Princess Ugonwaezeh-Agugo Gets Rugby Africa Appointment

 Nigeria's first National Women's Team Captain Princess Alban Ugonwaezeh-Agugo has been appointed into Rugby Africa Women's Player Welfare and Participation Sub Committee.

Chairman of the Sub Committee, Ms. Anna Michelle Prudence Preira commended Princess and ten others for their dedication and involvement in the development of women's Rugby and the welfare of the players.

NRFF President, Kelechukwu Mbagwu says the Federation has been working closely with Rugby Africa to ensure inclusiveness of Women and schools in Rugby. ''Our promise to make the game more inclusive through a variety of competitions by strategic revamping of existing competitions and coming up with new ones for gilrs and ladies is one Nigeria look forward to as an aspiring Rugby nation and results are beginning to show with the appointments of NRFF Vice President Mrs Grace Iyorhe into Rugby Africa's Advisory Committee and now Princess Ugowaezeh-Agugo into players Welfare Sub Committee. We will keep working to grow the game across the country.”

 

 Princess Alban Ugonwaezeh-Agugo, a 34yr old mother of two started her sporting career in Tennis. In the year 2007, she was sponsored to a training tour at the HPC Sports Academy in Pretoria South Africa. she returned to play in the Delta State Festival and emerged Champion in the female singles category. She represented her school, Nwafor Orizu College of Education and won back to back Double Gold and Silver medals in the 2009 NIGERIA COLLEGE OF EDUCATION GAMES (NICEGA) held in Kano State and Omork River State in 2012. following these success, she was honoured  twice by Students' Union Government.
Princess won the Anambra State Festival Tennis competition female singles and mix doubles in 2011.

As a Rugby player, she is the first Delta State Women's Rugby captain leading her team to winning Gold and Silver medals at the National Sports Festival held in Kaduna State in 2009. She then led the national women's team to the 2009 African Women Rugby 7s (North) Tournament held in Accra, Ghana where Nigeria narrowly lost the Cup final match againt an experienced Tunisian side to finish in second place.  

She is an Educationist. She obtained her NCE from the above mentioned school, B.ed from the University of Nigeria Nsukka and M.SC from Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka.

She is the proprietress of Prince Et Princess Schools and has awarded scholarships to the less privileged particularly orphans. Her contributions in education was rewarded recently as she bags an award as Anambra State Pillar of Education by the Catholic Teachers Association Onitsha Archdiocese by His Lordship Valerian Mmaduka Okeke, the Archbishop of Onitsha Ecclesiastical Province.

Nigeria Rugby Football Federation Welcomes DHL Stormers Rugby team in Lagos.

Today, the NRFF announces the arrival of two Springbok and DHL Stormers players; Siya Kolisi and Scarra Ntubeni as part of a DHL Stormers sponsorship exercise. 

 

They arrived at the Muritala Muhammed International Airport on Tuesday via South Arica Airways.  

 

They will both visit Nigerian Champions; Cowrie Rugby Football Club on Thursday at theirs grounds for a Ruby clinic with kids at Kings College, Lagos and participate in a practice session with Cowrie Rugby Club. 

 

Siya and Scara have been having a good time exploring Lagos haven visited the Lekki conservative centre, We Cyclers Project supported by DHL and The Beat FM to talk about their trip to Lagos. 

Cowrie Crowned Inaugural Champion of NRFF Super Cup

It was an evening to remember as Cowrie RFC of Lagos won the inaugural edition of the CMB sponsored Super cup defeating Kaduna RFC by 8points to 5.

The event which was decided at the mainbowl of the National stadium, Lagos was organized by the Nigeria Rugby Football Federation to determine the national club champion which features the winners of the South and Northern league.

Chidera Felix was yellow carded very early in the game for an unacceptable challenge on Cowrie’s Captain Azeez Ladipo which was an early sign of how tensed the match was going to be.

In the tension soaked encounter, captain of Cowrie RFC, Azeez Ladipo fluffed the golden opportunity for his team to take the lead in the 1st half as he missed a penalty kick from an unlikely position.

The match could not provide a winner at the end of regulation time as the disciplined Kaduna RFC defense contained all the attacks of their opponent led by Onoru Jato.

