Rugby World Cup 2007

Rugby World Cup 2007 | France

We’ve been involved in every Rugby World Cup since the inaugural tournament in 1987 and this year’s event was a roller-coaster of emotions but what a thrilling and intense time we had!

We organised our own tours with travel, accommodation and tickets for more than 10,000 supporters including 5,500 from overseas who were following the tournament for anything up to seven weeks. The fans from New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and the UK, had a memorable time touring the best regions of France between matches, visiting its fairytale chateaux, tasting its world-renowned wines and paying homage to their fallen soldiers in the battlefields of the historic Somme.

The highly anticipated pool match against South Africa was one of the most popular too. Who would have thought, then, that England would recover from such a disastrous result and get so close to becoming World Champions again?

Our weekend in Nantes, Loire-Atlantique, for the England v Samoa match was one of the most enjoyable times of the whole event. Welsh fans returned to the popular French city to face the Fijians who proved to be too sensational to beat. They managed to make the most of their free time in Nantes, though, to enjoy some French hospitality.

The atmosphere was highly charged during England’s must-win, fierce meeting against Tonga in Paris, at the end of the pools stage. Our very own Gareth Chilcott was able to join in on some of our escorted tours and mingle with our clients for that extra personal touch or should we say “je ne sais quoi”!

One of Cooch’s highlights of the competition, though, was the quarter finals in Marseille. Not only did we witness an unforgettable match between England and Australia, in searing temperatures, but our weekend base was no less than Club Med’s luxury cruise ship, Club Med 2, the largest and arguably the most beautiful sailing ship in the world.

Our 300 clients on board were joined by a host of rugby legends including Rugby World Cup winners, Martin Johnson, and South Africa’s Joel Stransky.

The journey between Nice and Marseille, along the coastline, was simply breathtaking and our clients particularly enjoyed being moored near the Vieux Port as it gave them easy access to the centre of the action, in the third largest French city. The atmosphere in the streets and local bars reached high levels when Le Quinze de France beat the All Blacks.

Many of our New Zealand clients were in Cardiff but thankfully, by the time they arrived in Valbonne, a medieval village near Nice where a mayoral reception and dinner were held in their honour, all 1,000 of them were back to their usual selves and enjoyed brushing shoulders with former players as well as Andy Lesley, president of NZRU.

All in all, the tournament was a victory for the spirit of rugby, with fantastic camaraderie between supporters and wonderful action off as well as on the field. At Gullivers, we are now looking forward to Rugby World Cup 2011 in New Zealand!