THE ‘rival’ World Cup is looming – and whether Rugby League fans take any notice of events in France or not, the ripples will reach the 13-a-side code.
Particularly affected are Toulouse Olympique, who are in the unusual situation of playing eight consecutive Championship matches at eight different venues as they seek a quick return to Super League following last year’s relegation.
That’s because the club has been turfed out of the Stade Ernest Wallon, the 19,000-capacity arena which became their regular home from the start of the Covid-hit 2020 campaign.
Having been playing at a lesser union club Blagnac, the ambitious Olympians agreed a long-term groundshare with 15-a-side giants Stade Toulousain to provide certainty of a base which met top-flight requirements as they plotted the promotion which was finally achieved in 2021.
While always among the nine World Cup host cities, the Rugby League club initially thought they’d be okay to play on at Ernest Wallon, because the city’s bigger Stadium de Toulouse, which holds 33,000 and is used by French top-flight football team Toulouse and by Stade Toulousain for their bigger matches, will stage the five ties concerned.
But in June came the unanticipated revelation that the local council, who pull the strings when it comes to the city’s sporting arenas, had agreed a deal for England’s Pool D rivals Japan to be based in Toulouse, where they will take on Chile on Sunday, September 10 and Samoa on Thursday 28, and use the Stade Ernest Wallon for training.
“Local authorities in France commonly sponsor their sports clubs, so have real power,” explained Olympique chief executive Cedric Garcia.
“They have invested huge money into the World Cup and to have Japan in Toulouse, with all of their fans, means big revenues coming in.
“They put pressure on Stade Toulousain to host Japan at short notice, and this is a situation which has been forced on both of us.”
Toulouse, second to Featherstone in the table, last used the Stade Ernest Wallon on Saturday, July 19, when they thumped Keighley 64-0.
They won 18-14 at York a week later, and on Saturday just gone (August 19), faced Swinton at Stade Albert Domec, the home of French Elite 1 club Carcassonne, 65 miles to the South-East.
This Saturday, the Olympians’ roadshow switches to Carcassonne’s domestic league rivals Albi, 50 miles to the North-East of Toulouse, the meeting with Barrow taking place the Stade Mazicou.
It’s another chance for Toulouse to take the positives from their unwanted exile and showcase both themselves and Championship rugby before they head to Newcastle on Saturday week, September 2, then Halifax on September 9.
Then, on September 16, they have a big clash with Featherstone, perhaps a Championship Grand Final dress rehearsal, the venue for which is still being finalised but is likely to be back at Blagnac.
Toulouse’s final regular-season game, and that eighth different location in as many matches, is at Whitehaven on Saturday, September 23 – and there’s no doubt Garcia will already pondering various play-off possibilities.
Drop into League One, and Oldham will have played five games at five venues by the time they tackle Midlands Hurricanes at the Vestacare Stadium on Sunday.
That’s after they got the green light to take their rearranged home game against Workington, postponed in early July after the Cumbrians’ team bus was stuck in a major motorway hold-up, to Boundary Park.
Oldham Athletic Football Club’s 13,500-capacity ground will be the Roughyeds’ regular base from next season onwards, with the current owners, fronted by managing director and interim coach Mike Ford, keen to make progress back up the Rugby League ranks.
Having played successive away games at Hunslet, Cornwall and Rochdale, Oldham are keen to give supporters a taste of things to come at Boundary Park, where the local council have funded a new £1 million pitch.
And while Ford will be focused on the forthcoming play-offs, he wouldn’t be human if he wasn’t taking close notice of England’s World Cup build-up, with son George, the Sale Sharks fly-half, a key member of Steve Borthwick’s squad, who are currently preparing for the tournament with the help of defence coach Kevin Sinfield.
Meanwhile spare a thought for London Skolars as well as Workington ahead of midweek missions far from home.
While Workington are at Oldham on Wednesday, Skolars will be just up the road at Rochdale, where they were due to play last month, only for the match to fall victim to a waterlogged pitch at the Crown Oil Arena.
