Rugbymen, the Sausage King, the politician and the Yorkshireman.
These guys look pleased, and so they should. That's the Rugby League Challenge Cup, which has never before left England, here on display in front of the Castillet in Perpignan. Won at Wembley Stadium, London, on Saturday.
The guy in the white shirt must be ecstatic. He is Bernard Guasch, the president of the Catalan Dragons, but also the sausage king of Catalonia. Like 25% of the people in our region, his antecedants were forced out of Spain by Franco. His father was a player, as was he, and now his team, against considerable odds, is on top of the (Rugby League) World.
The guy in the striped shirt is Steve McNamara, the coach. From Yorkshire, he probably ended up here because his coaching career, unlike his playing career, had not been a great success. He too must feel pretty proud now. He gave a speech in an acccent I thought was from Liverpool, but he was born in Yorkshire and played for teams there throughout his career. I've been away from the UK so long!
Behind them, the guy in the glasses is the mayor of Perpignan. The crowd gave him such a booing when he tried to speak, I assumed he was a nationalist/racist from the Front National. Turns out he is a lawyer and a mainstream conservative, called 'Les Republicains' here.
