French Petanque Team: 2008 New Zealand Visit

Masterton Petanque Club, Tuesday 29th January

Spectacular petanque action guaranteed

Spectacular action is guaranteed when three French players with 19 world titles between them are hosted by the Masterton Petanque Club at their Queen Elizabeth Park headquarters next Tuesday.

Phillipe Quintais, Phillipe Suchaud and Bruno Rocher will arrive here fresh from contesting the New Zealand Open in Auckland this weekend and the local sporting fraternity will have ample opportunity to see first hand just why they are so revered in petanque circles.  

The records of Quintais, Suchaud and Rocher speak for themselves. Quintais has 10 world titles to his credit, Suchaud eight and Rocher one while Rocher has also won two world junior titles.  

And if that's not proof enough of their abilities then how about the fact that of the 600,000 petanque players registered in 75 countries France has 400,000 of them and these three are the cream of the crop there.

While their visit to the Wairarapa is a brief one Quintais, Suchaud and Rocher will face a hectic schedule.

After attending a mayoral reception at the Masterton Town Hall on Tuesday morning they will participate in a melee tournament which will run from 1.00pm to 5.00pm.

This is a drawn event which means that the 30 individuals, mainly from Hawke's Bay, Wellington and Wairarapa, who have already entered will likely have the chance to play either with or against them.

At the conclusion of this tournament will come what should be the highlight of the day when Quintais, Suchaud and Rocher participate in  a shooting demonstration, which will involve them having to remove boules placed in designated positions.

Quintais has two world shooting titles to his credit and Masterton Petanque Club official Graeme Morris, a former CEO for Petanque New Zealand who has seen him in action during his travels as manager of national teams, describes his skill in this discipline as "absolutely amazing".

"He can virtually make the boule talk and it's quite spectacular to watch," Morris said.

A barbeque dinner for players and officials will follow the shooting demonstration and then in the early evening local players will be given a final chance to try their luck against the French players, who will be accompanied to Masterton by the technical director of the French Petanque Federation Victor Nataf in a visit largely made possible through the sponsorship of Trust House.

Gary Caffell, Wairarapa Times-Age, 25.1.08

Dirk Winnie, Philippe Quintais, Philippe Suchaud, Bruno Rocher

David Lippard, Victor Nataf

French petanque masters give lessons on national sport

The "All Blacks of Petanque" came through on a whistle-stop tour of Masterton yesterday, along the way giving mayor Garry Daniell a lesson in the art of boules.

The Masterton Petanque Club, who organised the visit, were on hand for the mayoral reception welcoming the three French players to Masterton, which quickly turned into an impromptu petanque training camp as the gathered fans and boules stars moved to the park outside the Masterton District Council building to test their technique.

The unflappable Mr Daniell made a valiant attempt at French, welcoming the players in their native tongue before switching back to English. "We won't mention the rugby," he said.

Victor Nataf, technical director of the French Petanque Federation, then presented Mr Daniell with a commemorative tie celebrating the sport's centennial before Masterton Petanque Club committee member Graeme Morris spoke a few words.

Phillipe Quintais, Bruno Rocher and Phillipe Suchaud among them hold 20 world titles and are regarded in the petanque world as true masters. "They're multiple world champs but they're just genuine down-to-earth nice guys," Mr Morris said, "and yes, they are like the All Blacks of the petanque world".

"I've seen these guys play overseas and to have them here so the rest of our club can see their skills is pretty special," he said.

Mr Quintais, a 12-time world champ who is now retired from the sport, has his own line of petanque sports apparel popular in France. When they are not smacking jacks for France Mr Rocher, a one-time world champion, works for the Le Mons city council and Mr Suchaud works at the Montlucon meatworks.

Mr Quintais grew up in Chartres, 80km west of Paris where he began his petanque career as an 11-year-old. "It was a family passion" he said.

The trio have just been at the Auckland nationals and travelled by car through the countryside to Masterton where Trust House have put them up at the Copthorne.

"We like Masterton but it's a very long trip from Auckland. This is my first trip to New Zealand and we saw many, many sheep. It's a beautiful country," Mr Quintais said.

The trio joined players at the Masterton Petanque Club for an exhibition featuring trick shots, sharp shooting and general play with club members.

Matt Stewart, Wairarapa Times-Age, 30.1.08