A New Zealand man has won the French language Scrabble championship, despite not speaking French. Nigel Richards triumphed over Schélick Ilagou Rekawe, from French-speaking Gabon, in the final in Louvain, Belgium, on Monday. Richards’ friend Liz Fagerlund, former president of the New Zealand Scrabble Association, revealed that he had been studying the language closely for approximately eight weeks in preparation.