 

After consultation with the match commission Mohammed Salisu, Centre Referee, Adeniran Adeyinka decided that the game had to go into 30 minutes extra time.

1st try of the day was finally scored early in the 1st half of extra time through Chidera Felix of Kaduna to give them a 5point lead while the chance of extending their lead to 7 was thrown away with the resulting conversion missed.

Cowrie hit back moments later through John Sylvanus with a well worked try to restore parity between the evenly matched sides.
Cowrie brought their experience to play as they went ahead courtesy of a penalty kick in the 2nd half through Azeez Ladipo, a result that was enough for them to win the title.

 

The match ended with a narrow 8-5point win by Cowrie RFC.

 

The presence of the Senior Special Assistant to Lagos State Governor on Sport, Adeyinka Adeboye gave the desired glamour the event needed as he presented the trophy to Cowrie RFC of Lagos as winners of the inaugural NRFF Super Cup.

 

All was not lost for Kaduna as Chidera Felix was voted as the most valuable player of the tournament.

Speaking after the match, Ladipo said, "I feel very elated, I have to give it to the boys because they did very well after being able to overturn that scary game in our favor."
"It was not easy, I have to give it to our technical team as well because we got a lot of turnover balls from the breakdown. I think that was where we won the game and in the line out."

He lauded the effort of the NRFF for organising such tournament which was the first of its kind in a long time as they continue to reposition the sport in Nigeria

In his own reaction, Coach of Kaduna RFC, Richard Raphael praised the efforts of his team as he described them as heroes after withstanding the barrages of Cowrie.

"It's been long we had a formidable game like this, the boys played even beyond my expectation because we only trained for 3 days since we are off-season considering our season start by July."

Raphael who said he had to rally his team at the shortest notice from the NRFF believes that a brighter future awaits his team if they can continue at such enviable pace.

 

President of the federations, Sir Edward Fom Pam commended the generosity of Richard Raphael who is a board member of the federation, for supporting the organiser with the supply of trophies presented.

Nigeria on standby to host of Africa Rugby Cup 1C

Nigeria has been asked to be on standby to host the 2016 African Rugby Cup 1C Tournament in case Morocco fails to meet up with obligations to host the tournament.

Nigeria lost the bid to the North African country due to security reasons.

It will be recalled that Nigeria placed a bid to host the 2016 Africa Cup 1C in Lagos but according to Rugby Africa, after careful considerations, the Executive Committee awarded the hosting rights to Morocco citing security reasons.

According to a mail sent to the Nigeria Rugby Football Federation last week, through the operations manager of Rugby Africa; Coralie Vandenberg; she said “despite agreeing that proposed host city, Lagos might be incident free, some countries could feel insecure and choose not to travel which would jeopardize the tournament”.

They resolved that should Morocco be faced with the same security threats or no longer in a position to host the tournament, the executive committee will reconsider its position and advise sufficiently ahead of time.

Meanwhile, the President of The Nigeria Rugby Football Federation Sir, Fom Edward Pam has expressed his displeasure over the latest development saying that the move to host the African Cup 1C was part of the Federation’s strategy to make the sport popular in the country.

"However we will not let this distract us from our goal to get promoted to 1B."

Nigerian Rugby Player snapped up by South African Team!

Belhar RFC has announced the signing of Nigeria's player, Christian Ogar popularly known as Star Boy who currently plays for Cowrie RFC Lagos in the South West League in Nigeria.

After being sported by scouts in the rugby olympic qualifier tournament held in Johannesburg South Africa in November 2015 , The South African club who plays in the Western Cape League in South Africa announced the deal in December 2015 after an agreement was reached with the player through his club.

The speed star who hails from Cross River State and started his playing career with Plateau Tiger in Jos before moving to join the current Southwest League champions is due to fly out of Lagos on 26th, January 2016.

Reacting to this, the Technical Adviser of the national team, Bandele Coker described the move as a stepping stone for the player and also for the National team.

According to him, moving to South Africa; a country that has a better infrastructure for the development of rugby will be good for the winger who will hope to be selected to represent Nigeria again in the future.

