before the Six Nations Tournament, the French XV forced to reduce their lifestyle

While the FFR is experiencing financial difficulties, everyone is called upon to contribute. Including the players, who prefer to smile.

In rugby, no week in the sun for the French XV. Unlike the three previous years, no training camp in Nice, Aix-en-Provence or Capbreton to launch the 2024 season. It is in Marcoussis, in Essonne, at the National Rugby Center, that the Blues are preparing the Six Nations Tournament, which begins Friday February 2 with an enticing France – Ireland. The reason ? The French Rugby Federation is short of money and everyone is called upon to try to replenish the coffers.

40 million euros is the forecast deficit for the Federation. Add to that a shortfall of two million euros per home match this year due to Stade de France being unavailable. Logically, Florian Grill, the president of the FFR, asked the XV of France to reduce their lifestyle: “During this period, we are not crazy: the Blues represent 80% of our income, so we are not going to cut the human resources made available to the France team.”he specifies.

“We can do internships in Marcoussis instead of doing them all over France. We can moderate the quality of the hotels we go to, we can make operational savings”

Florian Grill

at franceinfo

So there are free rooms and grounds in the south of the Paris region, but for players, no problem. “I live in La Rochelle, it rains all year round, it’s windy all year round, it’s cold nine months out of twelve…. So, here, it’s okay“, laughs the third line Paul Boudehent.

Better yet: Laurent Sempéré, new assistant coach, even sees it as an advantage for working on cohesion. “We are in Marcoussis together 24 hours a day, we live in the same place, so that helps speed things up.“, he says positively, in reference to, why not, a capital victory on Friday against Ireland, which would open a royal road to the 11th Grand Slam in the history of the Blues.