The Nigerian Rugby Football Federation in conjunction with Friends of Rugby have finally announced Friday, 23rd and Saturday, 24th of October as dates for this year’s International Independence Rugby Sevens taking place at the Onikan stadium, Lagos.
According to information made available by the tournament manager, Fasimoye Olatunji, this decision was made after majority of the foreign teams complained about the original date stressing that traveling immediately after the tournament may not be good enough.
Cowrie RFC, winners 2014 Independence 7s
Accra Sharks from Ghana, Western Province of South Africa, Parakou RFC of Republic of Benin, UR7s of Kenya, Panthers International and Merlins Invitational both from the UK are all expected to arrive on Thursday 22nd with all visas related issues already sorted out.
Last year’s winner, Cowrie RFC will lead clubs like Barewa RFC, Kaduna RFC, Sabon Geri RFC, Jos RFC, Racing RFC, Police Machines, Gosar RFC, South South 7s and South East 7s to repel foreign invasion in their quest to retain the title in Nigeria.
Star boy of Nigeria rugby, Christian Ogar was on Saturday voted as the most valuable player and he also emerged as the highest point scorer of the South West Rugby league sponsored by CMB Building and Investment Company at the final day of the league which was held at the main bowl of the National stadium, Lagos.
Christain Ogar of Cowrie on the move
The national team player who plies his trade with Cowrie RFC of Lagos was consistent all through the season as he masterminded his team’s unbeaten run in the 2014/2015 rugby league with 36 tries, 1 try conversion and 3 penalty conversions recording a cumulative of 193 points.
Even though Cowrie RFC won the league before the league finals with accumulated points, the final against police was crucial in their quest to defend their 7 years 15’s unbeating run which was achieved with ease.
At the well-attended final league game sponsored by CMB Building and Inv. Co. Ltd, 3rd placed, Police RFC were awarded the fair play award despite losing to the champions, Cowrie RFC 22-0 in a match which could be described as fast and furious as both teams came out for the maximum points.
Ramon Bakare Police Captain being presented with the Fair play award by the MD CEO of CMB Building Maintenance & Inv Co Ltd Mr Kelechukwu Mbagwu
In the game which was characterised with mazy runs, pin point tackles and incisive passes, Sammy Ekpo bagged 2 tries while Dipo Olawale and Christian Ogar registered 1 try each and a conversion by Tunji Oduntan was all that was needed by Cowrie RFC to show their superiority against a very physical Police RFC side.
Meanwhile, in the first game of the day, spectators and invited guests were treated to a display of good game of rugby with both teams putting up a classy display, but the young and less experienced Royal Stallions of Ilorin side lost to Racing RFC 50-0, Racing RFC now claims the second spot on the league table and also a slot in the national playoff as the runners up of the South West Rugby Union League.
Mr Kelechukwu Mbagwu the MD/CEO of the league sponsor CMB Building and Ind. Co. Ltd, and the Vice President/Technical Director of Nigeria Rugby Football Federation Fasimoye Olatunji were present at the event for the award presentation.
Azeez Ladipo Cowrie Captain being presented with the throphy as champions of the SWL by the MD CEO of CMB Building Maintenance & Inv Co Ltd Mr Kelechukwu Mbagwu
The last round of matches of the 2014/2015 South West Rugby league season sponsored by CMB Building will take place on Saturday, 29th of August at the mainbowl of the Lagos National stadium, Lagos.
According to the fixtures, 2nd placed Racing RFC will be looking at grabbing the maximum point as to consolidate their position on the log and book a place at the national playoff when they take on Royal Stallions of Ilorin who have already secured their top flight status next season.
The main battle of the day will be against a motivated Cowrie RFC side against 3rd placed Police RFC who will be desperate to win and hope that Racing will slip up in the race for the 2nd place.
SOUTH WEST RUGBY LEAGUE
Speaking ahead of the match, head coach of Cowrie RFC, Joseph Ofoha says despite having already emerged as the league champions, a victory against Police will be an icing on an already sweet cake and an avenue to avenge their 2013 final loss to Police at the Independence Sevens tournament.
The organizers while revealing the last match day schedule also revealed that immediately after the last match, there will be a brief award ceremony where cash rewards will be presented to the League winner, Most Valuable Player of the league, highest point scorer and fairplay award for the deserving team.
Defending champion, Cowrie RFC needed just a draw to retain their title for the 4th consecutive year with Gosar RFC standing between them and the 2014/2015 South West Rugby league title, but it only took Sam Ekpo 14th minutes to register their intention as he evaded all opponents to open scoring with Azeez Ladipo converting the resulting kick to open a 7 point lead in the league sponsored by CMB Building Maintenance & Investment Co. Ltd.