All Is Set For NRFF Sandy Beach Rugby Tournament

Organizers of the 3rd edition of the annual Nigerian Rugby Football Federation sanctioned Sandy Beach Rugby tournament have announced the 26th and 27th of December as the final date of the event taking place at La Cabana Bar, Elegushi Beach.

According to the Chief Executive Officer of Turbo Crest Sports; Ayoola Tubosun Johnson, this year’s programme will be a 2 day event kicking of at 12:00 noon each day. “This time, we are having the event for two days. The first day 26th of December is for kids while the second day which is 27th is for adults”

Speaking further, Johnson said things are looking bright as some sponsors have shown interest in partnering with them following the successes recorded in the 1st and 2nd edition of the event which started in 2013.

Johnson, who doubles as Coach of Racing RFC thanked the Nigerian Rugby Football Federation under the leadership of Sir Edward Fom Pam for their support and the Vice President, Fasimoye Olatunji for being extremely philanthropic.

He acknowledged the support of Babaloke of La Cabana Bar in Elegushi who has gone out of his way to make his facilities available for the event.

He enjoined the general public to turn out in their hundreds for the 2015 edition which promises to be exciting, with the entire rugby fraternity getting excited and looking forward to the event, they are doing their best to improve every year in order to make the competition bigger and better.

Black Stallions In Top Eight As Kenya Sevens Qualifies For 2016 Olympics

 

 

 

Nigeria’s Black Stallions were eight placed at The Rugby Africa Men’s Sevens Olympic Qualifiers at the Barnard Stadium in Kempton Park, Johannesburg, on Sunday.

Speaking from their Southern Sun hotel in Johannesburg, Coach Fabian Juries says 5 players picked up series of injuries and knocks and it affected the team’s overall performance. Our captain; Azeez Ladipo injured his shoulder in the early minutes of the first game and we had to manage him through some matches. Nuhu Samaila, Ike Onwukanjo, Onyinye Onwukanjo, Hafis Ayinla; were also injured leaving us with just one substitute in the last two games.

Fabian Juries further explained that the team improved from last year’s outing where they placed eleventh and says there is room for more improvement. “We set a quarter final target and the boys met it but going forward, we need to work on strength and conditioning of the team and ensure they play together in more tournaments”. 

Kenya and Zimbabwe invest a lot in their team’s strength and conditioning and it was evident in their performance. However, if you watch the Nigeria vs Zimbabwe match, you wouldn’t notice much difference as we completely matched their game. Strength and Conditioning requires a bigger budget moving forward.

The Rugby Africa Men’s Sevens Olympic Qualifier ended in a thrilling final between Kenya and Zimbabwe with Kenya nicking scoring the winning try at the sound of the hooter.

Kenya Sevens will now represent the African continent at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games along with the Springbok Sevens, who qualified for the showpiece by finishing second on the log table at the conclusion of the 2014/2015 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, also, Zimbabwe, Morocco and Tunisia will stand a chance to qualifier as they automatically qualified for the repechage scheduled to hold in Monaco, France Next year.   

 

Pam Fom Says Nigeria Needs A Sports Minister Not Football Minister.

As Nigerians await tomorrow’s announcement of ministerial appointees, the President of the Nigerian Rugby Football Federation, Sir Edward Pam Fom has appealed to the President of Nigeria, Retired General Muhammadu Buhari to put a round peg in a round hole as minister of sports.

Speaking from South Africa where the National team are currently preparing for the Olympics qualifiers, Pam Fom said, in the past, Ministers of football were often appointed rather than sports minister.

He said since we are in the era of change, a minister who knows his onions and has open mind towards other sports federation should be given the chance to reposition the sector.

He finally frowned at some school of thoughts that had been clamuoring for the scraping of the office of the minister of sports as he described them as ignorant.

Onwukanjo Brothers Relishing Partnership

Following their invitation to the senior national Rugby sevens team, the duo of Ikechukwu and Onyinye Onwukanjo will be the second set of brothers to feature together for the Black Stallions of Nigeria after former Black Stallion captain; David Akinluyi and his brother Emmanuel Akinluyi.

