Argentina v England 09.09.23

We caught the early train from Montpellier to Marseille passing through the historic towns of Nîmes and Arles. Broadly following the coastline, I hoped we might clip the top of the Camargue on our journey but alas, I didn’t see any white horses or pink flamingoes.

90 minutes later we arrived in Marseille Saint-Charles and stepped off the train into a place of carnage, where huge numbers of Argentina, England, Scotland and South Africa rugby fans were pouring into the city from all directions for the weekend’s two matches.

A city of contrasts

My first impressions of Marseille were that it was exciting, intense and menacing. Immediately outside the train station, we had a nasty experience while waiting for a bus courtesy of a local druggie. I won’t say any more in case my wife reads this blog post but it was unpleasant and not much of a welcome to the city.

On the bus up to Notre-Dame de la Gard, we recalibrated and struck up a conversation with a friendly Canadian guy who was visiting Europe for the very first time. Being the highest point of the city, I thought it would be a cool area to stay because of the amazing views across the Côte d’Azur. The only problem is Notre-Dames isn’t very accessible, but as it turned out this wasn’t a problem because we spent so little time up there, which no doubt was the reason we received a 5 star review from the Airbnb owner.

Step outside, summertime’s in bloom

Bags dropped off, reference videos recorded in case we forgot the way back, it was down to the Vieux Port for some fun. With over seven hours to kick off, the place was absolutely rocking. I’ve never seen anything like it and probably never ever will again; a four way party in glorious sunshine against a backdrop of pastel coloured buildings and the Mediterranean sea.

Everywhere you looked, people were having a good time. It was great to hang out with the Argentina fans, who were there in their thousands and most of whom had Messi printed on the back of their shirts. The pace was relentless and with still five hours to go, the band in the bar we had frequented started performing the big Oasis numbers – yes the ones you normally only hear at the end of the night!

Did someone mention rugby?

By late afternoon, people started remembering why they had travelled to Marseille. “Haven’t we got a match to get to?” or “does anyone know how to get to the stadium?” were the gist of many a conversation. Thankfully, the transport system was able to cope with the sudden exodus of the multitudes and within 15 minutes we had arrived at our destination. Unfortunately, the organisation around the stadium was poor and numerous lengthy security checks led to a dangerous build up of people from the Metro all the way up the steps to the stadium. Mercifully everyone kept calm and we eventually got through the final cordon into the Velodrome.

And wow what a sight, the home of Olympic Marseille is an absolute stunner of a stadium, sleek and curvy with a flowing roof line that conspires to form a perfect ellipse over the pitch. The atmosphere was electric and with an even split of Argentina and England fans, it felt more like an football match but without any of the argy-bargy.

Argentina v England, the Anthems

As national anthems go, you couldn’t find two more contrasting pieces of music in terms of both sentiment and length. Himno Nacional Argentino, has a lengthy introduction which everyone vocalises and bounces along to before the verse is belted out and the players start to cry. Magnificent stuff. God Save the King, as we all know can sometimes be a bit flat and the timing always seems to go awry, but on this occasion sung with puffed out chests and shoulders back it was a thing to behold.

The match kicked off and within three minutes England’s Tom Curry received a yellow card that was upgraded to red. This seemed to galvanise England, Manu Tuilagi moved to flanker and Ben Earl played with incredible energy. The star of the show was however George Ford, who dropped three goals within nine minutes and scored all of England’s 27 points.

For their part, Argentina had no answer to England’s ferocity and the frustration started to show. They did manage a consolation try from Rodrigo Bruni but overall I thought Los Pumas were disappointing. The match finished England 27 Argentina 10.

After the match it was back to the Vieux Port, where the Scots had done a sterling job holding the fort till we all got back. Thankfully, they hadn’t drunk the place dry and we all partied long into the night.

Now about than clan march we were invited to…