Former national team captain who doubles as a player/coach for Gosar RFC scored a brilliant penalty kick from just a little way off the half way line in the 32nd minute to reduce the deficit to 4 point, Nigerian international, Onor Jato scored another try for Cowrie RFC with usual suspect Azeez Ladipo adding another 2 points to take the scores to 14 points to 3 heading into half time.
Christain Ogar of Cowrie Rugby Club in Action
The second half was all about Nigeria Rugby speed sensation, Christian Ogar who scored 2 trys, ani Halilu and Afeez Ayinla also weighed in with a try each with Azeez Ladipo coverting 3 try conversions to ensure that the game ended 40 points to 3 in Cowrie RFC’s favor. The result sealed Cowrie RFC’s as 2014/2015 South West Rugby league champions.
In the 2nd match of the day between relegation threatened Eco II and Royal Stallions of Ilorin, the game started well as both sides settled down to play their individual patterns and it was Eco II who drew the 1st blood despite Royal Stallions dictating the play through Samson Okeowo who scored a try and registered the conversion to open up a 7 points lead for his team.
The lead never lasted for long with Royal Stallions bouncing back with a try of their own through Sunday Olawale and Ife Ibitaye converted the kick to tie the score, Samson Okeowo again scored a penalty kick for his team to give the relegation threatened Eco II a lifeline.
With little time to play in the 1st half, Samson Olawale registered his second try of the game.
Eco II RFC
Eco II’s relegation status from the CMB Building Maintenance & Investment Co. Ltd league was confirmed with just 6 minutes into the 2nd half, as Sunday Olawale registred his 3rd try to extended their lead to 17 points to 10 with their opponents struggling to find their bearing under the light rain.
A new record was set in the South West Rugby league in the 3rd game of the day between Police RFC and Racing RFC, the game ended 0-0, the match had so much at stake with both teams battling for 2nd spot and a place in the national final playoffs.
Despite the game turning out to be interesting and tough, both sides failed to make any try or penalty conversion in the tension soaked match, this result means Police RFC still occupies the 2nd spot and Racing in 3rd, heading into the last game of the league sponsored CMB Building Maintenance & Investment Co. Ltd
Similarly, on Saturday, Zaria RFC hosted the famous Lilliker tournament with 4 teams competing in the 1 day championship.
In the 1st game, host Zaria RFC defeated Sabon Gari RFC by 3nil to book their place in the finals while Barewa RFC made mince of Kaduna RFC by 7 unreplied points in the second game of the championship that has witnessed a lot of improvements regarding players’ attitude and officiating.
With most people tipping Zaria RFC to win this year’s tournament as the host, it was a different ball game as Barewa RFC defeated the host 3nil to emerge the 2015 champion in front of an impressive crowd and some board members of the Nigeria Rugby Football Federation
Runaway South West Rugby League winner, Cowrie RFC will be crowned as the 2014/2015 season champion of CMB Building Maintenance & Investment Company Limited sponsored league this weekend if they win Gosar RFC as actions resume at the mainbowl of the National stadium.
Gosar currently forth on the table after 11 games have 29 points with 5 wins and 6 losses will provide a formidable opposition for Cowrie who will definitely be crowned league champions on Saturday if they secure a win, draw or loose within seven points as they need just a single point to seal their title for the fourth straight season.
In the second match of the day, Royal Stallions RFC of Ilorin stand a good chance of winning their second match of the season when they face Eco II RFC who are still searching for their first win of the season after 11 games. With just 6 points separating the two teams at the bottom of the table and only 2 games to go, both teams will be going for broke if they are to stand any chance of escaping relegation.
Christain Ogar of Cowrie on the move
The highlight of match day 11 will definitely be between second placed Police RFC and third placed Racing RFC starting by 3:30pm, the match which will see the winner move to the second spot and brighten their chances of sealing a spot in the national playoffs holding in Abuja or Lagos later this year.
Police RFC still basking in the euphoria of their 97-0 dominant victory over Eco II RFC on match day 10 will certainly not find their opponent who are still reeling from the narrow loss to Cowrie RFC an easy nut to crack.
At the end of match day 10, Cowrie RFC winger, Christian Ogar leads the league’s scorer chart with 34 tries, 1 conversion, 2 penalty conversions, penning down 178 points in the process while Oyebola Sulymon of Police RFC is in second position with 8 tries, 33 conversions, and 4 penalty conversions penning down 118 points.
National team and Cowrie RFC captain, Azeez Ladipo is in the 3rd spot with 105 points.
