The smallest stadium in the tournament is named after the river that runs by it. La Mosson holds 33,650 and is home to the second division football team Montpellier-Herault SC.

Since being announced as a world cup venue the pitch at La Mosson has been relaid, new lighting has been installed and the dressing rooms have been brought up to scratch.

The city itself is inhabited by a mere 229,000. One in four of those people are students and 43 per cent are under 30 years of age. It is also relatively young in comparison to its neighbours Carcassonne, Beziers and Narbonne, having been founded in the year 1000 and not in ancient times.

The city has no fewer than three universities and six "grandes ecoles" but the students will have plenty of competition for space in September when rugby fans from Australia, South Africa, Tonga and the USA descend on their meeting place at the Place de la Comédie in the heart of the city.