French Rugby Federation (FFR) President Bernard Laporte on Thursday presented France’s candidature for the 2023 Rugby World Cup, according to David Reyrat of LE FIGARO. France has until Nov. 15 to “catch up to Ireland, which is favored to win the bid.” FFR VP Serge Simon said, “To win the 2023 World Cup would put France at the center of the world scene.” France “insists it has the superior economic potential.” Bid Organizer Claude Atcher said, “In 2007 [when France last hosted the RWC], we had more than €500 million in economic benefits for France. In 2015, England approached a billion. And the economic benefits of Euro 2016 passed €1 billion. The Government and the cities are fully aware of this.” Nineteen cities make up the French bid: Paris, Bordeaux, Grenoble, Lille, Lens, Le Havre, Le Mans, Lyon, Marseille, Montpellier, Nanterre, Nantes, Nice, Rennes, Saint-Denis, Saint-Etienne, Sochaux, Toulouse and Valenciennes. In the end, nine will be selected. There “still remains one serious pitfall to solve: making the World Cup compatible with the Ligue 1 schedule.” Former French internationals Sébastien Chabal and Frédéric Michalak were chosen to be ambassadors to “promote the French candidature” (LE FIGARO, 2/9). CB NEWS' Thierry Wojciak reported France’s jersey during its Six Nations match against Scotland on Sunday promoted the country's candidature for the 2023 Rugby World Cup. The players had #France2023 across the front of their jerseys (CB NEWS, 2/9).
