Searching for rugby league coverage in France is not always easy, but one person in particular leads the way in bringing news about the game to the eyes and ears of the French public.

I WOULD like to introduce you to Bruno Onteniente also known as “the Voice of the Catalans Dragons”.

If you’re interested in French rugby league, you may have come across his name countless times. Maybe in the columns of L’Indépendant, the southern local newspaper which has three editions covering the area of Perpignan, Carcassonne and Narbonne. If you can read French of course or are not too puzzled by our language. Even if you don’t recognise the name, you may have spotted the 57-year-old Catalan in the grandstands of your local Super League club. His face looks familiar, yet the language barrier can dampen curiosity.

In France’s Treiziste community, he is a household name. Readers follow his weekly columns, and listeners tune in to his match commentary on the state-run local station France Bleu Roussillon – the French equivalent of a BBC local radio service. 

Yet, this pundit has never fully been introduced to readers of Treiziste Diary even by my illustrious predecessors. It is my pleasure to set the record straight.  

Bruno accepted my request for an interview, which gives us a clearer picture of his personality. 

To begin, I wanted to know what motivated him to embark on a journalistic career.

“Actually, my mentor was Hervé Girette (another famous name of French rugby league journalism), one of brightest journalists I have never met. One day a friend of mine told me that Radio France Bleu Roussillon was looking for a correspondent to cover a game of the French Championship between Carcassonne and Pia. I said yes, and then I have never looked back since.”

But before becoming a journalist, Onteniente was first and foremost a Treiziste and I asked him about the origin of his passion for rugby à XIII.

“I fell into rugby league as a child. My grandfather was Jules Picalam, the president of the XIII Catalan rugby league school during the 1980s. Myself, I started playing for XIII Catalan at nine and became a coach at 14. And today, I’m still a coach but presently for the U13 team. Rugby league is so spectacular that it has become a religion since my childhood.”

I also wanted him to reassure me about something which concerns me; the freedom of French rugby league journalists in France to cover our sport. So, I asked him the same question I asked to Arnaud Coudry, the Figaro journalist (see RLW 494), if he was free to write on rugby league.

“At L’Indépendant, there’s no pressure to shrink rugby league’s coverage in the columns. In fact, it is the newspaper which covers rugby league the most in France. What further helps us is the Catalans Dragons’ prominent exposure in England.”

I was also interested to know if he didn’t face what I would call the Treiziste dilemma. As a coach, as a player, you may be tempted to switch to union to get more recognition from the French public. Journalism being no exception.

“Actually, I have been covering all the sports since 1998, when I joined L’Indépedant. But I don’t do it for the fame. I’m driven by a genuine passion for XIII. My passion for calling games for the radio, for writing articles, for interviewing and meeting awesome people. As an example; in 2021, I attended the Super League Grand Final at Old Trafford and the very next day I was commenting a game played by Palau!”

A recurrent question for Treizistes here is about the under representation of rugby league in the media, and I wanted to know if he had some leads to explain it and if there was an issue of ethics with the French national journalists who focus on the wealthiest sports. 

“Journalism has changed dramatically. Audience now dictates which events receive attention. My paper keeps following rugby league and it’s well established in the rugby league strongholds. We’ve many subscribers but the digital version faces a tougher market: there is only a small audience for the articles dedicated to the Dragons; they do fill stadia but Paris is not interested in what’s happening in Perpignan. That’s why staging a match against Wigan in Paris this year is so crucial.”

Given that Onteniente has been following Super League since the beginning, I wanted to know what he made of the coming season. 

“The upcoming season is exciting. The Dragons field the youngest team in their history, around a 6-7-1 formation, which is as fast as it is smart thanks to the trio Dodd, Sexton and Staines. My prediction for this season: Dragons could finish sixth behind Wigan, Hull KR, Warrington, St Helens and Leeds. But they need to become difficult to defeat at home again.”

His prediction for the next World Cups and his opinion about the format are similar to mine (see RLW 517).

“Both the men’s and women’s sides are unlikely to progress beyond the group stage, whereas the wheelchair team could realistically win the tournament. A ten-team format prevents the average nations from expecting any success. And coming back from Oceania without any victories won’t have any benefit for France. As an illustration: playing and beating Greece first in 2022 did make sense for France and brought some ambition. This autumn, the Chanticleers will play Samoa first and England afterwards! It’s impossible to have any expectations in such a context. France needs to accomplish two big upsets. Actually, only a sixteen-team World Cup could truly advance the global game.”

The latest point I wanted to address with him was his possible connections with the UK and his Anglophone (English and Australian) colleagues. 

“Since 2006, I have been enjoying coming to England to cover the games. I’ve met great people such as Ricky Wilby and Lola, his daughter. They have become friends and attended my wedding. I’ve had good rapport with the journos covering Super League and they are my source of inspiration; for example Dave Woods is the number one international caller for me, Phil Kinsella, and his French accent, Gemma and Gary Carter, for their benevolence, not to mention Jason Costigan, Matthew Shaw, Aaron Bower, Mark Wilson, Gareth Walker, Dave Craven, Ross Heppenstall, and I don’t forget Jenna Brooks, who has fans in France! I have also in mind the late Steve Brady.

“I’ve always been warmly welcomed in the English stadia; it’s impossible not to feel good in Castleford where rugby league DNA exudes from every pore. I’m fond of the great atmosphere at Headingley, the greatest of all. I do like Wigan’s passion for the code, and Warrington and St Helens for the songs of their supporters. There are so many stories I could tell! Yet the most incredible one was when I was at Wembley in 2018: many journalists came to congratulate me at the end of the match; you could see sincerity in their eyes and their joy to see Catalans holding the trophy!” 

I knew that Bruno was passionate for rugby league, as a true Catalan. But this growing and constant admiration for English rugby league and deep respect for his Anglophone colleagues was a great and a nice surprise. 

Bruno is definitively the kind of professional who can help in forging a bridge between French and English rugby league. 

Especially when a minority (and only a minority) are working behind the scenes to marginalise French clubs, attempting to persuade people that they contribute nothing to the game.

First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 518 (March 2026)