“The stadium? Lousy!” The response from Clermont coach Christophe Urios came after his team’s defeat (20-33) against Racing 92 this Saturday. “Well, it’s not very pretty. It was like being in the post-Covid era. There’s nothing, nothing’s happening. It was strange, at the start of the match there was no atmosphere. The pitch was very heavy. But that’s secondary.”
An opinion shared by Racing’s attack coach, Frédéric Michalak. “We entered this stadium with the desire to play a good game, but we were a bit like the stadium, that is to say very sad, a very sad atmosphere, a very sad fanfare.”
“We had to get used to this new stadium and it took us a while to get used to it,” said Frédéric Michalak, Racing 92 attack coach.
It must be said that the stadium from the 1980s with its faded paintwork contrasts with the setting of Paris Le Défense Arena, in the midst of dismantling the Olympic and Paralympic swimming pool of Paris 2024. Racing 92 did not communicate on the attendance, this Saturday, but the fact that the stands (11,000 seats) are largely sparse in Créteil did not help to brighten up the match either (despite the sun).
“It can happen,” says Frédéric Michalak. “Afterwards, there were our families, our friends and that’s what’s important. There were Racing supporters too, we heard them. We had to get used to this new stadium and it took us a while to get used to it.”
“I played in South Africa, we played on sand, it’s like Twickenham here!”, Hacjivah Daymani, Racing 92 third row.
The Sky and White will still play two “home” matches at the Duvauchelle stadium: against La Rochelle on September 28 and against Toulon on October 12. Perhaps even a fourth and a fifth according to president Laurent Travers. But the bulk of Racing’s season will be played at the Arena in Nanterre.
The players wanted to be more lenient towards Créteil. “I don’t know the difference between Créteil and the Arena,” warns recruit Hacjivah Dayimani. “I played in South Africa, I’m used to playing on sand, it’s like Twickenham here!”, laughs the third row who arrived from the Stormers.
Paris La Défense Arena: a beautiful setting that doesn’t attract the crowds
The Racingmen are used to relocating their home matches. “We have this particularity of playing at home on different grounds”, admits the boss Henry Chavancy who was playing his 400th match in the Ciel et Blanc jersey. “We have Paris La Défense Arena which is an extraordinary stadium and which sometimes forces us to relocate. My first match with Racing, against Aurillac in Pro D2, was in Colombes and it was not the most beautiful stadium in France at the time!”
Créteil, which even brings back good memories for the three-quarter center. “It’s the same type of stadium as Colombes. Stadiums that are perhaps a little dilapidated, but which have a soul. We still have two or three games to play here and we’re going to make sure that it’s our home at least for the start of the season.” A “soul” which – it must be said – does not inhabit the Arena de Nanterre. The 30,000-seat venue is never full. With an average of 11,854 spectators per match last season, Racing 92 has one of the lowest attendances in the Top 14. The size of the stadium, the fact that it is completely closed and that trailers are shown on the huge screen during half-time do not help to warm up the atmosphere…
Perhaps the page of history that swimmers, starting with Léon Marchand, wrote this summer at the Paris Games will encourage the curious to come and watch rugby at the Arena.
- RMC Sport
