Match 12 -- Wales v. Australia

Sunday, 24 September 2023

My twelfth match, and the 24th of the tournament, was Wales v. Australia, in Lyon. This was my first time seeing Australia, and my first match in Lyon.

I took the Metro to the end of the line and then saw a huge group of people waiting for the tram to go the rest of the way. I didn't know how many people would fit on each tram, and I didn't know if the Metro ticket I had would be valid for the tram. So I checked Google Maps to see how much further it was to the stadium. It was only 5 km, and I had about 90 minutes, so I decided to walk.

The walk took me along the edge of town, up against some farm fields. One of the fields was freshly turned, and smelled great. As it was along the edge of town, this might have been the first time (other than in the countryside as seen from the trains) that I had seen any single-family homes. 

I got to the stadium -- OL Stadium, aka Groupama Stadium -- with about 30 minutes to spare (a good ten minutes faster that Google's estimate!) but it was already too dark to get a photo of the stadium. I stood in line for about 20 of that to get a sausage sandwich and then went looking for my ticket gate. It was Gate A, but Gate A looked different than the others. It went into a separate area of the stadium. They checked my ticket manually and then scanned it. I was then directed up some stairs to the "Salon" level. We were all given wristbands and then let into a pretty small section of seats. It was adjoined by a restaurant. I didn't see anything on my ticket indicating that it was a suite or that food and drink were included, but I kinda got my hopes up. Nope. Just seats with a slightly easier entrance and exit than the larger sections.

The camera struggled with the balance but you can tell roughly where the seat was

I expected this to be the closest match so far. Wales and Australia were ranked 7th and 9th in the world going into the World Cup. I mostly want a good match, but I am also more of a Wales fan than an Australia fan. Probably about 80/20 for Wales. 

Wales looked better than Australia right from the start. By halftime, Wales led 16-6. They were even more dominant in the second half, leading to a final score of 40-6. That makes Wales the first team to be assured of making it to the quarterfinals. And Australia is on the verge of not qualifying for the quarterfinals for the first time ever.

A scrum near my corner

A lineout near my corner

Another lineout

There was a long wait for the tram after the match, but it was still faster than walking back to the Metro station. Mostly Australian fans on the tram and the Metro -- I imagine most of the Welsh supporters were still in the stadium cheering on the players and enjoying the atmosphere. I spoke to several Australians, mainly about the 2027 World Cup that they'll be hosting. They confirmed my suspicion that it'll take mostly air travel to get between the host cities. But that most of the stadiums are reachable by local public transportation. [I'm not saying I'm going to Australia, but I'm not ruling it out. 😏 ]

...doug