Rugby World Cup stadiums struggle under demand for beer

Long queues for the bars and the amount of beer available have been criticised by fans at the Rugby World Cup in France this week.

There was particular concern about the State Velodrome in Marseille, where it was claimed by users on social media that they ran out of beer, and it was challenging to get into the stadium in the first place for matches, such as England v Argentina on Saturday.

One user on X.com (formerly Twitter) said: “I did 45 mins for beers before the game. Single bar taps abd pouring pints one at a time. Running out of beer and gas. Then another 45 mins pre half time and had to give up – had nearly missed 20 mins of game time…”

Another said: “I’ve never been so thirsty during a rugby match! From the time we got in until the time we left, we could NOT buy a beverage ! Service was so slow…! Eventually we gave up and waiting in the queues until we got outside – then we got messy!”

Following the scenes, the governing body for the sport, World Rugby, issued a statement with the French organisers, stating it would investigate the situation and why the queues were so large.

Changes would also be made to match day protocols, the organisers announced, ensuring support across public transport and making the stadium open three hours before kick-off to alleviate pressure.

The news comes as the stadium for Ireland’s match against Romania at the Stade de Bordeaux, where fans also found queues of up to 40 minutes for food and booze, as well as a lack of water in 36 degree heat.

One fan, Nicky Cooke, told the Irish Times: “We queued at catering inside but they had no water left. That was before kick-off. We couldn’t believe it. Even in the Bordeaux fanzone last night they were handing out water.”

Another fan told the publication: “They ran out of water before kick-off. A bottle of coke was €5. They had loads of beer stations so I don’t know why it was impossible to get water.”