The Home Nations was contested at Monkstone Petanque Club, Cardiff on 10 and 11 August. The annual triples tournament pits squads of eight teams each from Scotland, England, Jersey and Wales and is one of the highlights of the petanque season for our players.
The squads travelled to Cardiff on Friday and we were able to get some practice in on the pistes in the afternoon. With 2 contrasting surfaces, one very smooth and fast with the other rocky and unpredictable, it was sure to be a good challenge for us all.
Saturday brought very heavy rain and the morning’s play was tough going for all the players. The rain seemed to be a leveller, with all 4 nations closely bunched at lunch. Lunch seemed to affect the Scottish players and we lost our way a little in the afternoon. By close of play on Saturday we had 19 wins to our name. While we were in touch with Wales (just 3 wins adrift), Jersey and England had managed to stretch ahead a little with 27 and 28 wins respectively. There was certainly all to play for on Sunday and we had a good opportunity to catch Wales.
Sunday was supposed to be better weather wise, and it was in the afternoon, but in the morning we had to again contest with heavy driving rain. This time, we didn’t cope with the conditions as well as our opponents and we gradually drifted further away from the pack. In the end, another 15 wins on Sunday brought our total to 34. Wales were third on 46, Jersey secured second for the third year running with 51 wins and England retained the trophy once more after a strong showing on Sunday and 61 wins in total. Congratulations to them.
You can see the complete results by round here
The top Scottish team was Lynn Jenkins, Richard Carter and John Wilson with 6 wins.
I would like to thank Monkstone Petanque Club and the Welsh Petanque Association for a very successful competition. We were made to feel very welcome and they looked after us well. Special mention goes to the brave volunteers who, armed with 2lb hammers and spikes, drained the pistes between games. They did a brilliant job to ensure we could play, when at one point it looked like the weather might get the better of us. While the players were soggy all weekend, the pistes were bone dry for the last 2 rounds.
We look forward to welcoming everyone to Troon for the 21st Home Nations in 2020.
Colin Stewart – President