Wandering through the gilded walls of the old town of Aix-en-Provence in southern France, it was not unusual to come across a player from the French national team sitting on a restaurant terrace or enjoying an ice cream. Having arrived in the Provençal town ahead of their match against Namibia on September 21 at Marseille's Stade-Vélodrome (96-0), Les Bleus were busy preparing for the rest of their World Cup.
As the pool stage of the competition enters its final weekend, the French team has by no means cut itself off from the world. In fact, a handful of the players were among the crowds at a reception organized by the town hall on Tuesday, September 26, and the 2,000 spectators who turned out on September 28 for a training session open to the public gave them a triumphant welcome. "It's heart-warming. We feel supported, and we know we've got all of France behind us," said full-back Melvyn Jaminet.
While the French are aiming for nothing less than the Holy Grail in the tournament, they are also out to conquer fans and territories, as they have been touring France for months, from Capbreton in the west to Rueil-Malmaison outside Paris, Lille and soon Lyon – for the match against Italy on October 6 at 9 pm. "We have the advantage of hosting this competition, and that's a real blessing," said captain Antoine Dupont before the start of the World Cup. "We've been able to do all our preparation in our own country, among our own people and our fans." Like his teammates, the scrum-half – who rejoined the squad in Aix a week after undergoing surgery for a maxillo-zygomatic fracture – appreciated "the staff's choice to establish a close relationship" with the country.
This guiding principle has been traced by the Bleus' coaching staff since the first gatherings, at the end of 2019, in Montgesty, a stronghold of the Galthié family in southwestern France, where the coach's father is the village mayor, and then in Hossegor (Landes), not far from the roots of general manager Raphaël Ibañez. "Our motto is to gather, unite, and share with all French people," coach Fabien Galthié said on the sidelines of the match against Uruguay on September 14. Regularly, before meeting up with their players, the staff "train how to train" in a small local club, like in Belvès, in the heart of the Dordogne, at the beginning of January.
On September 12, the French rugby players were cheered on as they got off the TGV at Lille-Europe station – 80% of the World Cup teams' journeys are by train. An hour earlier, it was possible to line up at a bakery in the Gare du Nord, Paris, behind prop Uini Atonio and some of his teammates, in search of a hearty snack. They were all, of course, under the discreet but permanent protection of RAID agents, incorporated into the group at the beginning of July. "We're not living in a bubble. We've done everything to be close to the people who follow us, who will be in and around the stadiums," said Karim Ghezal, France's assistant coach, at the beginning of September. "Wherever we've been, we've made sure to mix with the people."
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