Man who can't speak French wins French Scrabble championship

New Zealander Nigel Richards wins French Scrabble championship Credit: Yui Mok/PA Archive/Press Association Images

The French-language Scrabble world championship has been won by a New Zealander who doesn't actually speak French.

Nigel Richards is said to have memorised an entire French Scrabble dictionary in just nine weeks ahead of the competition.

He defeated a player from French-speaking Gabon in the final held in Louvain, Belgium, on Monday.

He won by two games, beating Schelick Ilagou Rekawe to take the title.

Richards is three-time world champion, five time US champion and has six UK open titles.

ITV News' Faye Barker heard from his former Scrabble teacher on why she thinks he's the greatest Scrabble player of all time: