The “final” of the tournament between France and England will be played on Saturday at the Chaban-Delmas stadium in Bordeaux. And already a record has been broken: that of the attendance for a women’s rugby match in France.
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“If there is as much audience as we hope, it will help us to galvanize ourselves even more,” hopes Friday April 26 on France Bleu Gironde Annaëlle Deshayes, pillar of the XV of France and Stade Bordelais, on the eve of the last match of the Women’s Six Nations Tournament between France and England at the Chaban-Delmas stadium in Bordeaux.
With this Crunch, the final victory in the tournament and the grand slam is decided on Saturday. The match will break the attendance record for a women’s rugby match in France. The Chaban-Delmas stadium is almost full and could be sold out on Saturday. An attendance four times higher than the spectator record in Elite 1, the French women’s rugby championship, recalls France Bleu Gironde.
“We’re used to playing there, but with an empty stadium, so seeing it full would just be huge.”
Annaëlle Deshayes, pillar of the XV of Franceat France Bleu Gironde
It is “necessarily” an additional motivation to play in Bordeaux, around so many spectators, “knowing that in addition the 16th man counts a lot on matches like this which can be close at the end, so we hope that the public will be there and will be there to encourage us in moments that are a little complicated for us” .
“The impossible is possible”
The match promises to be tough because the XV of France has suffered 12 consecutive defeats against the English, recalls France Bleu Gironde. “We tell ourselves that the impossible is possible. We can’t wait to play this match, we don’t necessarily think about the defeats that there have been before, we tell ourselves that it’s a new group, a new staff, we worked in another way, so as to be able to evolve even more”, continues Annaëlle Deshayes.
Victory will be played out “on details, we will have to be pragmatic as they can be, not make mistakes or give them the opportunity to score or anything else, predicts Annaëlle Deshayes. If there is as much of an audience as we hope, it will help us to galvanize ourselves even more and to be able to win even more these little meters that we are not necessarily used to winning.” “We have a great group, we get along really well and we are building a story, we are growing from match to match, it shows and it is felt in the group.” concludes Annaëlle Deshayes.