The tension of a derby and top of the table clash between two Victoria Island based teams; Cowrie RFC and Racing RFC provided a fascinating game of rugby, one that at a stage could have gone either way at the main bowl of the National stadium, Lagos on Saturday.
It took just 10 minutes for Onor Jatto to open the scoring for Cowrie as Christian Ogar took the responsibility of converting the kicks in the absence of inspirational captain, Azeez Ladipo who was not fielded. In what turned out to be a fast and furious game, racing responded almost immediately when centre, Festus Nwasor took advantage of a John Sylvanus error in the 27th minute and raced 50 yards for a try.
Sodiq Oduola of Cowrie RFC makes a tackle
After starting out slowly, Cowries’ speed star, Christian Ogar turned the heat on Racing RFC with two tries which prompted racing to make 2 substitutions- Chike Nwagbogu came out for Stephen Israel and veteran; Taleeb Adeniyi replaced Imeh Okon on the wing with little time remaining in the first half.
The grudge match that was described as the most tactical, exciting and “neatest” game of the day by fans and observers, resumed in the second half with the same urgency from both teams who were desperate to earn the bragging right. Christian Ogar kicked over a penalty early in the second half before Denis Clement who was a former Cowrie player replied Christian Ogar with a penalty conversion of his own.
Clement Denis scored another penalty and a drop kick point to take Racing points to 16 and his territorial kicking created a lot of problems and put Cowrie on the back foot towards the end. Cowrie defended well and held on for the double against Racing this season.
In the opening match of the day, Police RFC showed their superiority over Eco II with a 97-0 emphatic win.
Speaking after the game, captain of Police RFC, Rahmon Bakare said they actually came out for the game to overrun Eco II, but due to some silly mistakes, they could not score more as he promised that they will go back to the drawing board to perfect their tactics.
A dejected Captain of Eco II RFC, Kazeem Busari, said “We tried our best, but obviously our best was not enough due to the caliber of players at our disposal”
Meanwhile it took 18 minutes for the deadlock to be broken in the second match between Royal Stallions of Ilorin and Gosar RFC of Lagos.
It was Gosar RFC who broke the deadlock in the 18th minute with a breakaway try by Ezekiel Tom. Gosar further took a 12 point advantage with Dare Salami scoring another try before Sadiq Akanni redeemed himself scoring the resultant conversion after missing the first opportunity. Ife Ibiteye reduced the deficit scoring 3 points for Royal Stallions of Ilorin courtesy of a penalty kick.
Cowrie RFC in a defensive line
With the resumption of action in the second half, Salami Felix made a try for Gosar RFC in the 48th minute despite Royal Stallions proving a hard nut to crack and Sodiq Akanni scored the resulting kick as the match ended 19 points to 3 against Royal Stallions RFC.
Ahead of this weekend’s clash between Racing Rugby Football Club and Cowrie RFC in the CMB Building Maintenance & Investment Company Limited/ South West Rugby league, Head coach of Racing, Ayo Olatunbosun Johnson has boasted that his team is always ready to come against any team.
Speaking after their evening training session on Wednesday, the ex-coaching coordinator for grassroots development, Lagos said Racing has a reputation to protect because they are the best rugby club in the country despite Cowries doing very well with couple of points clear on top of the South West league table after an impressive start to the season.
“I believe that with the spirit in camp plus our recent game pattern and records, we should be able to get a surprise win against Cowrie RFC on Saturday.”
Although many people describe our recent form as “medicine after death” but we want to maintain our second spot on the table and play in the national finals taking place in Abuja later this year.
He lamented the elongation of the 2014 league calendar which spilled into 2015 due to the breaks that normally comes in with mixing up international events with the domestic ones but acknowledged that the board is doing a great job.
Racing Fly half; Ekpo Williams in action during a South West Rugby league game
“I must give thumbs up to the NRFF Technical Director Tunji Fasimoye for the great job he is doing as per the South West Rugby league, and I think he is doing exceptionally well”
In other matches to be played on Saturday, third placed team, Police RFC will take on Eco II RFC while fourth placed Gosar RFC of Ajegunle will hope to fend off the surge of fifth placed Royal Stallions RFC of Ilorin.
South West League coordinator Olatunji Fasimoye has announced that the CMB Building Maintenance & Investment Company Limited sponsored League will resume its final round of matches on the 1st of August. Teams have swung into action as they intensify preparation in their quest to improve and consolidate their positions on the log with three games remaining.
After weeks of break occasioned by the National Team engagements which were primarily prosecuted by predominant home based players which saw the Black Stallions book a place in the 50th edition of the All Africa Games in Congo and the Olympic qualifiers ticket in South Africa later in the year, Fasimoye expressed optimism that with the experience gathered by the players after mixing with their foreign based counterparts, the last 3 sets of matches promises to be explosive with a lot of technical and tactical improvements.
