The 24th Home Nations takes place this coming weekend and it’s the first time the tournament has been hosted by Wales since 2019, following the interruptions of the COVID pandemic.
Jersey will be defending their title, after prizing the silverware from the cast iron grip of England last year.
It was a remarkable achievement for the Channel Islanders, their 64 wins on home turf depriving England of the trophy by a margin of two wins for the very first time since the annual tournament was inaugurated at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff in 2000.
England fought back hard on day two in Jersey last year but the unheard of 7 game deficit on day one suffered by the serial winners proved to be irretrievable.
Taking place at the Pontyclun Rugby and Sports Club, just off the M4 and some 15 miles to the north west of Cardiff, the 8-team squads of England, Jersey, Scotland and Wales will commence battle at 0930 on Saturday morning.
The hosts will hope to improve on their showing last year where they were placed fourth with 26 wins, while Scotland will also look to add to the 40 match wins they achieved. The objective for Jersey is to retain the title, but they know that England will be doing their utmost to undo the hurt of their first ever Home Nations defeat.
Lineups
The Wesh Pétanque Association (WPA) has done a great job with providing information about the tournament on their website and the competition software guru Stephen Snudden has once again worked his magic to ensure that the event runs smoothly.
The squads are shown below and each have several players who have represented their respective federations at international level. It’s notable that Wales has the full quota of four players in each team and that there is a good gender mix within the squads with the exception of England, where England international Becky Edwins is the sole female player.
Several female players competed in England’s Home Nations Qualifier, but this was a very large entry and a fiercely competitive day. The size of the entry may well have been motivated by a determination amongst English players to bounce back from the disappointment of 2024.
Format
There are some very interesting contests on the agenda, and the format is such that broadly the playing order is based on:
Team 1 v all 4s, 3s, 2s, 1s
Team 2 v all 3s, 4s, 1s, 2s
Team 3 v all 2s, 1s, 6s, 5s
Team 4 v all 1s, 2s, 5s, 6s
Team 5 v all 8s, 7s, 4s, 3s
Team 6 v all 7s, 8s, 3s, 4s
Team 7 v all 6s, 5s, 8s, 7s
Team 8 v all 5s, 6s, 7s, 8s
The running order and pitch allocation is shown below over the two days, and the tournament kicks off with ties between Wales and Jersey and England and Scotland. Both days conclude with ties between Wales and Scotland and England and Jersey. These rounds 6 and 12 will undoubtedly be crucial in determining the final results. 192 games later, we will know who has come out on top!
Umpires will be Kevin Moss (England) and George Hill (Wales) and the best of luck to them in officiating. The control table will be in the capable hands of WPA President and Head of Delegation Tony Smith and Jayne Dunn. PE President Colin Roper is the Head of Delegation for England while Alison Swiffin (SPA President) and Geoffroy Buffetrille (Vice Chair of the JPA) are the other Heads of Delegation and also playing.
There’s some experienced heads as well in the respective managers of John Edmondson (England), Geoffroy Buffetrille (Jersey), Shirley Legge (Scotland) and Kate Price (Wales).
Friendship will be the winner
Although this is a fiercely competitive event with players taking great pride in their representation, it’s also one which has a terrific social aspect where friendships are made or renewed.
All the best to the players and officials for a highly enjoyable weekend of pétanque!
P365 will update on results on our Facebook Group over the weekend, but our usual live streamers are playing for England. It might be possible we can bring you some limited live coverage and we’ll certainly bring you some photos and a preview of the venue on Friday evening. Look out for that.
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