One room, two atmospheres. Just a few days after the draw of Didier Deschamps’ Blues against Israel in the League of Nations (0-0), the friendly match between the French XV and New Zealand on Saturday evening at the Stade de France offered a terrible contrast. Certainly contested in radically different contexts, these two meetings exacerbated opposing enthusiasm two days apart. In full decline, the love rating of the French football team has taken another hit.
In any case, this is the feeling that emerged from the numerous comments posted during the evening on social networks. For observers, the thing is understood. For the journalist Dominique Grimault for example: “It is no longer a gap that separates our French rugby and football teams, but a gulf…” An identical story from his colleague Florian Gazan: “There are some Blues at the Stade de France who are making people vibrate this week. And they play with an oval ball! Bravo to the XV of France! »
A “gap” between the two selections
Journalist at The TeamErik Bielderman wrote this: “It’s still nice to have a French team that wants to sing the Marseillaise. » As for Internet users, the comments were still quite divided, many of them deploring this comparison between the two sports and recalling that the football Blues were double world champions when their rugby counterparts still had not the slightest star on their jersey.
1998 world champion with Aimé Jacquet’s Blues, Lionel Charbonnier posted a comment in praise of rugby:
“This Stade de France, the staging, the Marseillaise. BEAUTIFUL LESSON of the oval!!! Hats off to the artists. And thank you already for that. » While waiting for the French football team to win back the hearts of supporters, the XV of France is filling up.