Hafis Ayinla of Cowrie RFC Breaking a Tackle at SWL Fixtures agains Eco II RFC
Three matches will be played at the National Stadium main bowl on the 1st of August starting at 11:00 am.
Third placed team, Police RFC will take on Eco II RFC whom is still searching for their first win this season. Fourth placed Gosar RFC of Ajegunle will hope to fend off the surge of fifth placed Royal Stallions RFC of Ilorin in the second match and the last match will be an explosive encounter between Victoria Island rivals; table topping Cowrie RFC parading the likes of Christian Ogar, Onoh jato and Azeez Ladipo against Racing RFC who are second on the log tutored by Ayo Olatunbosun. Racing will be looking for a revenge after Cowrie scored four tries on their way to a 26 – 8 victory in the first leg.
Cowrie RFC is a breakaway faction of Racing RFC in 2005 and has since dominated the rugby scene in the country.
Lagosians are enjoined to come all out and support the league on the 1st of August.
Please find attached for pix, League Fixture, League Log Table and League Scorer Chart.
Nigeria have booked their ticket to the All Africa games and Olympics qualifiers after winning 2 games and losing 2 at the Africa cup North Rugby tournament. The Rugby National team started on a bright start after walloping Mali by 36-0 in the first game of the campaign.
The latest rave in the South West league, Christian Ogar of Cowrie RFC and Ikechukwu Onwukanjo scored 2 tries each with UK based Danjuma Msheila, Alfred Oche weighing in with a try of their own to bring the total numbers of points recorded to 30points.
Black Stallions, Azeez Olanrewaju
Black Stallions’ captain Azeez Ladipo also contributed his own quota as he showed leadership by example by converting 3 penalty kicks to put the final score at 36points in favour of Nigeria.
In the second game It was a different story entirely as the more physical Morocco took the game to the Nigerian team.
After containing the Moroccans for a while, Nigeria lost their bearing later in the 1st half to concede the 1st try and finally conceding 14 tries to 0 in the 1st half.
In the 2nd quarter, it was business as usual for the Nigeria team as they tried to claw their way back into the game with Ikechukwu Onwukanjo scoring a try after an impressive run by former national team captain, Hammed Gbenga as Ladipo converted the resulting kick.
With spectators expecting a comeback by Nigeria with the score standing at 14-7, Morocco went a step ahead again with another 7 points of their own which took the wind out of the Nigerian team sail.
With the game coming to a close and both teams becoming tired, Morocco confirmed their superiority with another 7 points courtesy of a try and a penalty kick conversion.
Despite the 21 to 7 points loss, Nigeria were still able to qualify for the semifinals where they met their West Africa brothers, Ivory Coast which turned out to be an exciting match.
The match started on a cautious note as both sides were not ready to throw caution to the winds.
It paid off for the Ivorians as they drew the first blood before Onor Jato replied with a try of his own to draw level for Nigeria and Azeez Ladipo converted the resulting kick to give the Nigerian side a 2 point advantage into the half time.
The technical input of the technical crew paid off in the 2nd half as the Black Stallions dominated proceedings as they made use of the full length of the pitch to wear their opponents down.
Black Stallions 7s prop Hafis Ayinla
The Black Stallions took the lead when Christian Ogar’s pressure on the opponent’s defense paid off as a careless ball was picked up by debutant, Ikechukwu Onwukanjo to score his 4th try of the competition before the dependable Azeez stepped up to convert the kick.
The match ended in 14 points to 5 in favor of the team.
In the finals, Nigeria once again met Morocco and this time the Nigerians took an early lead through Danjuma Msheila as the game started on a frenetic note as Azeez converted the penalty kick which put the score at 7-0 against Morocco.
The Nigerian side had the chance to see off their opponents but the chances were fluffed which gave the Moroccans the opportunity to come back in the 2nd half to claim the much coveted victory by 38 to 7 points.
Despite the heavy downpour on Saturday, The South-West Rugby League went ahead as scheduled as the aftermath of the rain further made the pitch perfect for rugby.
Gosar RFC took on Police RFC in the first match and stuck to their territorial game plan. after twelve minutes spent in their opponents half, Police winger, Moshood Ajikanle’s break away try opened the flood gates for the men in black followed by a conversion by Sulymon Oyebola. Police scored one more try before the break and added two more tries in the second half leaving the final score at 24-0.
