How Ireland fans are taking over Rugby World Cup 2023

Officially, there were 9,000 Ireland fans in Nantes. But the sea of green that overwhelmed the Place Royale and Place du Bouffray suggested far more.

And that was only multiplied when every man, woman and child in an emerald shirt converged on the Stade de la Beaujoire. They had been warned to arrive early, and they did in their droves. They did not want to miss a minute, and produced a rendition of Ireland’s Call before kick-off that will live long in the memory of this small Atlantic city’s residents.

It even impressed Ireland’s opposition Tonga, who were doing their best to block out the noise of more than 30,000 fans and concentrate on their Rugby World Cup opener, having had the first week off.

“I haven’t ever really played in a crowd that big but I really relished it,” Tongan fly-half William Havili tells i afterwards, putting a brave face on a 59-16 defeat.

“The Irish fans are awesome. It’s real pleasant, just reminds me of watching Conor McGregor! I really enjoyed it.

“I was a bit nervous leading up to the game but once I got out there seeing the crowd I was all for it.”

Even Ireland’s James Lowe has been finding it all a bit much, albeit half in jest.

“The travelling support has been incredible,” he said last week.

“You can’t bloody get away from the Irish, everywhere you go. Half the time I’m sitting in my hotel because I’m too scared to go outside.”

That intimidation factor will only be multiplied when Ireland – both the team and it seems half the country – head to Paris next weekend to face South Africa in a mammoth Pool B fixture between the top two teams in the world rankings, thrown together in a “Group of Death” by a draw conducted three years before the tournament.

Tens of thousands of fans who ticked “Ireland” on their ticket purchase form are on the list for Stade de France, but thousands more will have purchased on resale, where at the time of writing there is not a single spare available. Any that have been put up have not lasted long, because there are a whole host of Irish fans planning to travel to Paris just to be in the city, and maybe pick up a last-minute ticket.

Neana and Niamh are two them, Munster fans from Limerick who started their trip in Nantes and are aiming for Paris on the day of reckoning.

They are Rugby World Cup veterans, having been at the final in 1991, when England lost to Australia at Twickenham.

“I remember the Queen was there. She was this bright red dot in the stadium,” says Neana.

Both women had tickets for the Tonga game but are “free agents” next weekend.

“If they come up, we’re there,” Neana adds. “We’re staying [near Nantes] until Friday, and then we’ll see.”

They are not alone. Virtually every fan in Nantes has half an eye on Paris, although contingency plans are in place.

“Otherwise we’ve reserved a table for 10 for every game in Mary’s Bar at home, and the telly’s right at the end of the table,” says Iain from Belfast as his group get off the tram for a beer in the square before heading up to the stadium.

Signs around Nantes tell fans to get on the tram or the bus “by 6pm” in order not to miss a minute of the match, which does not kick off until 9pm. Hundreds missed the start of Ireland’s campaign against Romania in Bordeaux because of difficulties outside the stadium.

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But there appears to have been precious little trouble, despite warnings in some cities that fans would be fined for “obvious public drunkenness” or making too much noise.

“Fans travelling without tickets” is a phrase we have often heard cited by football clubs as a reason for trouble around grounds, but organisers in Paris are happy to welcome supporters who simply want to soak up the atmosphere.

As well as resale, there is the fan village at the Place de la Concorde, at the southern end of the Champs Elysees, a stone’s throw from the Louvre and Les Invalides, on the banks of the Seine. If one cannot be in the Stade de France, you cannot imagine a more iconic spot in which to watch the game, although at its busiest it is not for the faint-hearted.

“It was like a mosh pit,” say two England fans who were there for France vs New Zealand on the opening night. Given the heavy metal nature of the rugby South Africa and Ireland will offer, that seems entirely appropriate.