French President Emmanuel Macron was booed during the opening ceremony of the Rugby World Cup.

It began when he walked onto the pitch at the Stade de France in Paris.

While chants of “Allez Les Bleus” also rang out around the stadium, some of the jeering continued.

Earlier this year, there were large demonstrations against controversial pension reforms.

Mr Macron, arms folded, applauded World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont as he finished his speech.

Then, when it was his turn to address the crowd, the boos increased in volume and at first the president was barely audible.

But when he declared the 10th edition of the tournament open the crowd cheered in unison.

The opening ceremony – a celebration of French gastronomy, culture and art – was directed by Oscar-winning French actor Jean Dujardin.

There were leaping acrobats, a giant scrum involving fancy dress, and a massive inflatable Eiffel Tower in the middle of the field.

Hosts France beat New Zealand 29-13 in the tournament’s opening match.

Related posts:

‘Everything is destroyed’: Wildfires ravage Greek island of Rhodes Naomi Osaka to take indefinite break from tennis following her defeat at the US Open Man who stabbed seven people at New Zealand supermarket is named Gordon Brown: Western leaders ‘holding all the cards’ and ‘must act now’ to vaccinate world against COVID-19 South Africa sees rise in child COVID hospital admissions in Omicron epicentre but cases ‘mild’ Taiwan’s military releases war survival guide for civilians amid China tensions Putin pledges lunar probe in 2022 in rare public appearance since Ukraine invasion began ‘Historic moment’ as Finland and Sweden formally apply to join NATO Putin rails against Western ‘dictatorship’ as he declares four Ukrainian regions as Russian Rambling Putin sounded like a resentful old man ‘Terrifying’ prediction over earthquake death toll made by UN aid chief ‘Reports of clashes’ prompt some aid organisations to pause work in Turkey