Series in progress… This Saturday evening, in La Rochelle, for the reception of Toulouse, the Stade Marcel Deflandre will be full for the hundredth time in a row in the championship. One more sold-out meeting in the Top 14. It all started on January 2, 2016 against Castres, since then, not counting the partial gauges imposed during COVID 19, the supporters have been there for more than nine years. 15,000 seats initially in 2016, then with regularly planned work on the stadium, the stadium today has a capacity of 16,700 seats, and soon 17,900 before 2026. A 100th sold out is unique in Europe for a rugby team. Pierre Venayre, the general director of Stade Rochelais:
“I hope this is just a step towards more consecutive sellouts to come.”
“It's something extremely significant for our club, it's a collective symbol, with both testimony to the enthusiasm that the club arouses on a sporting level, with initially Patrice Collazo on the staff, then since then, Ronan O'Gara, but it is also a love story between the public, the players, the partners and this club which has been built and which is developing. But I hope that it is only. a step towards a greater number of consecutive sellouts to come.”
“Even when we lose, or after a difficult victory, our supporters are always behind us”
For Quentin Lespiaucq, hooker at Stade Rochelais and European champion in 2023: “This hundredth sold-out match is huge! I find that already on the scale of a player, when there is one who plays 100 matches with the same club, it is still strong. a full stadium for more than nine years, it's quite incredible. There is fervor from our supporters, I have never felt any animosity towards the players, even when we lose, even after a difficult victory. . People are all the time behind us, and are proud of what the jersey represents. I hope that we continue to honor all that.
Entertainment, a dance show, a fireworks show and a few surprises.
In terms of festivities, entertainment, a dance show, a pyrotechnic show and a few surprises, still secretly kept until the last moment. But what we do know is that close to kick-off at 9:05 p.m., spectators will be able to participate in the show with their smartphone. By downloading the Stadium FX app, the telephone lights will turn on and off sector by sector in the stadium, in synchronization. A participatory light show which will give a new dimension to the Marcel Deflandre stadium. History does not say whether, as in the Olympics, Tom Cruise will abseil from the roof or arrive by parachute to bring the match ball…
