The smell of stale beer was unmistakable seconds after crossing the threshold of the ornate Gare St Charles in Marseilles, leaving behind the forecourt terrace, a lofty vantage point with its panoramic views including the famous Eglise Notre Dame de la Garde perched atop a hill, to the south of the Vieux Port.
Mingling with the traditional Monday morning commuters were thousands of rugby supporters in their national colours, but for some, they were identifiable by a careworn complexion that had nothing to do with the result of matches and everything to do with protracted exposure to the Marseilles nightlife over a 48 or 72-hour period.
Throw in the 31-degree daytime temperature and brilliant sunshine and it’s a hard-core social cocktail. A shower, razor, aftershave and deodorant can only do so much to mask the musk, especially for those whose jerseys have seen more action over the weekend than the players they support.
The 14 platforms collect and disperse, England and Scotland supporters temporary travelling companions on the TGV to Nice, so too some of the large South African contingent, who are returning to the port city of Toulon.
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Match results will have informed the general mood in separating the winners and losers no matter who they supported, there was a common bond, the “Marseilles World Cup experience”. The chaos outside the stadium approaching kick-off time for England’s game against Argentina on Saturday night was a mess, logistically and a far cry from the colour and bonhomie earlier in the afternoon.
Thousands were trapped in interminable queues, a lack of signage and verbal direction meant that supporters struggled to find the correct entry point. The paucity of facilities inside, particularly food and bottled water, didn’t really improve the mood for the frustrated, the hot and the bothered, especially when occasionally met with a Gallic shrug.
A central problem was the lack of information in advance, where to go, how to get there, what stop to get off the Marseilles Metro depending on stand and seat location and the absolute necessity to bring food and water. France 2023, the organising committee, was caught short.
World Rugby released a statement, and this was swiftly followed by one from France 2023 who resolved to have more service volunteers on hand to assist the supporters, that announcements would be made in English and French on the Metro and sundry other improvements for South Africa’s game against Scotland 24 hours later.
It begged the question as to why it wasn’t part of the tournament pre-planning stage, given that they are reasonably rudimentary considerations. The organisation around the Sunday game was better but again far from perfect. There were other issues.
What do you call five media people stuck in a lift? Most would respond, “a start”, but the 90-seconds of sweaty claustrophobia was enough to drive the trapped to take matters in hand and prise open the doors. Less than a minute later it wasn’t oversubscribed when it started its journey to the seventh floor.
There are two hotels in close proximity to the Velodrome, both available for under €150 in the normal course of events. In France it is mandatory for hotels to display their room price so, in all its neon glory, the nearest one to the stadium was charging €899 a night last Thursday and they’d give you back a euro in change if you handed over €1,000 per night for Friday and Saturday.
The three-star Ibis hotel around the corner from the train station would normally charge less than €300 for a four-night stay but from Thursday to Sunday last week it was €1,345, not including the city tax of another €8. That’s not to suggest for one moment that those super tariffs wouldn’t have been in place if Ireland rather than France had won when they contested the bidding rights to stage this World Cup.
Those who took the Metro to the stadium less than three hours before kick-off were nicely broiled by the time the doors swung open at their destination while on the way home there were varied techniques on display in vaulting/clambering/falling over the unstaffed barriers to get access to the platform.
The Metro provided a personal highlight of the tournament to date as a gaggle of Pumas supporters decided to reprise what they had done in the stadium, in belting out their rugby anthem while bouncing up and down. It was brilliant.
The English translation of what they sang is: “Hear, mortals, the sacred cry: “Freedom! Freedom! Freedom! Hear the sound of broken chains, see noble equality enthroned. Their most worthy throne have now opened the united provinces of the south.
“And the free people of the world reply: To the great Argentinian people, hail! To the great Argentinian people, hail! And the free ones of the world reply: To the great Argentinian people, hail! And the free ones of the world reply: To the great Argentinian people, hail!”
It’s more guttural sounding in Spanish.
There were other enjoyable times, the old port heaving with bodies on the Friday night – the fan zone was reputedly closed – to watch France beat New Zealand on the opening night, the match beamed onto a wall outside O’Malley’s pub, restaurants putting tables and chairs on the street to cater for those desperate to catch a glimpse on televisions big and small, even on the ones that froze occasionally when the internet sat down. It was that kind of weekend.
With other tournament matches scheduled for the Velodrome including two quarter-finals – Ireland play there next year in the Six Nations – Marseilles will get an opportunity to better showcase its virtues as a rugby venue. Having dropped the ball initially they must pick it up.
