ENJOYING NEUVILE-ASK & SIX NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP

Today, The Grandma got up early so as not to miss the plane that took her to Brussels where Joseph de Ca'th Lon was waiting for her to drive to Neuville-Ask where they plan to attend the France-Italy Six Nations match this afternoon.

It has been an intense morning of accumulated sleep and coffees, but now they will rest a little at the hotel, write this new post, watch the first half of the FA Women's Cup match between Manchester United and Chelsea, and Joseph will give her a summary (if possible) of their stay at the Olympic Games. Then, they will go to the Stade Pierre Mauroy where they hope to experience a great rugby spectacle, possibly the most honest sport and with the fairest play in the entire sports panorama.

Joseph is a fan of Ireland and The Grandma of the U.E. Santboiana where she has great friends like Toni, Susanna, Àngels or Mima, who have made her enjoy this spectacular sport. If you like rugby, any Six Nations match should be watched, and if possible, lived.

Tomorrow they will make a quick visit to Lile before returning to Basel and Barcelona, where both must continue with their respective lives.

Neuvile-Ask is a very beautiful city, where Picard is historically spoken, with a great sporting tradition where its women's basketball team stands out, but it is also one of the headquarters of the French national rugby team when it plays in the Six Nations. 

Neuvile-Ask in Picard or Villeneuve-d'Ascq in French  is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. With more than 60,000 inhabitants and 50,000 students, it is one of the main cities of the Lille metropolitan area (Métropole Européenne de Lille) and the largest in area after the city of Lille itself. It is also one of the main cities of the Hauts-de-France region.

Built up owing to the merger between the former communes of Ascq, Annappes and Flers-lez-Lille, Neuvile-Ask is a new town and the cradle of the first automatic metro system in the world (VAL).

Neuvile-Ask is nicknamed the 'green technopole' thanks to the implantation of many researchers, including two campuses of the University of Lille and many graduate engineering schools, and companies in a pleasant living environment. Owing to its activity centres, its Haute Borne European scientific park and two shopping malls, Neuvile-Ask is one of the main economic spots of the Hauts-de-France region; multinational corporations such as Bonduelle, Cofidis and Decathlon have their head office there.

Outside its academic, scientific and business facilities, Neuvile-Ask is known for its sporting events, boasting two stadiums (Stade Pierre-Mauroy and Stadium Lille Métropole), some top division sports teams, its museums, its green spaces, and its facilities for disabled people.

Its name means new city of Ascq in French. Ascq is possibly derived from the Dutch word for ash. The name of the city is generally written without the customary (official) hyphen.

The city counts approximately 10 km2 of greenspace, lakes, forests and arable lands. It is located between Lille and Roubaix, at the crossroads of the principal freeways towards Paris, Ghent, Antwerp and Brussels.

Development on what is now Neuvile-Ask can be traced back to the Celtic Gaul era, and are anchored in two feudal mounds, a Gallo-Roman site and a Carolingian one.

The area was selected in the 1960s to accommodate a new town then designated the name Lille-Est, which was to channel the growth of the agglomeration of Lille city and development of institutions based in the area. The commune of Neuvile-Ask was created in 1970 by the amalgamation of the communes of Ascq, Annappes and Flers. Its name evokes at the same time the new (neuve) and the old: former commune Ascq and its memory as martyr town of 1 April 1944, date on which the Nazis massacred 86 men (Ascq massacre).

The city's merger with Lille was contentious and failed twice (1972 and 1976). The Hôtel de Ville was completed in 1977.

The Stade Pierre-Mauroy, also known as the Decathlon Arena-Stade Pierre-Mauroy for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-use retractable roof stadium in Neuvile-Ask, Metropolis of Lille, Northern France, that opened in August 2012. With a seating capacity of 50,186, it is the fourth-largest sports stadium in France and the home of French professional football club Lille.

