Laura Laplaud 1:02 p.m., January 30, 2024

The French XV will face Ireland during the VI Nations Tournament this Friday at 9 p.m. at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille. A match, which like the other two at home, will not be played in the usual venue of Saint-Denis, due to work.

You were waiting for them, here they are again. Three months after their disillusionment in the World Cup, the French XV sets out again to conquer the Six Nations Tournament this Friday with a first match against Ireland at the Stade Vélodrome. The composition of the Blues will be known on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m.

The matches will be played in three different regions

France will host three matches on home soil during the competition (February 2-March 16) but none will be played at the Stade de France. Fabien Galthié's players will therefore travel to the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille this Friday then to the Pierre-Mauroy stadium in Lille on February 25 to face Italy before joining England at Parc OL in Lyon on March 16. 

For what ? Because the Blues' usual venue closed its doors the day after the Rugby World Cup final for a period of nine months with the aim of getting a makeover (lighting, giant screens, installation of 5G, new lawn, athletics track, etc.). In their sights, the Paris Olympic Games. The Stade de France, located in Saint-Denis, will host the athletics and rugby sevens events.

The FFR requests compensation from the Games Organizing Committee

Bad news for the French Rugby Federation which hoped, with the VI Nations Tournament, to replenish the coffers a little by seeing 80,000 supporters arrive at each match. The FFR suffers from an operating deficit of 40 million euros over the last two years.

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“It’s practically two million euros per match on the two big posters of Ireland and England,” said Claude Helias, the General Treasurer of the FFR, indicating that he had submitted a request for compensation to the Committee. organization of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. “Since we cannot play at the Stade de France because of the work, we turned to them to start discussions.”

The Olympic and Paralympic Games will take place in France from July 26 to August 11 then August 28 to September 8.