The wearers of blue bibs mix with the wearers of white bibs, a few balls fly from hand to hand, all immortalized by the cameras and photographers authorized to follow the first quarter of an hour of the match eve training session.
Same day, same time and same scene as a week earlier, but different location. A week after facing South Africa in its usual Stade de France, the XV of France relocates to Bordeaux to welcome Fiji this Saturday (9:10 p.m.) at the Atlantique stadium.
A first in Gironde since 2021, and already an autumn tour where the Blues came to dominate Georgia (41-15). But why did you choose to play this meeting against the Fijians, between two matches in Saint-Denis (South Africa, and Australia on November 22)?
“In this kind of scenario, we lost money”
Already, because the French rugby federation (FFR) has much more possibility than in the past. His contract with GL Events, manager of the Stade de France since August, only requires him to play four matches there per year. The possibility which allows it to avoid, as in November 2024, having a partially empty enclosure against Japan with 50,000 spectators out of 80,000 potential. The fault lies with a Parisian public who, faced with competition from more prestigious acts, did not fill the stadium.
“In this kind of scenario, we lost money,” recognizes the president of the FFR, Florian Grill. There, we decided to schedule this meeting in Bordeaux, which was very keen to welcome us. » The city has, like Lille, Lyon or Marseille, a stadium capable of accommodating at least 40,000 people, the federation’s minimum capacity to accommodate Fabien Galthié’s men. None of the parties wished to communicate the amount paid by the FFR to move its flagship team there, but this is incommensurable with Saint-Denis.
“It brings in enough money for us to consider it necessary to host this meeting,” underlines the director of Stade Bordeaux, Julien Cottin. It also allows this territory to shine. Everyone is a winner. » The south-west public took their time, with the last few seats sold in recent days, but the stadium will be sold out against the Fijians, with 42,115 spectators expected.
A significant event for the enclosure built in 2015, whose need for financial income has increased further in recent months. The stadium, managed since August under public management after the withdrawal of the SBA company, no longer has a professional team in residence after the demotion to National 2 in 2024 of the Girondins de Bordeaux, a monument in distress to French football. The naming contract with Matmut ended this summer, and the place is looking for a new company to rename it.
A record for the French women’s team hoped for in May
It therefore needs events to showcase itself, and reduce the cost for the Bordeaux metropolis. There will therefore be this France-Fiji, but also the probable “final” of the Women’s Six Nations Tournament between the French XV and England on May 17. Both the Stadium and the FFR hope on this occasion to break the attendance record in France for a women’s rugby union match, held since 2024 by another France-England in Bordeaux, but at the Chaban-Delmas stadium.
If the holding of the two matches was negotiated jointly, the organization of the final of the world rugby sevens circuit in June 2026, made official in September, was stalled along the way. The opportunity for Bordeaux to welcome the French Olympic champions.
Florian Grill assures us: he balances the organization of these meetings in the provinces with commitments to develop rugby in the region concerned. In the case of Bordeaux, the president of the FFR mentions “discussions to improve infrastructure”. In the meantime, it’s a stadium eager for a high level where his Blues will challenge Fiji on Friday.
