While the XV of France is currently shining in the Six Nations Tournament, the daily L’Equipe takes the opportunity to highlight the Rugby World Cup to be held in 2023 in France. A special issue of the newspaper comes out this Friday on newsstands with different front pages depending on the region. Nine different front pages for the nine cities which will host the competition, each time with a player from the French team associated with it. The love story between Romain Ntamack and Toulouse, Gaël Fickou, a fan of Olympique de Marseille, the very strong ties between Demba Bamba and Saint-Denis, etc.
The team also goes over everything you need to know about the World Cup: the map of the sites, the composition of the pools, reports on the cities, etc. For Jérôme Cazadieu, editorial director of the daily, “it was important to show that the Rugby World Cup was going to take place in a context where the French team has never been so successful and in a position to win the tournament“. *
Discover the nine different front pages of the special issue of L’Equipe dedicated to the 2023 World Cup:
Originally from La Seyne-sur-mer, Gaël Fickou has always been a fan of Olympique de Marseille. The three-quarter center of the Blues knows the Vélodrome stadium well, which will host six World Cup matches.
– Stéphane Mantey and Etienne Garnier/The Team
The Stade de France in Saint-Denis will host several matches as well as the Rugby World Cup final and who other than Demba Bamba to mention it in the pages of L’Equipe? The right pillar was born in the northern city of Paris and is heavily involved in the neighborhood where he grew up.
– Stéphane Mantey and Etienne Garnier
The Union Bordeaux-Bègles currently dominates the Top 14 championship, the opportunity to look back on the renaissance of rugby in Bordeaux since the rise of the UBB in the elite in 2011.
– Stéphane Mantey and Etienne Garnier
The Beaujoire stadium in Nantes will host 4 matches and the newspaper looks back on the strong history that links the city to rugby. A somewhat forgotten passion but just waiting to be reborn.
– Stéphane Mantey and Etienne Garnier
In Lyon, rugby experienced a long period of scarcity before returning to the top. The Groupama Stadium five matches, including France-Italy on October 6. The Team on the beautiful epic of the LOU and its dreams of title.
– Stéphane Mantey and Etienne Garnier
The Allianz Riviera, home of the Aiglons, will host 4 group matches during the World Cup. For the occasion, the newspaper interviewed Jean-François Tordo, former hooker and captain of the Blues to evoke the soul of rugby in his favorite city.
– Stéphane Mantey and Etienne Garnier
If the North is not the region of France best known for its love of the oval ball, rugby is nevertheless developing there little by little. Hosting five games in 2023 including France and England could pick up the pace.
– Stéphane Mantey and Etienne Garnier
It’s not just the Greens who know how to boil the Cauldron. The mythical Geoffroy Guichard stadium had already hosted World Cup matches in 2007 and will start again in 2023. A stadium adopted by Clermont in the league, which has had great memories there.
– Stéphane Mantey and Etienne Garnier
Finally, it is the unmissable Toulouse which is highlighted in this special issue of L’Equipe. The daily returns to the beautiful love story between Romain Ntamack and the Pink City. An affair started by Emile, the father of the Blues opener.
– Stéphane Mantey and Etienne Garnier