Fans leaving Stade de Marseille after the Rugby World Cup match between Scotland and South Africa. Photo: Supplied / Shannon White
All Blacks fans in France for the Rugby World Cup are contending with massive crowds, packed trains and severe heat.
The France 2023 Organising Committee promised improvements to the Stade de Marseille after some fans missed the kick-off between England and Argentina on Sunday due to long queues.
Some said the stadium ran out of water as attendees sweated it out in 36 Celsius degree heat.
The committee said it would deploy more volunteers to direct fans and increase the number of announcements in English at metro stations.
It also reminded fans to bring their own water bottles but said they were limited to 500ml and below.
Shannon White, a fan who attended the match between Scotland and South Africa in Marseille on Monday (NZ time), said staff appeared to have stepped up their game since Sunday's debacle.
"There were people from the stadium handing out free water, so I think they started doing that to address the issues with the heat," White said.
Concorde Rugby Village during the broadcast of the opening match of the France-New Zealand Rugby World Cup on 8 September, 2023. Photo: Stephane Mouchmouche / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP
But White said getting to her seat was a challenge.
"It was difficult to get into the stadium, you had to walk a far way from all the key entry-points from public transport. It was a really long walk."
White said her experience was positive overall, but she hoped the committee would keep improving stadium access.
"There probably could've been more entry points to the stadium," she said. "Especially considering the security check didn't seem overly intense, it was just a pat-down and a bag search. They could have more entry-points into the stadium to get people moving faster."
Matt Blackwell, who attended the opening match between New Zealand and France, said getting to the stadium in Paris was chaos.
"We were at the train station getting the metro, the trains were jam-packed full when they turned up and then the doors would open and there would just be a surge of people trying to get in," he said.
"It was actually quite chaotic."
New-Zealand fans at Concorde Rugby Village during the broadcast of the opening match of the France-New Zealand Rugby World Cup on 8 September, 2023. Photo: Stephane Mouchmouche / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP
Fans using the metro had to buy and scan individual tickets, causing jams at both ends of the journey.
"I think there were just under 80,000 people, I would've thought [the organisers] would've been more awake to the issue with crowds and just allowed public transport to be free," Blackwell said.
"Ultimately, there was such a jam of people trying to get out of the station that the security guards just opened the gates. It was pretty uncomfortable, it was hot and packed."
But he said the rough journey was worth it.
"Once we got to the ground, it was something that I've never seen before. People were dressed up as Napoleon, Roman soldiers, Asterix and Obelix, it had a real carnival atmosphere," he said.
"A very international crowd, with a smattering of Kiwis that we were catching up with. It was a really good experience."