Onyinye Onwukanjo who plays for Davenport University Rugby, USA and Ike Onwukanjo of Northeast Olympic Academy also in the USA made the final Black Stallions Sevens list for the Olympics qualifiers in South Africa next weekend; 14^th and 15^th of November.

Speaking after his first call up, Onyinye said his elder brother, Ikechukwu, who featured for Nigeria earlier in the year during the All African Games and pre-Olympics qualifiers in Togo, made him decide to play for his fatherland when he was contacted by the federation.

In his words’, the hooker said, “It will be amazing, the chemistry will be there because he is my elder brother and we understand each other well.”

Reacting to the prospect of featuring alongside his sibling, Ikechukwu explained that both are relishing featuring together in South Africa and probably pick a ticket to 2016 Olympics in Rio.

Nigeria is drawn alongside Zimbabwe, Uganda and Zambia in Pool B and will be coached by former South Africa Rugby Sevens talisman; Fabian Juries. The team will fly out on Sunday afternoon for a one week camp in Johannesburg ahead of the Tournament. 

Rugby Africa Announces Pools For Olympic Qualifier.

Rugby Africa has confirmed the pools for The Olympic qualifiers which will be staged in Johannesburg, South Africa on the 13th – 14th November, 2015. The Africa Cup Sevens is a qualifying tournament for The Rio Olympic Games in 2016.

Nigeria has been drawn in Pool B, alongside Zimbabwe, Uganda and Zambia. Zimbabwe are favorites to advance from Pool B.

Reacting after the draws, coach of the Nigerian Rugby team also know as Black Stallions, Fabian Juries said “The draw here offers some really exciting match-ups right from the group stage and there’s lots of potential for upsets as well which means no team can take anything for granted”.

Despite Zimbabwe being tipped by bookmakers as group B favorites, the South African Rugby legend believes the Zambia team are no pushovers However, he has warned opposing teams that any attempt to underrate Nigeria may prove costly.

Meanwhile in group A, Kenya who is a strong force in africa rugby will tackle Madagascar, Senegal and Mauritius.

In group C, northern african brothers, Tunisia and Morrocco have been pitted together with  Namibia and Bostwana.

NRFF Takes Positives From Cup 1C Campaign.

The President of the Nigeria Rugby Football Federation,NRFF, Sir Edward Fom Pam,is unperturbed over the non-qualification of the Nigeria's Black Stallions to the Africa Rugby division One-B after Zambia defeated Zimbabwe by 19 points to 12 to gain promotion to division One- C .

The Black Stallions narrowly missed out on promotion after losing to the home team by 15 to 8 points    in their first match before defeating third ranked rugby playing nation in Africa, Zimbabwe by 34 points to 23 to brighten their chances which was later dimmed by Zambia.

The NRFF President, acknowledged that the team boxed itself into a very tight corner after unexpectedly losing to Zambia which bookmakers thought was going to be an easy ride on their way to gaining promotion, hence excuses are not warranted because the team had their chances.

Fom Pam, noted that the tournament provided technical committee of the federation a clear insight as to what the senior national team will look like based on the performances of the team at the competition after about two years of trying to gather together a team that can hold its own against any country in the world.

He thanked CMB Building Maintenance and Investment Company Limited for being there for the National team as always as they were solely responsible for the 1 week camping exercise in Zambia before the tournament which went a long way in helping the Fabian Juries led team to record a decent result.

He called on well-meaning Nigerians, corporate organizations to key into the vision of the NRFF by partnering with the federation through sponsorship of the national teams, grassroots and national competitions which will help in exposing the hidden talents scattered all over the country.

Black Stallions Records Victory Over Zimbabwe To Brighten Promotion Chances.

Nigeria earlier today, Wednesday, 24^th of June bounced back from their defeat against Zambia to defeat Zimbabwe in the last match of their campaign of the African Rugby cup 1C holding in Zambia to brighten their chances of moving to the Division 1B in the continent.

 

The Black Stallions under the tutelage of South African legend, Fabian Juries bounced back to win by 34 to 23 points after trailing in the first half by 13 points to 8 against the third best rugby playing nation in Africa courtesy of 2 tries each from Christian Ogar, Ekpo Samuel and Godwin Emanuel who scored 1 try with Azeez Ladipo converting a penalty and three try conversions.

