Rugby: NRFF Releases Calendar For 2021

  Rugby: NRFF Releases Calendar For 2021 By Sampson Adedeji Nigeria Rugby Football Federation ( NRFF) has announced its program of activities for the year 2021, BSNSports.com.ng reports. According to the federation technical director Abubakar Yaro, the activities will commence with training for coaches, Referees and administrators before shifting attention to National Sports Festival. "Rugby will return to the Nigeria Sports Festival in Edo State after a 10 year absence’’ The President’s Cup between Police and Barewa will usher in the 2021 League Season after which Nigeria will get a shot at France 2023 World Cup qualifiers by participating at the Africa Cup. (World Cup Pre-Qualifiers) to be held in West Africa in May’’. Abubakar further said our Men’s and Women’s Sevens teams will engage in Rugby World Cup Sevens - Africa Pre-Qualifiers later in the year. “We stand a big chance to qualify for the 2023 World Cup in France. Nigeria and eight others will compete for one slot available in Africa Cup 2022. The tournament will hold in West Africa (Covid-19 permitting). Other countries jostling for the slot are Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Eswatini, Mauritius, Rwanda and Morocco (pending suspension status being reviewed). We will work towards early preparations to get the required results in the Tournament. Speaking to the NRFF President; Kelechukwu Mbagwu he say’s “We are happy to announce that our Women’s Sevens team will be competing this year on the continent for the first time since 2009. “Recall our Women’s Sevens team last participated in the year 2009 in Ghana where they finished runners up to Tunisia. We thank the leadership of Rugby Africa for giving our Ladies the opportunity to play on the continent again. We look forward to watching them alongside the Men’s Sevens team later in the year. We will ensure better preparations by including the ladies in the league. We enjoin corporate Nigeria, Individuals and foundations to partner with us to grow Rugby in Nigeria. Our doors are open to discuss.” The president further said the federation was very active despite the pandemic and restrictions in the year 2020. ‘’ We were able to achieve a number of things regardless of the pandemic. A big example is the long-term kit sponsorship /partnership deal with BLK Sports, Palliatives to Clubs and re-admission of Rugby into the National Institute for Sports as one of its courses amongst others. The NRFF is working hard on its schools Rugby program (Get Into Rugby) and hopes to spread the game to more states this year. Note that these are all provisional dates as all plans depend on authorities in charge of Covid-19 regulations’’, he concluded.