A member of the senior National Rugby team player, Ekpo Samuel says representing Nigeria for the first time at the 2016 Olympics qualifiers is really an honor for him because being a part of the team on the threshold of 1st ever Olympics qualifiers is not a mean feat.
Speaking from their base in Southern Sun hotel in Johannesburg, the Cowrie RFC of Lagos player explained that being selected to represent the country out of over 150 million Nigerians is a national honor which he will cherish for the rest of his life.
The Black Stallions’ 7s Prop said, although booking a ticket to the Rio 2016 Olympic games looks like a tougher target, he was quick to point out that nothing good comes easy.
Ekpo is optimistic that the blend of the foreign and home based players will definitely be the premise on which the team will build their success having seen what the foreign professionals are bringing to the table.
Nigeria National Rugby team player, Ekpo Samuel
He believes the experience garnered while playing regularly in the United States of America and the United Kingdom will definitely rub off on the home based lads and the overall performance of the team.
He finally called on millions of Nigerians to see Rugby as they see football and celebrate rugby players as they will celebrate football players whenever they achieve any good result on the international scene.
In line with their promise and drive to qualify for the 2016 Olympics, the Nigerian Rugby Football Federation Technical Committee has released a strong 14 man list for next month’s qualifiers in South Africa.
Arising from their technical meeting held on Tuesday in Lagos, the federation listed Nigeria’s rugby golden boy and speedster, Christian Ogar (Cowrie RFC), Nuhu Ibrahim Samaila (Barewa RFC), Alfred Oche (Jos RFC), Onoru Oyiza Jatto (Cowrie RFC), Samuel Ekpo (Cowrie RFC), Hafis Ayinla (Cowrie RFC) as part of the team to be captained by Azeez Ladipo (Cowrie RFC).
Determined to have a blend of homegrown and foreign base players, 3 players were invited from the United Kingdom, 2 from the United States of America and 1 from South Africa, most of whom were discovered at the recently held President Cup international invitational tournament The Onwukanjo brothers may be in line to feature for the national team together for the first time following the decision of the federation to extend an invitation to Onyinye Onwukanjo (Davenport University Rugby, USA) and Ike Onwukanjo (USA Northeast Olympic Academy).
Other foreign based players are Omotohunola Odulaja (Old Blues RFC, UK), Ayomide Joseph Mogaji (Doking RFC UK), Danjuma Mshelia (Richmond RFC, UK) and Thankgod Okafor (Sharks RFC South Africa)
In a statement made available to the federation’s media department, NRFF Technical Direstor, Fasimoye Olatunji, Technical Adviser, Bandele Coker and Team Doctor, Bukola Bojuwoye will be part of the 19 man delegation to South Africa.
The delegation which will be led by President of the federation, Edward Pam Fom will leave Lagos on the 8th of November for the tournament slated for the 14th and 15th of November Johannesburg.
Head coach and South African Rugby 7s legend, Fabian Juries and all invited foreign players will join the Local boys in Johannesburg on the 9th for the 5 days training ahead of the qualifiers.
Nigerian Rugby team the Black Stallions,
Nigeria is drawn alongside Zimbabwe, Uganda and Zambia in Pool B.
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