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What to expect from France’s Rugby World Cup opening ceremony

Ahead of the first match of the Rugby World Cup, hosts France will be holding a spectacular opening ceremony featuring an Oscar-winning actor at the Stade de France.

Published: 25 August 2023 11:53 CEST
Updated: 8 September 2023 13:41 CEST
France rugby supporters at Stade de France
France supporters are set to pack Stade de France on September 8th for the opening match of the Rugby World Cup. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP)

It’s the question on every rugby fan’s lips . . .

No – not the one about whether France can beat New Zealand in the opening match on September 8th (they can, but it definitely won’t be easy). 

Or the one about the logic of holding the draw three years ahead of the tournament. (Yes, the top five sides in the world heading into the tournament are on the same side of the draw, it’s happened – live with it.)

READ ALSO What you need to know about visiting France for the Rugby World Cup

Not the one, either, about whether misfiring England will make it out of their pool (no comment).

The question that matters is – what’s going on with the opening ceremony?

Here’s what we know…

READ ALSO Beer, balls and tackles: French vocab you’ll need for the Rugby World Cup

Jean Dujardin is involved

The Oscar-winner and celebrity French rugby fan will host a 20-minute opening spectacular at Stade de France before kick-off of the opening match between hosts France and three-time champions New Zealand on the evening of Friday, September 8th. 

We’ve been promised, “a cast of stars in a show that will celebrate the best of France,” according to World Rugby. 

And Dujardin revealed a bit more about what’s involved this week.

For a little over 20 minutes, spectators at Stade de France and television viewers will be immersed in a love story about a baker (Dujardin) and a costume designer (prima ballerina Alice Renavand) set in a 1950s French village.

A total 33 high-profile guests – including singers Vianney and Zaz, environmentalist Yann Arthus Bertrand and chefs Guy Savoy and Yves Camdeborde – and 200 volunteers “will represent France’s unique savoir-faire in the realms of gastronomy, sports and the arts”, the governing body has said.

It’s something of a love letter to France’s romantic past – with modern dance touches. Dujardin described the performance as “physical” for a reason. Also the Patrouille de France is set for a flyover of the stadium as the show draws to a close – and the main event nears.

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Jean Dujardin (@jeandujardin)

Can we get tickets?

At this late stage? Not through the official resale site. Elsewhere, some resale sites apparently do have a few tickets available, but you’ll pay through the nose for them. Also be aware that resale sites are not approved to sell tickets, so there’s a risk of being scammed if you use one. Honestly, now, unless you’re ridiculously lucky, it’s too late.   

So, how can we watch?

If you’re not lucky enough to be among the 80,000-plus crowd at Stade de France, the good news is that the whole shebang will be on TV. In France, the opening ceremony and the France v New Zealand match is on free-to-air channel TF1.

You could also head to one of the fan zones in France’s 9 host cities – these will be showing the opening ceremony and match on big screens with entertainment, snacks and (of course) beer.

Through the tournament, every match in the tournament is available free to air on TF1, as well as France Televisions and M6.

Rights holder TF1 will show 20 matches, including all matches involving France, while France Télévisions has 10 matches and M6 will show 18 games. 

When is it on?

The big match kicks off at 9.15pm on Friday, September 8th. The opening ceremony starts at 8pm – after which the two teams will have a shortened warm-up period on the pitch before returning to their dressing rooms ahead of the anthems – and kick-off.

READ ALSO France’s ‘oval world’ where rugby is king

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FOOD AND DRINK

Paris bakers attempt world’s longest baguette

A dozen French bakers have set their minds to beating the world record for the world's longest baguette - hoping to join a long list of French records from stretchiest aligot to biggest tarte tatin.

Published: 3 May 2024 13:36 CEST
Paris bakers attempt world's longest baguette

On Sunday, 12 Paris bakers will attempt to beat the world record for the longest baguette, as part of the Suresnes Baguette Show, which was organised by the French confederation of bakers and pastry chefs. 

The current record is held by Italian bakers, who in 2019 baked a 132.6 m long baguette – roughly the height of the Great Pyramid at Giza (which is now about 138.5 metres tall). 

By contrast, the standard French baguette is between 60 and 70 centimetres long, and roughly 5-7cm in diametre.

The French boulangers will have some challenges – they’ll need to knead all of the dough and then put it together on site. The only ingredients allowed are flour, water, yeast and salt. In order to count, the bread will have to be at least 5cm thick across its entire length.

According to the press release for the event, cooking the giant baguette will take at least eight hours.

Once it’s prepared, it will be up to the judges from the Guinness Book of World Records to determine if the record was beaten or not.

Then, the baguette will be cut up and Nutella will be spread across it, with part of it shared with the public and the other part handed out to homeless people.

What about other French world records?

There are official competitions every year to mark the best croissant and baguette, plus plenty of bizarre festivals in towns across France.

The French also like to try their hand at world records. 

Stretchiest aligot – If you haven’t come across aligot before, it’s basically a superior form of cheesy mash – it’s made by mixing mashed potato with butter, garlic, cream and cheese.

The traditional cheese used is Laguiole but you can also use tomme or any cheese that goes stringy when stretched. That stretchiness is very important – it makes aligot is a popular dish for world records. 

In 2020, three brothers managed to stretch the aligot 6.2m, and apparently in 2021 they broke that record too (though unofficially), by adding an extra metre.

READ MORE: 5 things to know about aligot – France’s cheesy winter dish

And in 2023, in Albi in southern France, local media reported that a man had made the world’s largest aligot (not the stretchiest). He reportedly used 200kg of potatoes and 100kg of Aubrac tomme cheese. 

Cheesy pizza – A Lyon-based pizza maker, Benoît Bruel, won a spot in the 2023 Guinness Book of World Records for creating a pizza with 1,001 cheeses on top of it. 

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Déliss Pizza (@delisspizza)

Biggest raclette – In March, the city of Saint-Etienne in France claimed the world record for the ‘largest raclette’.

There were 2,236 people who participated, and the raclette involved 620 kg of cheese, 350 kg of cold meat and one tonne of potatoes. 

Largest omelette – Unfortunately, France does not hold this title anymore, though it did in 1994, when the town of Montourtier in the département of Mayenne cooked up an omelette on a giant pan with a 13.11m diameter. 

Currently, the title is held by Portugal, according to Guinness. In 2012, the town of Santarém cooked an omelette weighing 7.466 tonnes.

Still, France cooks giant omelettes all the time. Every Easter, the ‘Brotherhood of the Giant Omelette’ cooks up one, cracking thousands of eggs and passing out portions to the people in the town of Bessières.

Largest tarte tatin – The French town of Lamotte-Beuvron also beat a world record in 2019 for making the largest tarte tatin, which weighed 308kg. 

This isn’t the first time the French have experimented with gigantic apple pies. In 2000, the country made history (and the Guinness Book of World Records) for creating an apple pie that measured 15.2m in diameter. It used 13,500 apples and required a crane to be lifted (as shown below).

(Photo by MICHEL HERMANS / AFP)
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