Samoa v England 07.10.23

For the journey to the final round of World Cup pool matches in Lille, I had booked myself on the 7.24am Le Shuttle, which meant an indecently early start. Not exactly feeling as fresh as a daisy when I hit the road, I perked up when Simon Jordan’s ‘Up Front’ podcast came on the car radio; his guest this morning just happened to be Lawrence Dallaglio. Apparently Jordan likes to challenge ‘uniformed and vacuous opinions’, so I was hoping for a few fireworks from Lol, a big character who is never shy coming forward.

As you would imagine, he talked at length about the 2003 World Cup, RFU failures, of which there’s been many, and under pressure England coach Steve Borthwick, who when he started the job was ‘shocked and surprised’ at the mess left by Eddie Jones. Fortunately, I lost reception somewhere in Kent so didn’t get to hear the end of the pod, although to be fair the episode is well worth a listen.

When I arrived at the terminal, there were a few England fans milling around in the gloom. Some were already cracking open the beers, while others were enjoying an impromtu kick around to pass the time until we boarded. During the crossing, I managed a short kip and was pleasantly surprised when we emerged out of the darkness into a bright and crisp French Autumn morning.

Finding my bearings

It was a nice easy drive down to Lille and then on to my hotel in a place called Hénin Beaumont (any relation to Bill?) 15 miles further South. Because I had left everything to the last minute and was on a budget, I knew it would be grim but what could I reasonably expect for £36.92 per night? I guess I just didn’t imagine anything quite so weird.

On first glance, it was hard to characterise the architectural style; I thought maybe it was once a prison but I’ll let you judge from the picture above. The unmanned reception was full of vending machines and my room, or should I say cell, had in it two bunk beds. Great to know I could offer accommodation to some tanked up England fans should any of them find themselves homeless in Hénin Beaumont.

Navigating the backwaters of Flanders

Anyway keen to get moving, I tried ordering an Uber to take me to the railway station, where I would catch a train to Lille Central. Unfortunately none were available in this Flanders backwater, so my only option was to walk the two and a half miles.

Halfway along the Boulevard Albert-Schweitzer, I decided to stop at a bar (where else) to check I was heading in the right direction. It was one of those little standing room only places where they sell the three Bs – beer, baguettes and bets. The barman pretended he couldn’t understand my pronunciation of la gare, prompting me to open my mouth nice and wide and try it a number of ways – “la gar, “la gaaar, lar gaaaaah”. Was he taking the piss, or did he think I was trying to order a Heineken I wondered? Eventually, he gave a little shrug, pointed and I continued on my way.

Arriving in Lille, finally

The train journey into Lille was pleasant enough and from the central station, it was only a short walk to the Grand Place, the heart of the city with many shops, pubs and restaurants. There were lots and lots of England fans and a decent number supporting Samoa all enjoying themselves in the sun. Certainly not as raucous as Marseilles the month before, but nevertheless a cracking atmosphere with fun and games taking place in the fan zone.

I spent a few hours soaking it all up, meeting lots of nice people and taking photographs before catching another train to the Decathlon Arena – Stade Pierre Mauroy, a multi-purpose stadium with a 50,000 capacity about five miles away from the city centre.

From the outside, it’s a very impressive stadium. Fantastic architecture and design has gone into its development and around the spacious perimeter, there was a wide variety of food and drink outlets, as well as live music and entertainment to enjoy. In comparison, I thought the interior was a little disappointing in that it’s rather boxey and devoid of the dramatic, sweeping curves you see at other modern stadiums. Otherwise, the arena can boast great seats and unrestricted views of the pitch.

England are booed

Because there’s a great many match reports online to read, I won’t say too much about the game other than I thought Samoa were inspired and England were sloppy. They needed Danny Care to rescue the situation with a late sniping try and a last-ditch tackle to see off the South sea islanders.

“Allez les Bleus” rang out in the stands – a clear sign of who the French neutrals were backing. England for their part were booed at full time. Anyway, a wins a win and the show goes on.

What was happening in Paris?

I think the world cup organisers and city authorities really missed a trick by not providing big screens for fans to watch the other World Cup matches taking place. After our match, there were thousands of fans milling around keen to watch the final game of the day, Scotland v Ireland in Paris. Back in the Grand Place, people were crowding doorways and squinting through pub windows trying to get a view of the few small screens dotted around.

I gave up and went for something to eat and drink before catching a taxi back to the Bates Motel for some much needed sleep and to prepare for Sunday’s match between Tonga and Romania.