They left the Rugby World Cup and France with an infuriating defeat in the final by one point (12-11) against South Africa on October 28. A competition concluded in the rain and in the cold by the All Blacks at the Stade de France, a month and a half after having launched it with another setback (27-13) in the heatwave against the XV of France at the same place.
A meeting prepared with several absent due to injury including captain Sam Cane and in accommodation conditions criticized by the former New Zealand coach, Ian Foster in an interview granted Thursday to The team. Where he details these few days spent in this Novotel hotel in Créteil (Val-de-Marne).
“We had problems with the air conditioning not working. It was 36 degrees, and it felt like we were ten warmer inside. We were running out of air. Every time a toaster was turned on, people went off in the establishment. It was not the ideal place to prepare for an opening World Cup match,” says the technician.
“We settled in the place designated by World Rugby. It seems that after us, the teams which were to stay there, Argentina I believe, were housed elsewhere (the Argentines took over the XV de France hotel in Rueil-Malmaison), continues Foster. We didn’t want it to serve as an excuse for our defeat against France. […] We weren’t good, especially in the last quarter of an hour. And this is in no way this hotel’s fault. »
“The Paris region has no shortage of more favorable places”
From there to imagine that they were placed in a failing establishment to disadvantage them before their confrontation against the organizing country? “Frankly, I don’t know. It was a strange place to accommodate us, the Paris region has no shortage of more favorable places, closer to the stadium. That’s how it is,” concludes Ian Foster.
The Novotel in Créteil and its air conditioning problems have already been targeted in an article in New Zealand Herald published at the beginning of November. A story where the newspaper attacks “a shoddy hotel, proclaiming itself four stars when no one knows if it really deserves three”.
The flaws? The stifling heat which would have led some of the players to install mattresses in the corridor to try to sleep without suffocation, a lack of meeting room, a dirty kitchen. And, finally, a fire alarm triggered at 3 a.m. the night before the clash against the Blues.
Contacted by The team, the Accor group which manages this hotel admitted that three rooms had encountered an air conditioning problem on the night of September 6 to 7. The players concerned reportedly refused to change rooms to install an air conditioner before deciding to move out the next day.
Accor, however, denies the fire alarm being triggered, a problem in the kitchens or the presence of players asleep in the corridors. And affirms that the hotel has not left the rotation of places dedicated to World Cup teams. Note that none of the four semi-finalists who came to settle in the Paris region have yet settled in Créteil. And especially not the All Blacks.
