By Frank Dalleres
Rugby World Cup organisers have apologised to supporters for the chaotic scenes which sparked fears of a deadly crush ahead of England’s match against Argentina.
Limited access points and insufficient staffing led to a potentially dangerous situation outside the Stade Velodrome in Marseille on Saturday night.
Former England international Brian Moore called it “beyond shambolic”, while thousands of fans with tickets missed the start of their 27-10 win.
World Rugby, which announced on Saturday that it had launched an investigation, yesterday said sorry to those who attended the match.
“Fans are the heartbeat of the tournament and we would like to apologise to fans impacted by yesterday’s access challenges,” the governing body said.
“We are working hard to enhance the experience for all visiting Marseille for Rugby World Cup 2023.”
World Rugby insisted the crowd trouble had not led to any incidents and that all 63,000 ticket-holders were able to take their seats eventually.
Any issues appeared to have been addressed by Sunday, when the venue hosted the Pool B fixture between South Africa and Scotland.
French officials were already in the spotlight over their hosting of major sporting events following the mishandling of football’s Champions League final in 2023.
Kettling of Liverpool supporters outside the Stade de France, which will host the Rugby World Cup final next month, could have led to a “mass fatality catastrophe”, an independent investigation concluded.
With Paris also staging next summer’s Olympic Games, French sports minister Amelie Oudea-Castera insisted last week that they had “learned lessons”.
But fans at Saturday’s game reported “potentially dangerous” scenes and “worrying crowd surges”.
England supporter Tim Chamberlain, attending his fifth World Cup, added: “When we got out of the station at the stadium there was an overwhelming number of people as there are just two entry points.
“It felt like there were just not enough turnstiles and not enough people working. We stood in the melee for 45 minutes and it was really hot.”
