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Controversy in France as Macron faced boos at Rugby World Cup opening

Macron's popularity has suffered this year after implementing a controversial reform to raise the French pension age in the face of widespread protests and popular opposition.

AFP

Macron delivered a speech during the opening ceremony of the France 2023 Rugby World Cup ahead of the Pool A match between France and New Zealand at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, on the outskirts of Paris on September 8, 2023. / Photo: AFP

Hard-left opponents of Emmanuel Macron, expressed glee while his supporters made clear their anger after the French president was loudly booed and whistled as he made a speech at the opening of the Rugby World Cup.

Macron had to pause ahead of giving his speech from a lectern on the pitch ahead of the clash between France and New Zealand as large numbers of spectators in the packed Stade de France booed, whistled, and jeered him.

The president's appearance was also greeted with a similar reaction at special fan zones with a TV relay set up in Paris and Marseille, AFP correspondents said.

"King Macron has been booed by the French people! We are never going to leave him in peace" said Manuel Bompard, a senior figure in the France Unbowed (LFI) hard-left party.

"The people have not forgotten the insults and the pension reform. He had the welcome he deserved," added Bastien Lachaud, LFI deputy for Seine-Saint-Denis, the area where the Stade de Fr ance is located just outside Paris.

The far-right was also enthusiastic with National Rally (RN) MP Stephanie Galzy tweeting that the booing was a "symbol".

French police, protesters clash over Macron's pension reform

Falling popularity

His current popularity level, after falling some 10 points between December and April, is now at 31 percent, just above a low of 29 percent reached in the spring, according to Ifop/Fiducial polls.

The opening ceremony that preceded the match, won by France in a sensational start to the campaign, had seen actor Jean Dujardin lead a showcase of the "French art of living" that had been widely applauded.

But with the eyes of the world on France one year before Paris hosts the Olympics, Macron supporters were fare less impressed.

"A stadium shouldn't do that! To boo the president of the republic is to boo France," said MP Mathieu Lefevre.

Joelle Garriaud-Maylam, a senator for the right-wing opposition Republicans added: "Bravo to the XV of France. But shame on the supporters who dared to boo the president of the republic in front of the media around the world."

"We may not like Emmanuel Macron but at least we respect his function! What a sad image for our country," she added.