World Cup semis to benefit from increased security personnel

Rugby World Cup organisers said on Wednesday that the tournament would benefit from France's increased security alert level by having more personnel on duty for this weekend's Paris semi-finals and that they did not expect any incidents.

New Zealand face Argentina on Friday and England play South Africa on Saturday, both at the Stade de France.

France raised security to its highest level after the killing of a teacher in Arras last week followed by two Swedes being shot dead in Brussels on Monday before a Belgium-Sweden Euro 2024 qualifier which was later abandoned at halftime.

The kick off of Tuesday's soccer friendly between France and Scotland in Lille was delayed by 10 minutes due to increased security measures.

Asked about any potentially similar impact for the Rugby World Cup semis, Jacques Rivoal, president of France 2023, said: "It doesn't change anything. We have our own internal security process set at the highest level with a double checking system.

"The raising of the security level has actually enabled us to mobilise more security personnel. We can reassure our spectators that we will continue to work very closely with all the security services and we remain vigilant and focussed.

"So far it has been a very safe event, with over 1.5 million spectators attending and no incidents."

Organisers also pointed out that last weekend's quarter-finals in Paris and Marseille took place under the increased security level, with no issues.

Tournament director Michel Poussau described those four games as the "greatest weekend of rugby ever" and revealed the latest set of record-breaking TV audiences.

They included 16.5 million in France watching their game against South Africa and 9.4 million viewing Ireland v New Zealand - a huge record for a match not involving France.

Rivoal said the elimination of the host nation left a "bitter taste" but added that he expected the "atmosphere of fraternity" that has been a hallmark of the tournament around the country to continue.

One immediate impact of France's defeat was a rush of returned semi-final tickets. There are around 2,000 tickets for both semi-finals available via the official website and a similar number via the resale site.