 

Speaking after the game, head coach of the side, Fabian Juries commended his side for showing maturity and playing much better against Zimbabwe by the forwards and the backlines and scoring a few good tries.

 

Meanwhile, Captain of the side, Azeez Ladipo praised the resilience of the team by doing the impossible.

He praised the Nigeria Rugby federation in playing their part in ensuring that the team had the best of preparation which in no small way played a part in the above average performance in the tournament.

 

Speaking on his plan for the team, Juries said there is no antidote to continuity, hence the need to keep the nucleus of the team with the addition of extra and quality talents where need be as they prepare and build more on all aspects of the game in the future.

 

With 1 loss and a victory, the team’s hope of securing a passage to the 1B division now hinges on the outcome of the game between host-Zambia and Zimbabwe on Saturday.

 

Black Stallions Fall To Zambia

Azeez Ladipo's penalty and Onoru Jatto's try in the first half was all the Black Stallions could pull off as host-Zambia pulled off a 15 points to 8 over the Black Stallion of Nigeria at the Africa Rugby cup 1C cup.

Zambia scored 2 tries in the first half and kicked over a penalty as the score stood at 12-8 at half time. 
The second half was tight for both teams but Zambia managed to kick another penalty over for another 3 points. 

Reacting after the game, NRFF technical director; Fasimoye Olatunji expressed concerns over some questionable calls made by the referee in favor of the host who were desperate to host to win and gain promotion into the 1B division.

He submitted that the team will have to come all out against Zimbabwe on Wednesday if they are to step up to Cup 1B.

The federation is still awaiting Rugby Africa’s decision’s after a formal complaint was made over Zambia Rugby Union’s decision to appoint a referee from Kenya and touch judges and match commissioner from Zambia for the match against the Black Stallions.

 

Black Stallions Departs For Zambia.

The Nigeria Rugby National team which consist of 21 home based and 2 foreign players will on Monday, 15th of June 2015 depart the shores of the country for a week intensive training in Zambia aboard a Kenya Airline ahead of the Rugby Africa Cup 1C  in Lusaka, Zambia.

The team comprising 23 players and 3 officials will be led by the President of the Nigeria Rugby Football Federation, Sir. Fom Edward Pam, the early departure  is another initiative of the federation to adequately prepare the national team for all its competitions.

According to the President, the leadership of the federation is buoyed by the recent success of the national team qualification for the All Africa Games scheduled to hold later this year in Congo, hence, there is need to leave no stone unturned in ensuring the recent success achieved is consolidated.

Fom Pam said the team camping in Zambia for one week ahead of the tournament was suggested by the technical committee of the federation as to help in exposing and preparing the team for the high-altitude condition expected in Zambia during the competition.

Despite the lean purse of the federation, CMB Building Maintenance & Inv Co Ltd lend their sponsorship generosity as usual considering the importance attached to the competition,  the winner of the tournament will gain promotion to Division 1B which is another giant step towards the federation’s target by the Fabian Juries led team.

In Fom Pam’s words, “The federation has learnt a lot from last year experience in Botswana where the national team failed to gain promotion from the 1C division due to inadequate preparation, "the team struggled with the high-altitude condition which made qualification difficult.”

According to information made available by Rugby Africa, the 4 day competition scheduled between the 21st and 24th June 2015 will feature Zambia, Nigeria and Zimbabwe currently playing in the 1A division but were drafted in to replace Cameroon following their withdrawal from the competition. 

The Black Stallions will slug it out with Zambia on the 21st June 2015, the match will determine who gains promotion to Division 1B and then battle Zimbabwe on the 24th Jun!e 2015.

NRFF Announces AAG and 1C Cup Dates

The Technical Director of the Nigeria Rugby Football Federation; Olatunji Fasimoye has announced their plans for the All Africa Games Qualifier in Lome between the 6^th and 7^th of June  which will be followed by the Africa Cup 1C in Lusaka, Zambia between 22^nd and 27th of the same month.

