When Ian Borthwick arrives, drenched by an unfortunate burst of rain, the staff are dressing tables for the impending lunch rush.
The setting, a bar near Châtelet in central Paris called Le Sous Bock, is decorated floorto-ceiling with photos of famous rugby players and iconic moments, as well as balls, books and other memorabilia.
As he takes off his oilskin, Borthwick asks the first waiter he sees if Fred is in. “Il me connaît [he knows who I am],” he says. Several minutes pass and a burly-looking man – perhaps a former front-rower – named Fred appears. Both men kiss each side of each other’s faces and exchange pleasantries before Borthwick asks Fred whether he has any spare croissants.
The previous evening, a Namibian player’s head had collided with French captain Antoine Dupont’s face in their Rugby World Cup pool match in Marseille. What we now know is a fractured cheek was at the time a mystery. “As soon as Isaw it, I thought, that doesn’t look good,” Borthwick tells me. “He’s not the sort to milk it …maybe an eye socket, his jaw … maybe a cheekbone. Hard to say.”
The biggest news in rugby at that moment – the injury to the tournament host country’s star player – was personal for Borthwick.
