France will make this a tournament to savour, from the match atmosphere to the general public's love for rugby, the buzz around this World Cup is unbelievably exciting.
The tournament will kick off with a bang and continue right the way through.
France v New Zealand is a bona-fide blockbuster to open the tournament tomorrow night, then it is straight into England v Argentina on Saturday, and Scotland v South Africa and Wales v Fiji on Sunday.
From the atmosphere to the build-up, even how they announce players in the stadium, the French just do their rugby really, really well.
When a home side in France gets on top, a wave of noise crashes through the stadium and sometimes there is nothing you can do about that if you are the opposition.
Suddenly the hosts have their tails up, they start throwing the most outrageous passes, every offload sticks and you think 'that wasn't happening five minutes ago'.
Then the crowd and the momentum start to play a factor.
The biggest advice I was given in my playing career was to get ahead early and stay ahead, because then the crowd gets more frustrated, then the players' heads go down and momentum shifts your way.
This story is from the September 07, 2023 edition of Evening Standard.
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This story is from the September 07, 2023 edition of Evening Standard.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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