 

Speaking in Lagos, he reiterated the federations resolve to qualify the nation for the AAG through early and adequate preparation as the NRFF will commence players call up for the Black Stallions 7s and 15s squads in April.

 

“As the Director of Nigerian Rugby, I want the best 7s and 15s players in the country putting that jersey on whenever it's available," 

 

Fasimoye said the federation has reassured all eligible players based home and abroad that the Technical department will work with the Black Stallions’ Technical crew to get the best representation for the country on the field.

 

The former national team player agreed that players’ morale can be dampened through questionable selection processes, he promised that the final team list will be solely based on current form and merit.

Selection of players for camp will begin in April as call up letters will go to the right players including our overseas based players. 

 

NRFF Appeals For Understanding As Regional Leagues Commences.

The Vice President of the Nigerian Rugby Football Federation, Olatunji Fasimoye has appealed to all lovers of the game, club owners and players to exercise more patience with the organizers of the leagues over the recent postponement of the commencement day of the second phase of the regional leagues.

He attributed the last minute decision by the leagues’ organizing committee to the postponement of the election date from February 14th to March 28th 2015.

Reacting to questions from newsmen, the former Nigerian Rugby international explained that “the 2nd phase of the leagues was supposed to kick off February 28th 2015 but to our shock, the election was postponed which affected a lot of things”

He said although a new date has not been fixed, but “immediately after the election, the leagues will kick off”

Cowrie RFC are currently occupying the driving seat in the South West league with 35 points from seven matches and followed by Racing RFC with 25 points from the same number of matches.

In the Northern league, Barewa RFC is on top of the table with 19 points while the South-South/South-East league is being led by Buffalo RFC of Abia with 6 points

NRFF Determined To Consolidate On 2014 Achievements

The Nigeria Rugby Football Federation has set all machinery in motion to consolidate the tremendous achievements recorded in 2014.

With the issue of funding being the primary challenge facing most federations in Nigeria, President of the federation, Sir Edward Pam Fom is hopeful that they can hit the ground running in 2015 with the exploration of new terrain through sponsorship from corporate sponsors which will reduce their over-dependence on the National Sports Commission.


Despite his displeasure in the low budget used in executing their programs last year, he hailed the National Sport Commission for their unflinching support in 2014 during preparations of the Black Stallions for international competitions held in Botswana and Zimbabwe.

 

 “The Federal Government on their part have tried, I appreciate the efforts of the Director General of the National Sports Commission Honorable Gbenga Elegbeleye, for approving training facilities and putting things in place for the Black Stallions, We had two international outings last year and they were both sponsored by CMB Building Maintenance & Investment Company Limited but the funds used for preparing the 15s and 7s National Teams for these tournaments is yet to be released by NSC.” Fom Pam said.

Speaking further, Fom Pam hinted that the federations have concluded all arrangements to consolidate its different sevens tournaments in 2015 one of which is the independence sevens which was held at the Onikan Stadium last year and was sponsored by CMB Building.

“We want to maximize our seven series in Nigeria, embark on periodic high performance training which will start in February, we want to do our utmost best to get the best quality out of the players we have onboard.”

Corroborating the President’s declaration, Vice President/Technical Director of the federation, Olatunji Fasimoye revealed that concrete plans are in top gear for a formidable Black Stallions 15s and 7s teams in a bid to give the National team an identity which intending corporate sponsors can easily identify with.

He said the National Teams will no longer be an all-comers affair based on the reports submitted by the Technical committee of the NRFF, which was extensively deliberated upon at the last Annual General Meeting held in Lagos in December 2014.

“We don’t want to attend international engagement with different squads. We are going to focus on a mix of the home and foreign players, we will keep a pool of around sixty players who will periodically practice together and the national team will be selected from this pool.

NRFF Opens Door To Foreign Professionals

 

The Nigerian Rugby Football Federation under the leadership of Sir Edward Fom Pam have reinstated their commitment to the development of grassroot rugby in a bid to improve on the National team’s performances next year, the media friendly president disclosed this during the first ever general assembly meeting held in December 2014 at the Media Centre, National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.

