New Zealand media blast ‘filthy’ hotel the All Blacks stayed in during World Cup
Sam Cane after being show a red card during the Rugby World Cup 2023 final match.
New Zealand media have blasted the accommodation the All Blacks stayed in during the Rugby World Cup, particularly ahead of their tournament opener.
The New Zealand Herald slammed the hotel that hosted the All Blacks ahead of their opening clash with hosts France in a damning article following the tournament.
Dog of a hotel
In the piece, the state of the kitchen was described as ‘filthy’ and added that it was a “dog of a hotel.”
It also states that players were forced to sleep in the hallways of the hotel.
“It turns out to be a dog of a hotel, proclaiming itself four-star accommodation but no one is sure whether it even deserves three,” Gregor Paul wrote.
“There are no function rooms for meetings, the air-conditioning doesn’t work and the kitchen is so filthy that the All Blacks’ chef, Wallace Mua, insists on scrubbing it for three hours before he is willing to cook in it.”
The All Blacks would go on to lose the opening game of the tournament, suffering their first ever loss in the World Cup pool stages.
According to Paul, it was not the only hotel that underwhelmed the All Blacks.
“This is the second accommodation surprise that has been sprung, as at their base in Lyon, the swimming pool they were promised would be finished and functioning when they arrived was a concrete bunker, rubbish floating in the rusty rainwater that had collected,” he added.
Paul added there was a lack of air conditioning, which drew concerns that the players would be dehydrated, and an alarm going off in the early hours before the clash against France did not help.
This caused players to drag their mattresses into the hallway as they were too hot in their rooms.
“The only certainty anyone can have was that the French team were not enduring any of this and were sleeping soundly in their air-conditioned, soundproofed rooms across town,” he wrote.
“No other team stayed at that hotel after the All Blacks – World Rugby removed it from the Paris rotation, agreeing entirely that it was sub-standard.”
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