Rugby
• Khaled Babbou elected president of Africa Rugby
Against all odds, Team Nigeria’s Women Sevens rugby team at the weekend finished among the top eight at the Las Vegas Invitational Open Tournament held in Nevada, U.S. 12 teams participated in the invitational tournament, which ending would have been better for Nigeria if the girls did not lose their Cup quarterfinals game 12-17 to Rocky Mountain Rugby Club.
The Team Nigeria women rugby squad members at the U.S. tournament were drawn from a pool of young promising talents in the Diaspora
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The Nigeria team opened their campaign on a good note with a 42-0 win against New Mexico, but they lost to Good Phoenix Rugby Club, as well as Chicago Lions Black (15 to 17) to qualify for the Cup quarterfinals.
The Las Vegas competition was part of the preparation for the 2019 African Women’s Sevens Championship, which also doubles as the 2020 Olympic Games qualifier.
According to NRFF, the last time Nigeria’s Women team participated in any international competition was at the 2010 Africa Rugby Championship in Ghana, where the team lost narrowly to Tunisia in the final to win silver.
The ladies are optimistic of making the nation proud in more outings after working hard in training to excel at the U.S.
Speaking on the competition, Nigeria Rugby Football Federation (NRFF) President, Kelechukwu Mbagwu commended the ladies for their performance while assuring them that his board would continue to reposition women rugby.
Meanwhile, Khaled Babbou of Tunisia has been elected as the new president of Rugby Africa at the confederation’s general assembly, which ended in Marrakesh, Morocco at the weekend.
Babbou took over from former Africa Rugby President Abdelaziz Bougja.
Various African Rugby nations’ presidents, including Kelechukwu Mbagwu of Nigeria, attended the meeting.
