There have been upsets and near-upsets, starting off with the Pumas defeating France in the opening match. But TV sports news often leads with the Women’s Football World Cup news, or local football news rather than the RWC tournament.