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'We're very confident... We are on track, we have sold the tickets' - Rivoal
Jacques Rivoal, the chairman of Rugby World Cup France 2023, believes the key difference between this year’s showpiece and the super popular 2007 edition of the tournament will be legacy. Over 2.2 million people attended the 2007 event 16 years ago and it is widely considered one of the sport’s best World Cups. The French are now determined to carry on where they left off and, where possible, even exceed that edition.
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RugbyPass recently caught up with Rivoal and Michel Poussau, the World Rugby chief of events, and the pair spoke about the goals of the tournament, what fans can expect, and what the all-important legacy of the competition will be.
What can fans expect from Rugby World Cup 2023?
Jacques Rivoal: The fans will have a big event. It will be an exceptional celebration. To show all the values and history of France. We will welcome over 600,000 foreign visitors. We are able to propose a huge fan experience for foreign visitors. In Lille, in Marseille, Nice and Bordeaux, we have museums, history, architecture and gastronomy.
Our target is to provide a better financial result than in the past, (be it) France in 2007 or England in 2015. Our target will be to beat those two World Cups. For us, that is a reference. Japan is difficult to compare due to a different cultural approach to the tournament.
It will be very good in terms of financial results. We will have a legacy and the financial results will contribute to the development of rugby in France.
Michel Poussau: What we can expect from a competitiveness point of view is an amazing tournament because of where rugby is at the moment. We have newcomers like Chile and countries like Portugal coming back. We have never had 20 teams so close to each other. From a competition point of view, it will be the most competitive World Cup ever.
The scope of the tournament will see games hosted in less traditional cities as well as the French rugby strongholds, what is the thinking?
Poussau: This World Cup is about territories and all of France. You mention Lille but you can go to Nantes, which isn’t traditionally a rugby territory you would say. I remember in 2007 some of the best games happened in Nantes and these guys are still holding all of these memories, so we are sure the tournament going to Nantes will be amazing and a boost to rugby in the area.
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Rivoal: This is the first time we will deliver a Rugby World Cup with a very strong action plan in terms of corporate social responsibility. We have to work on this topic. Not only 48 matches and 600,000 foreign visitors, but on top of that we have to work on corporate social responsibility… It’s fully integrated into the budget.
What lessons were learned from previous Rugby World Cups and, in particular, France 2007?
Poussau: Lessons are learned following each of these events [Rugby World Cups]. They are not things we want to do completely differently. Overall we want to carry on the legacy of 2007 and as much as possible exceed what was a very big, popular success.
Rivoal: 2007 was a success. Perhaps the weakness of this tournament was the legacy. We were told we do not have time to prepare the legacy of the (2007) event. This is what we will try to improve this year. We have a training programme with more than 3,000 youths working already in rugby clubs. This will be the first proof of our legacy to help rugby to be better than before.
We are awaiting the increase in participation in club rugby. Our forecast is for 30 per cent more youth involvement at clubs. We have to improve the clubs in terms of equipment to be sure to welcome with a good level of standards the huge increase in participants.
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Fan zones and cultural events have become synonymous with Rugby World Cups. Is what happens off the pitch as important as what happens on it?
Poussau: This will definitely be part of the celebration. We will have rugby villages and we have very strong plans for France 2023 and the host cities. That will definitely be part of the journey and part of the event. When you speak about France and the French, the country is really ready to welcome the world.
We know from recent studies that 75 per cent of the French know about the event and support the event. Nearly 90 per cent of the French will have an interaction with the tournament itself. It will be different from Japan as the French population is different. You have mentioned the welcoming habits of our Japanese friends and it will be different in France, but the territories and people will be there to welcome fans from all over the world.
Seven months out from the Rugby World Cup, do you feel pressure?
Rivoal: I would not use the word pressure. I would use the word excitation. All the stakeholders are very, very motivated now we are in the year of the Rugby World Cup. The host cities, the sponsors, the rugby players, the clubs, the professional clubs – all the people are very motivated about the event. It’s not a negative pressure. It’s a positive pressure.
Excitation is increasing. We are very confident about the event. We are on track. We have sold the tickets. We have all the sponsors. Now we enter an operative phase. This week we start with the venue tour. We have 100 people working in the nine host cities to prepare the welcome of the competition. With all the specialists of the back office of the event.
Comments on RugbyPass
It’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a very big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
24 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
1 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
24 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
1 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
24 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
14 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
24 Go to comments