“On one side the clowns, on the other the circus bosses”: why this two-speed Rugby World Cup?

There are the beautiful images on one side. The mix of cultures brought to France by supporters from the ends of the world, from Chile to Samoa via Japan or Namibia. And there is the sporting observation of the other. With an average difference of 32 points over the first 24 matches, the 2023 World Cup is the most unbalanced since the 2003 edition. By passing 96 points to the Namibians last Thursday, the French team inflicted the biggest beating of the World Cup in 20 years, behind the Australian’s 142-0 in 2003 against the same Namibia. “A massacre,” says our consultant Pierre Berbizier, former coach of the XV of France.