Rugby Africa Cup 1C: Black Stallions Names 15s Squad…

Rugby Africa Cup 1C: Black Stallions names 15s Squad, set to embark on high altitude training camp in Lusaka ahead of the tournament in Lusaka, Zambia

Nigeria will hope to gain an extra edge to their Africa Cup 1C preparations next weekend by embarking on a high-altitude training camp in Lusaka, Zambia.

The two-week trip is part of a detailed conditioning programm designed by the technical team of the NRFF to ensure that the Fabian Juries led squad enter the tournament in good shape, The tournament will be hosted in Lusaka, Zambia,

The close camp will feature players selected from home and abroad and the team will compete alongside Zambia and Zimbabwe for promotion into to a higher Division; CUP 1B if they emerge tournament winners. This will take us closer to the likes of Kenya, Namibia and Zimbabwe who are in CUP 1A.

“We are excited to name this squad which allows us to look at a wide group of players who have been pushing hard for selection through their performance in the various leagues” says Olatunji Fasimoye; NRFF Technical director.

There are a lot of experienced players within the squad with the likes of Bayo Odumosu-Jones, Scrum half; Sani Halilu and Emmanuel Godwin earning a call up.

Black Stallion – Nigeria Rugby National Team

Nigerian Black Stallions Squad:

1 AYINLA HAFIS ADEMOLA COWRIE RFC

2 AYEWE EMMANUEL SENIOR RACING RFC

3 SAMUEL EMMANUEL BAMIDELE PLATEAU RFC

4 AKEJU FRANCIS SUNDAY PLATEAU RFC

5 GODWIN EMMANUEL CHIBUNDU DELTA RFC

6 SANI ISAAC CATO COWRIE RFC

7 ODUOLA SODIQ KOFOWOROLA COWRIE RFC

8 ODUMOSU-JONES HAKEEM ADEBAYO LAGOS RFC

9 UME LESLIE IKENNA SCARBOROUGH UK

10 OLANREWAJU AZEEZ ABIODUN POLICE RFC

11 SAMAILA NUHU IBRAHIM BAREWA RFC

12 WILSON OBI IZUCHUKWU BAREWA RFC

13 BASSEY SUNDAY COWRIE RFC

14 EKPO EKUBI SAMMUEL COWRIE RFC

15 EMMANUEL CHIJIOKE THOMAS COWRIE RFC

16 LADIPO AZEEZ OLAITAN COWRIE RFC

17 UGWU FRANCIS MICHAEL NIGERIAN EXCILE

18 OGAR CHRISTIAN INNOCENT COWRIE RFC

19 PETER OKERE AMBROSE PLATEAU RFC

20 SAMSON YAHAYA DIDAM POLICE RFC

21 HALILU SANI COWRIE RFC

22 JATTO ONORU-OYIZA JUDE COWRIE RFC

23 ADENIRAN GBENGA HAMMED GOSAH RFC

Nigeria Climbs 5 Spots To Become 73Rd In World Rugby Rankings, 11Th In Africa

Nigeria has risen to the 73rd place in the world and 11th in Africa according to the latest World Rugby rankings.

Nigeria was ranked 81st in the world and 13th in Africa prior to the 2014 Africa Nations Cup 1C in which the Black Stallions placed third behind Botswana and Mauritius and quickly climbed three places to 78th after the tournament.

Black Stallions, Azeez Olanrewaju races away for a try against Ivory Coast at the Africa Cup 7s 2014

NRFF Vice president and Technical director; Tunji Fasimoye announced the good news to the press in Lagos “It’s a great tribute to the team and players and all the credit should go to them,” he said the home based players did well last year at the Africa cup 1C in Botswana where our players; Christian Ogar, Azeez Ladipo and Isaac Sani won ‘man of the match’ awards in all three matches played against Zambia, Swaziland and South African Cell C champions; Impala respectively.

The Black Stallions 7s were also commended by Rugby Africa officials for putting up a good show when they faced Zimbabwe 7s team at the Africa Cup 7s in Harare last year. He said the teams’ performance by predominantly home based players informed Rugby Africa that we have improved the standard of our grassroots rugby back home.

Fasimoye made it known that this year will be different as the NRFF will bring in a handful of foreign players to complement our home based players. He said the technical team will be tasked with ensuring that there is a perfect blend of home and foreign based players for optimal results. He further stressed the need for corporate sponsorship to enable the NRFF execute its developmental plans in 2015 and beyond. “Nigeria; with our population of over 160 million has the potential to become the next power house of the sport in Africa. We have to thank CMB Building Maintenance & Inv Co Ltd for their unflinching support towards rugby however; we need more financial backing from corporate Nigeria to achieve this goal”.

Black Stallions 7s at the CAR 7s 2014 held in Zimbabwe

Meanwhile, World Rugby’s ranking shows Newzealand retains their number one spot, South Africa remains second while Ireland, England and Wales occupy the third, fourth and fifth positions. In Africa, South Africa remains the power house of rugby in number one position followed by Namibia (2nd), Zimbabwe (3rd), Kenya (4th) and Tunisia (5th).

South-West League Resumes, As Get Into Rugby Programme Kicks Off Skeletal Operations In Nigeria

After a long break, the Southwest league resumes on the 19th of July 2014, the break was due to the involvement of home based players’ in Black Stallion’s participation at the Africa Cup 1C in Gaborone, Botswana.

The National stadium’s main bowl will host four games on Saturday,19th of July with Hawksters RFC facing their harsh rivals Lagos RFC in the first match of the day, Racing RFC will take on defending champions, Cowrie RFC in a must watch game.

Eco II RFC will play against Royal Stallions of Ilorin while Gosar RFC will take on Police Machines in the last match of the day.

Cowrie RFC still retains their slots at the top of the table with 20 point and trailed by Racing RFC by 17 points while ECO II RFC sits at the bottom of the table with 0 point.

SOUTHWEST RUGBY LEAGUE FIXTURES:

Hawksters RFC VS Lagos RFC

Racing RFC VS Cowrie RFC

Eco II RFC VS Royal Stallions

Gosar RFC VS Police Machines

We call on all rugby fan and lovers to come out to the National Stadium and support their teams.

IRB – Get Into Rugby

Get Into Rugby Programme:

Get into Rugby Programme kicks off skeletal operations in Nigeria, Trained GIR Coaches have been sent to schools to administer the program, the program is a central part of the IRB initiative to grow the sport as we rejoin the Olympic Games in Rio 2016.

The aim of the programme is to encourage Children to TRY – PLAY – STAY in Rugby, with a target of recruiting and retaining new players and coaches and referees over the next four years.

The programme will promote the values of the game and ensure children are encouraged to try rugby in safe and progressive way.

We are calling on potential sponsors to partner with us in order to establish the programme fully in Nigeria, already we have over 75 schools registered with this programme nationwide.