PARIS : 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.
The kick off of Tuesday's soccer friendly between France and Scotland in Lille was delayed by 10 minutes due to increased security measures. "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.Organisers also pointed out that last weekend's quarter-finals in Paris and Marseille took place under the increased security level, with no issues.
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.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Ireland winger Earls ends professional careerPARIS : Ireland winger Keith Earls is retiring from rugby with immediate effect, the Munster player said on Tuesday after the national team's quarter-final exit at the World Cup.
Read more »
Australia thrash Sri Lanka to revive World Cup campaignLUCKNOW, India: Five-time champions Australia injected some life into their moribund World Cup campaign with a comprehensive five-wicket victory against Sri Lanka on Monday (Oct 16).
Read more »
Singapore advances to second round of 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying after seeing off GuamSINGAPORE: Singapore sealed a winning start to their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign after beating Guam 1-0 on Tuesday (Oct 17) and advancing to the next stage 3-1 on aggregate.
Read more »
Lions make second round of World Cup qualifiers after 3-1 aggregate win over GuamIf the aim was to avoid an embarrassing end to their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign at the first hurdle, then it’s mission accomplished for the Lions after they edged out world No. 201 Guam 3-1 on aggregate. In the second leg of their first-round tie at Dededo’s...
Read more »
New Zealand's O'Keeffe to referee England v S.Africa World Cup semi-finalNew Zealand's Ben O'Keeffe will referee Saturday's World Cup semi-final between England and holders South Africa, World Rugby said on Tuesday, despite drawing criticism for his performance in the Springboks' quarter-final against hosts France.
Read more »
Pakistan advance in World Cup qualifying as Hamid downs CambodiaMACAU : Pakistan qualified for the second round of Asia's World Cup 2026 preliminaries for the first time on Tuesday as a 1-0 win over Cambodia took the Stephen Constantine-coached side into the next phase.
Read more »