Initially named Grand Stade Lille Métropole, the stadium was renamed on 21 June 2013, after the death of the former Mayor of Lille and former Prime Minister of France Pierre Mauroy (1928–2013).

The stadium, which hosted UEFA Euro 2016 and 2023 Rugby World Cup, can also be turned into an adjustable arena being expandable to 30,000 seats where indoor sports games and concerts take place. Therefore, multiple Davis Cup events, EuroBasket 2015 and 2024 Summer Olympics basketball and handball tournaments matches have been held in the building.

More information: Six Nations Rugby

 Rugby is a game that's constant. 
If you are not growing with it, 
you get left behind.

Owen Farrell

BRIAN O'DRISCOLL: IRISH COURAGE IN RUGBY

Brian O'Driscoll

Brian Gerard O'Driscoll (1979) is an Irish former professional rugby union player. Registered at University College Dublin R.F.C., he played at outside centre for the Irish provincial team Leinster and for Ireland. O'Driscoll was born in Dublin from a family steeped in rugby. His father, Frank, played two games for Ireland and an uncle, Barry, won four caps. 

O'Driscoll is the second most-capped player in rugby union history. He's the highest try scorer of all time in Irish Rugby, the 8th-highest try scorer in international rugby union history, and the highest scoring centre of all time.

He holds the Six Nations record for most tries scored with 26. He has scored the most Heineken Cup tries (30) for an Irishman. O'Driscoll was chosen as Player of the Tournament in the 2006, 2007 and 2009 Six Nations Championships. He made his Ireland under-21 debut in February 1999, and eventually gained four caps.

In 1999, O'Driscoll was selected for the senior squad and was on the bench for a match against Italy, although he did not play. He won his first Test cap at age 20 on 12 June 1999 in a 46–10 loss to Australia in Brisbane as part of the tour of Australia. O'Driscoll played for Ireland before he played for the senior Leinster team.

In 2000, O'Driscoll scored a Hat-trick of tries in a Six Nations Championship victory against France in Paris, propelling Ireland to their first win in Paris since 1972. His popularity in Ireland was expressed by supporters wearing T-shirts bearing the motto In BOD We Trust.

In 2002, O'Driscoll was handed the captaincy for the first time in Ireland's 18–9 win over Australia, the first Irish victory over the Wallabies since 1979. In 2003, following the international retirement of long-time Ireland captain Keith Wood, O'Driscoll was awarded the captaincy on a permanent basis. In that year, he led Ireland to second place in the Six Nations Championship. This was followed by Triple Crowns in 2004, Ireland's first crown since 1985, 2006 and 2007. In 2004, O'Driscoll captained Ireland to a 17–12 victory over South Africa, the first Irish win over the Springboks since 1965.

More information: Brian O'Driscoll Official Website

In 2009, he was again selected as captain, leading Ireland to win the Triple Crown, Six Nations Championship and their first Grand Slam in 61 years. He scored a try in every match except one, culminating in a 17–15 victory in Cardiff in which he again scored a try and was the RBS man of the match. On 27 March 2009, he was named as player of the 2009 Six Nations Championship, winning the fans' online poll. In May 2009, he was named the Bord Gáis Energy IRUPA Players' Player of the Year for the past season.

In the 2011 Six Nations Championship, O'Driscoll's 47th minute try against England, took him past Ian Smith's 78-year-old record of 24 tries to become the leading Championship try scorer of all time with 25 Tries. The same day, he tied John Smit's International Captaincy caps record of 75.

In his last international match, the finale of the 2014 Six Nations Championship on 15 March 2014, he and the Irish team beat France in Paris for only the second time in 42 years, crowning Ireland the 2014 Six Nations Championship champions. In the post-match interview, an emotional O'Driscoll remarked he could not have wished to finish his career in a better way.

More information: Irish Rugby

 Team sports are very important for shaping personalities. 

It's important that kids understand the mentality behind playing team sports and playing for one another and playing with friends. 

Brian O'Driscoll