New Zealand

Sacré bleu ... NZ champ can't speak French

11:31 am on 22 July 2015

A New Zealand man who does not speak a word of French has won the French-language Scrabble world championship.

New Zealander Nigel Richards at the Francophone Scrabble World Championships Photo: AFP

Nigel Richards defeated a rival from French-speaking Gabon in the final in Louvain, Belgium.

From Christchurch, Mr Richards is said to have memorised an entire French Scrabble dictionary in nine weeks earlier this year.

A previous English Scrabble champion, he is now based in Malaysia.

He beat Gabon's Schelick Ilagou Rekawe by two games to nil in Monday's final.

- BBC