The All Blacks arrived this Monday in Bordeaux for a week of training at the UBB facilities but they wanted to open training to the public this Monday in Chaban-Delmas. The ten thousand places available for this event were allocated in less than thirty minutes.
Chaban-Delmas vibrated this Monday. Ten thousand people in the stands, refreshment stands open, music blaring from the speakers, giant clapping before a ball even appears on the pitch. It was a real match atmosphere in Bordeaux for the first training (and certainly the only one) open to the public of the All Blacks. Black magic still works. There was no doubt about this since the ten thousand (free) places available for this event were all gone in less than thirty minutes, while the capacity planned for this training had been increased by three thousand places due to high demand.
Despite capricious weather with violent showers at the start of the session, the atmosphere did not subside during the forty-five minutes spent by the All Blacks on the pitch at Chaban-Delmas. “It’s a unique opportunity to see this legendary team since they are not playing a match in Bordeaux during this World Cup”, enthused a mother who came with her whole family. The children present were especially waiting to see the Barrett brothers and scrum-half Aaron Smith in action, whose names kept coming up in the stands.
“When you love rugby, you obviously love the All Blacks”
Each movement concluded with a try was warmly applauded, which even surprised the All Blacks like three-quarter center Rieko Ioane: “We discussed it among ourselves, it’s the first time for many of us that we’ve seen so many people for a simple training session. There are more people here than in some of our Super Rugby matches. We enjoy this encouragement and this support from the fans. We love the French! They support us. We really appreciate the support they give us. We come back from Toulouse, and whether it’s there or here, we really love all this support “The All Blacks were also able to measure this love during the welcome ceremony upon their arrival in Lyon. “When you love rugby, you obviously love the All Blacks”, could we hear from the Girondin supporters present. Ian Foster’s players, on training for a week in Bordeaux, did not fail to commune with the public, participating in a clapping at the end of training then taking the time to contact the fans, signing autographs and posing for souvenir photos.
Mo’unga discovers the region
Joe Schmidt, former manager of Clermont and now assistant to coach Ian Foster, also took the floor to thank the supporters present in French, accompanied by the mayor of the city Pierre Hurmic and his counterpart from Bègles, Clément Rossignol-Puech.
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For his part, Richie Mo’Unga admitted that he was discovering the region for the first time: “I know we make a lot of wine here. Maybe the guys will get to taste it this week. But that’s all I know to be honest.” It is not certain that Ian Foster concedes this pleasure to these players, he who is counting on this week of training in Bordeaux: “The week without a match is always tricky to negotiate in a World Cup. It offers a bit of respite, but we have scheduled two very intense sessions to work hard. We haven’t been able to do many physical sessions so far and we have the opportunity.”
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