French Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castera, right, is to attend England’s Rugby World Cup match against Japan in Nice to monitor arrangements ©Getty Images

French Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castera is to attend England's Rugby World Cup match against Japan in Nice tomorrow to monitor security, transport and make sure there is enough beer for the fans.

It follows problems before England’s opening match against Argentina at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille last Saturday (September 9) when fans faced major delays and congestion entering the ground.

Fans were queuing outside the Paris 2024 venue after kick-off, with reports that some were granted entry despite stewards not recognising their seat allocation.

Oudéa-Castéra warned after that "this must not happen again" and urged organisers to ensure everything is "impeccable".

On the eve of the tournament, she had promised that the country had learned lessons after last year’s men’s UEFA Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid where fans endured bottlenecks and crushes outside the Stade de France.

Aware that a repeat of last week’s problems could plunge the World Cup into crisis less than a year before Paris is due to host the Olympic and Paralympics, Oudéa-Castéra has now promised to "personally monitor every detail" at the Stade de Nice.

"Their experience at the match against Japan must be impeccable from start to finish," she told the Financial Times.

The incidents in Marseille led to more damaging headlines in the British media about French organisation and Oudéa-Castéra wants to make sure it does not happen again.  

There remains anger in Britain that initially the French authorities tried to blame Liverpool fans for what happened at the Champions League final before an independent inquiry established that poor organisation was at the root of the problem.

"The English are still mad at us," Oudéa-Castéra, who is also in charge of Paris 2024, admitted.

French organisers are promising that England's match against Japan at the Stade de Nice will not suffer the problems fans experienced before the game in Marseille ©Rugby World Cup 2023
French organisers are promising that England's match against Japan at the Stade de Nice will not suffer the problems fans experienced before the game in Marseille ©Rugby World Cup 2023

Oudéa-Castéra claimed what happened in Marseille was "teething problems" that would not be repeated for the rest of the tournament.

"It was chaos at the Stade de France but that is not what happened in Marseille," Oudéa-Castéra  told the Financial Times. 

"There were no dangerous crowd movements, no criminality, and no security problems.

"There were just long wait times that were totally unacceptable."

World Rugby and French organisers apologised for the problems in Marseille, which Oudéa-Castéra claimed were caused by volunteers being incorrectly positioned.

French organisers are promising to deploy more service volunteers to welcome fans to Stade de Nice and direct ticketholders to the appropriate entry points.

There will be no problems buying beer at England's match against Japan, Amélie Oudéa-Castera has claimed ©Getty Images
There will be no problems buying beer at England's match against Japan, Amélie Oudéa-Castera has claimed ©Getty Images

To try to get the England fans back onside, Oudéa-Castéra, has even tried to take control of the beer supplies for the game against Japan.

For the match against Argentina, organisers simply could not keep up with demand on a very hot day.

A total of 83,000 beers were sold, compared with a previous record of 50,000.

"We will ensure that the service and the experience inside the stadium is better," Oudéa-Castéra said.

"I want to reconcile with the English."