With the Men's Rugby World Cup less than a year away we take a look at the top stadiums in France which will be hosting some of the RWC fixtures.
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We kick off with France's number 1 stadium in the country which regularly plays host to Rugby Union and Football games across the sporting calendar. This stadium was built for the 1998 Fifa World Cup, but has now become the home of French rugby, hosting a total of 97 internationals, including a RWC 1999 quarter-final and the RWC final in 2007 where South Africa beat England 15-6. In its' 80,000 seat capacity the Stade de France will host a total of 10 matches, and starts the tournament off with a highly anticipated game between the hosts Le Blues and the All Blacks.
Stadium de Toulouse has gone through three renovations since its' creation as the Fifa World Cups 1938 main venue but has also hosted plenty of European and Top 14 rugby games. Rugby club Stade Toulousain play their home games here so it's no stranger to the elite action from one of the top leagues in world Rugby. The stadium is located in the South of France, only a few miles away from the Spanish border, and is idyllically set on an island in the river Garonne. It has 5 RWC 2023 games scheduled in its' 33,000-seater stadium, including 2 games for the Japanese national side and 1 for New Zealand.
The Parc Olympique Lyonnais is home to football side Olympique Lyonnais, but has hosted some extremely important Rugby Union matches since its’ opening in 2016. Both the European Champions Cup and Challenge Cup finals where both held here and was almost full to bursting in the Top 14 clash between Montpellier HR and Lyon OU in 2018. This state-of-the-art stadium has 'hybrid turf' sewn into the pitch where underneath the natural grass there is a layer of sand and cork fibre before you hit the soil which is said to reduce the risk of injury by up to 40%.
Allianz Riviera is usually host to Liga 1 side OGC Nice, but Rugby Club Toulonnais have also been known to play a few domestic games there. The stadium has only hosted 1 Rugby Union match to date which featured France's comfortable win over Scotland 32-3 on 17 August, 2019. Stade de Nice is due to host just 4 matches during RWC 2023, with Wales, England, Japan, Italy and Scotland among some the teams to enjoy its' 35,169 capacity. Situated on the Côte d’Azur (the French Riviera hence the name), is just to the west of Monaco, offering exceptional coastal scenery outside the ground for the fans to soak up the Mediterranean sea and the glamorous beach resorts of Saint-Tropez and Cannes.
In the North of France near the French border you will find the Stade Pierre-Mauroy, which hosts anything from Football, to Rugby, to Music concerts. This is mainly due to its' state-of-the-art pitch configuration, where you can design the layout of the turf mechanically through a series of moving parts underneath the pitch's surface. It was opened in August 2012 and just 3 months later hosted its first rugby match as France beat Argentina 39-22. It is currently used by football club Lille OSC but come RWC 2023 will be hosting 5 matches with the likes of France, England, Scotland, and Samoa playing with a maximum of 50,000 spectators, in any weather conditions due to its' sliding roof.
