Romania v Tonga 08.10.23

Have I survived, was my first thought when I woke up in a budget hotel in the backwaters of Flanders. Thankfully, I had recovered from the previous day’s exertions and was ready to get going for the day’s match, Romania v Tonga.

It may have been cheap, but I wasn’t overly enamoured by the prospect of a coffee and crossiant petit dejeuner served from a hotel vending machine, so I checked out of the Premier Class Lille Sud pronto and headed back into Lille.

And what a beautiful place to spend a sunny Autumn morning. Siting in the Grand Place, watching the city slowly come back to life, with a table adorned with coffee, juice, yogurt, pastries and croissants, served with a pot of bonne maman (if there’s a nicer brand of jam, do let me know).

White turns to yellow

By mid-morning, most of the England fans who were still in the city were moving on and the bright yellow jersey’s of Romania were taking their place. With a heritage pattern on each sleeve, one blue and the other red apparently to ward off evil spirits, their World Cup 2023 design is certainly one of the most striking shirts of the tournament. So there was nothing for it, I had to stop watching the world go by and start photographing it.

Back to the Stade Pierre Mauroy

After a few hours shooting, punctuated by an interview I gave to a France 2023 rep about my impressions of Lille and world cup experiences, I bid farewell to this lovely flemish city and headed back to the stadium. Exiting the multi-storey car park via a stairwell door, I had resigned myself to another long walk so was both surprised and delighted to find myself quite literally back on the stadium concourse.

The atmosphere was building, there were brass bands, community drummers and a DJ getting everyone in the mood. Catering for his largely Romanian audience, the tunes he was playing had a distinct eastern European chest thumping techno feel. The rattling of ribcages, the beat of the music in your thorax, at around 130 bpm, before bringing the crowd to the point of delirium with the 2004 smash hit, Maja-hi, Maja-ha, Maja-hoo (Dragostea Din Tei) by the Moldovan boy band O-Zone.

Fans in union

Soon enough, there were large numbers of Tonga fans beginning to arrive who were also keen to join the party. This is one of the remarkable things about rugby union; where in the world could you possibly find citizens of Romania and Tonga, thousands of miles apart geographically, coming together in a spirit of friendship? Clad in red and yellow, dancing, taking selfies and making memories.

I had the pleasure of meeting and photographing ‘Mr Rock Solid’, an absolute giant of a man from Tonga who was sporting a Christmas jumper and wore a garland of flowers around his neck (see gallery above). A rugby coach living in France, he was there with a large group of his family and friends.

The magnificent 7 (tries)

By this stage, both Tonga and Romania could no longer qualify for the knock out rounds of the tournament, which in a curious way meant they were liberated and could afford to put on a show. Both teams really went for it, with great handing skills and hard running leading to points galore. Romania stayed with their opponents well into the second half, but ultimately they were outfought and overrun in the end. The match ended 45-24 in Tonga’s favour.

Things got fruity

The half-time entertainment was a little different from what you might experience at the 6 Nations. While the players were sucking their half-time oranges, cameras panned the stadium looking for amorous couples, locking onto those getting fruity while the sound system played Let’s Get It On by Marvin Gaye. It was interesting to see so many couples lose their inhibitions in front of thousands. Must be something to do with having your ‘15 minutes of fame’, or perhaps there was an oyster bar located somewhere in the stadium.

Post match

Both teams gave a lap of honour and the crowd showed their appreciation. Outside the stadium the DJ was getting the party going again, there were dancers on the stage throwing giant inflatable rugby balls into the crowd but unfortunately for me, I couldn’t catch one and besides it was time to hurry North to Dunkirk to catch the last ferry of the day to Dover.

On the car radio, I heard that Portugal had beaten Fiji by a point in Toulouse and secured their first ever win at a Rugby World Cup. A remarkable achievement for Os Lobos and a great result for the tournament.