Cowrie RFC
In the second game, Cowrie RFC proved their superiority in the league by defeating the Royal Stallions of Ilorin 77-0 In a one sided affair where Cowrie dominated the game all through.
Though the Ilorin boys had a few breaks, they could not utilize them with the solid defence and brutal attack of Cowrie. Christain Ogar increased his dominance on the scorer table with 4 tries, he has so far scored 32 tries registering 160 points on the scorer chat, Cowrie’s new wing sensation; Onor Jato who returned from a 5 match absence came in after the first half break to register 2 tries giving him his 5th try of the season while the captain of the side Azeez Ladipo converted 6 out of 13 tries scored.
Racing RFC
The last match of the day between Eco II RFC and Racing RFC ended in favour of Racing even though the Ajegunle boys were able to register 3 pionts through a penalty conversion by captain; Samsom Okeowo in the last minute of the second half to keep the score at a respectable 62-3.
Richmond RFC winger Danjuma Mshelia and Gravesend RFC scrumhalf, Temitope Okenla has been called up to the Black Stallions Sevens squad for The All Africa Games and Olympics pre-qualifiers in Lome, Togo next month.
Both players play in the UK and were involved in the Black Stallions team back in 2013 at the Mombasa Sports Club, Kenya when Nigeria reached the plate semi finals at The CAR 7s in which Danjuma scored a try against Kenya Shujaa and helped Nigeria reach the plate semi final in the Tournament.
Black Stallions 7s at the CAR 7s 2014 held in Zimbabwe
The NRFF had earlier extended an invite to University at Buffalo junior; Ike Onwukanjo who holds dual United States and Nigerian citizenship.
The Nigerian Rugby Football Federation has been looking for overseas players eligible to compete_ for Nigeria as a way to boost their efforts to qualify for the Rio Olympics and are happy to have Danjuma and Temitope back in the team.
Nigeria will face Ghana, Morrocco, Cote d’ Ivoire, Mali and host Togo in the Tournament to be held on Saturday, 6th June 2015.
Ike Onwukanjo University of Buffalo Rugby player received his call up earlier photo credit University at Buffalo Rugby Fan Page
Nigeria and Cowrie rugby sensation, Christian Ogar was the cynosure of all eyes on Saturday in the week 2 of the CMB Building Maintenance and Inv. Co. Ltd sponsored South West Rugby league which took center stage at the mainbowl of the National stadium, Surulere, Lagos against struggling Eco II RFC.
With fans wondering whether Cowrie were going to reach the 100point mark, the influential national team player turned up the heat, affirming is superiority on the scorers chat recording 6 tries, the duo of Sunday Bassey and Sammy Ekpo scored 2 tries each in a match that left the stunned Eco II team wondering where it all went wrong.
The scoreline will not be complete without the help of Sadiq Oduola, Olawale Oladipo and Matthias Emmanuel who all scored a tri each with National team captain showing again why he is arguably one of the best ball kickers in Africa as he converted 15 out of 16 try conversions, scoring 30 points in the process.
Action from the Southwest Rugby League
Speaking after their 5 star performance, the soft spoken Christian Ogar traced their impressive performance to hours of hard work in training.
Although, he said despite the 110 to 0 point margin against Eco II who are still searching for their first win of the season, the boys were not fully in shape as it was their first league match of the year.
Meanwhile, Racing RFC of Lagos continues to push for a second place finish on the table as another victory against the Hammed Gbenga led Gosar RFC moved them a step closer to their season target.
Muktar Ibrahim of Racing scored the first tri of the day and Monday Omorogieva converted the resulting kick to open a 7-0 lead.
Midway into the game, Gosar turned the tide against their foes and were seriously piling on the pressure in their bid to restore parity but it was Racing that extended the lead to 12-0 in the dying moment of the first half through Imeh Okon after Gosar’s backline were caught unawares.
Despite Gosar RFC putting up a spirited effort, Daniel Uduogu delivered another deadly blow to the heart with another try in the second half as the game ended in 22-0 in favor of Racing.
Speaking after their loss, Gosar RFC prop, Mark Macaulay blamed their harrowing defeat on the players who did not play to instruction as they let their guards down at crucial moments of the game.
Cowrie RFC, South west Rugby League Leaders
In his own view, Captain of victorious Racing RFC, David Oyekanmi said it feels good to be a winner and he feels on top of the world after their well-deserved victory.
Nigeria Police RFC were awarded 14 points as they walked over Hawkster Athletics RFC who are still serving a suspension from the Nigeria Rugby Football Federation.
Meanwhile Royal Stallions RFC of Ilorin versus Lagos RFC game didn’t hold following the withdrawal of Lagos RFC from the league due the their club’s managerial issues.
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