British Beef for French Rugby Stars
04/10/07

A scrum of French chefs, retired rugby stars, journalists and meat industry representatives battled it out at a rugby tournament with a difference at Paris' La Faisanderie stadium - home of the Stade Français rugby football club.

Rugby playing chefs Olivier Bellin, Alexandre Gauthier, Balthazar Delaborde, David Etcheverry, Frédéric Coursol, Sébastien Delaborde, Sylvain Guillemot and in the foreground Rémi Fourrier, manager of MLC France.

Half a dozen seven-a-side teams took part in the event on Monday, October 1, with one sponsored by the English Beef and Lamb Executive (EBLEX).

The EBLEX team members sported the colours of the Quality Standard Mark emblazoned across their chests. However they rumbled home last, probably because the proportion of star chefs to rugby stars in the team was a bit too high!

Some 250 industry guests cheered on the teams and then went on to enjoy a dinner at the new Paris restaurant "SYDR" owned in partnership by celebrity chef Alain Dutournier and former French national team rugby captain Philippe Sella.

The central piece of the dinner was British beef, using part of blade, and prepared by the celebrity chef and rugby fanatic Alain Dutournier.

EBLEX Head of Marketing Andrew Garvey said: "France is a very important market for British beef and though exports can't take place before October 12 we have been working to make our presence felt and to maintain a high profile with our key customers.

"This has proved effective in the past, in helping us regain sales once export restrictions are lifted."

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