 

It was also agreed at the general assembly that the Technical committee of the federation will give room for the participation of foreign based internationals in the national team (Black Stallions).

 

The Technical Director (Fasimoye Olatunji) was quick to allay fears that indigenous player’s position on the Black Stallions could be threatened with the latest decision of the NRFF if they don’t improve and upgrade their standard. “I can assure you that majority of games to be played in 2015 will be a blend of our home and foreign based players”

 

In a related development, the apex Rugby ruling body in Nigeria has declared that Racing RFC of Lagos will not be facing any sanction whatsoever despite resorting to the usage of elite athletes from different countries at the Dubai Rugby Sevens Invitational tourney in December 2014.

 

Speaking through the President of the federation, Racing RFC is an affiliate of the Nigerian Rugby Federation and as such when they are going for international invitational with the blessings of the federation, they have the right to pick whomever they deem fit to be in their team.

“We can only advise them to stick with the home based players so that they can get the needed exposure”

 

Despite the attestation of Racing RFC of using elite players in the tournament because they felt their players were too young to participate in the tournament,

The Plateau state Rugby expert expressed a different sentiment as he said the young team should have been taken to such competitions, This will benefit the NRFF in the long run and also help the players gain relevant exposure.

NRFF Count Gains of 2014

The Nigeria Rugby Football Federation under the leadership of Sir Edward Fom Pam has described 2014 as a successful year considering the achievement recorded by the national team, local clubs as well as grass roots developmental programs for players and coaches.

According to the president of the new NRFF board inaugurated in November, 2013, the outgoing year has witnessed so many tremendous and unprecedented achievements in the history of the sport not just on the pitch of play but also administratively.

Speaking with journalists, Fom Pam said "to ensure that the federation cares for its members, we have created a database that captured all clubs, officials and player’s details. That has provided us with an accurate yardstick for planning and measurement of growth."

The seasoned sports administrator expressed immense joy over the repositioning of the regional leagues which have grown to become one of the biggest leagues in Africa with eight teams in the South West, four in the South East/South South league and six in the Northern league with the regional winners featuring in the Super league to determine the national champion.

In the same vein, The Technical Director of the Federation, Fasimoye Olatunji buttressed the sentiments shared by the president “ two Sevens tournament was staged this year, with Liliker sevens in the North and Independence sevens in the south west we hope to establishing more in other regions to improve the standard of Rugby in Nigeria"

Fasimoye also highlighted the grass root development programs of the federation prompted by the Get into rugby which is an initiative of the International Rugby Board. The program launch was attended by 50 coaches and 35 teachers from eight states.

The eight states includes; Lagos, Ondo, Edo, Delta, Plateau, Kaduna, Abia and Imo state) which represented all the regions and the program was administered by Mohamed Dermouni (Regional Development Officer) with materials delivered to the NRFF by the GIR Regional Development officer to kick start the program, the grants we received from IRB for the program was also committed in acquiring more GIR training materials. "At the moment, over 75 schools have registered for the program"

"The NOC/IOC staged a solidarity coaching course in Nigeria recently, the Level 1 coaching course which was organized as solidarity and developmental strategy for Olympic sports was attended by 19 coaches from every region of the country, the programme was facilitated by Bright Chivandire a technical representative of IRB from Zimbabwe."

At the national level, the senior national team also known as Black Stallions predominantly consisting of home base players featured in the African cup 1c in Gaborone, Botswana where they came fourth.
The team captained by Azeez Ladipo also took part in the African Sevens Tournament held in Harare, Zimbabwe where they finished 11th on the log.

The president while defending the federation's stance of using the home grown players despite having a pool of rugby players in Abroad expresses belief that "this was done in a bid to engage the local based players in order to measure the actual level of rugby development in Nigeria."

"This gave the players exposure, experience, courage to face any opposition, hope for a better tomorrow and the needed motivation to forge ahead and become better players."

It must be noted that the board made use of little resources at their disposal to engage National players on high performance training and employed the service of Fabian Juries a South African rugby legend in November as the new head coach of the Black Stallions. Fabian Juries led the team to the African Sevens Championship in Harare Zimbabwe. 

On his part, Fom Pam revealed that “We brought in two Rugby legends from south Africa (Breyton Paulse and Danie Gerber) to help promote the sport in Nigeria. This gave NRFF the opportunity to projects its plans and vision for the next four years and also to seek for sponsorship."

He believes that the impressive turnout of expatriates at the Independence Sevens Tournament and the voluntary hosting of the Black Stallions sevens team to a dinner by the expatriate community are dividends of the event coupled with a working partnership with vibrant media partners at home and abroad.

Nigeria Beach Rugby For Christmas

The Rugby community in Nigeria will be treated to an uncommon version of the game this yuletide season with the 2^nd edition of the Sandie Beach Rugby Tournament scheduled to take place on Saturday 27^th December 2014 at the famous Elegushi beach in Lekki from 10am through to 4pm.

According to the initiator of the tournament Mr. Olatunbosun Ayo Johnson who is the Head coach of Racing Rugby football club Lagos, “Sandie beach is an annual event designed for the rugby community, to showcase the game, to the general public, as well as celebrate the festive season, as a family. The game was unofficially introduced to the Lagos rugby community in the year 2013, via sandie beach, and is holding hers second edition about this Christmas”

According to Mr. Johnson, “We are inviting the general public, all rugby enthusiasts, and curious Nigerians (both male & female) to come join in celebrating the festive season at the famous elegushi beach his December the 27^th. In his words, he said “it promise to be an action packed fun filled, and educative day, with lots of prizes too be won”.

The maiden edition last year had eight 8 teams participating, with Team Yusuf edging out Eco II Rugby team  by 3 points to 1point, to claim the prize in the epic final.

Mr. Olatunbosun said the sport is suffering from prejudice, and lack of understanding and awareness, as a lot of Nigerian tends to judge the sport as being rough, without trying to understand the principles behind it.  He went on to say that “Rugby is not just a fantastic sport, it’s a way of life! Its principled, its discipline, on and off the pitch, which is generally referred to as “A rough game played by gentlemen”. It perches hard work, team work, respect, self development, camaraderie and a lot more that you have to experience to understand. Rugby is beautiful, a way of life, makes you confident, a tool that UNITES! As used by Mandela, “A language that THE WORLD UNDERSTANDS.”

The event will be holding at the Vertigo Longue in Elegushi beach lekki, and kicks off from 10am through to 4pm, There will be loads of prizes, both in cash & products which has been kindly donated by U.B.A. & Aristo mix multimedia.

Meanwhile, Ntiense Williams, popularly called “Mr. Rugby” has thrown his weight behind the project describing it as a welcome development for the game of Rugby in Nigeria. According to him, “Beach Rugby is a version of Rugby which is fast catching up around the world, and Nigeria with its beautiful beaches should encourage this version of the game.” It is a very good stamina training which does not require much equipments such as boots & stockings! It is sure a welcome development for our teaming rugby enthusiast. 

According to Mr. Williams who have just returned from the World Rugby organized Educators Training Course held at the famous Ellis Park in South Africa, “Beach Rugby was held just last week in Rio, Brazil with International Rugby stars featuring. This was specifically meant to promote Rugby Sevens’ debut at the Rio 2016 Olympics.”

The spectacular event was  supported by World Rugby and run by the Brazilian Rugby Union, the event will delivered a fitting celebration of Rugby Sevens at the 2016 Olympic Games as men’s and women’s teams representing Argentina, Italy and host Brazil will took centre stage at one of the world’s most iconic beach cities at its busiest time of year.

According to the World Rugby President Mr. Bernard Lapasset "We are excited about the debut of rugby sevens at Rio 2016 and the growth opportunity provided by showcasing our sport on the world’s biggest sporting stage.

 

"Rugby sevens’ winning blend of high-octane action, close competition and entertainment is proving a hit with young audiences, broadcasters and commercial partners and I am confident that Rio will love sevens. This is why we believe rugby sevens will be great for the Olympics, great for Brazil and great for rugby.

 

You are all cordially invited to come and celebrate this festive season with the family on Saturday watching or playing Rugby.

 

This years’ edition have so far received an overwhelming participating teams almost doubling the maiden edition last year.