Nigerian teams to rumble at Dubai rugby tourney
Three Nigerian
teams will compete at this year’s edition of the Emirates Airline Dubai
Rugby Sevens Tournament coming up from 2nd- 4th December 2010 in the
United Arab Emirate.
The three Nigerian
teams; Cowrie RFC, Racing RFC and the Black Stallion (the national
team) are part of the 32 teams that would be competing at the tourney
which runs concurrently alongside the official IRB HSBC Sevens World
Series Dubai 7’s Tournament. Joseph Mbu, the Coach of Cowrie RFC, said
his team has been training hard for the tourney and they are focused on
having a good showing this time around at the yearly tournament. “I
intend to remould the team, and get them playing ‘smart rugby’,” he
said. “Forwards need to have a better understanding on when and when
not to go in to contact, and better improvement of ‘core skills’
especially from the half backs (scrum halves and fly halves). The hope
is to get a team that plays more expansive rugby, without jeopardising
our commitment to defence.”
Target in Dubai
He continued “I am
very optimistic about this year’s sevens tournament in Dubai, but
ultimate success is making a cup/plate final. This will greatly depend
on the stamina and fitness of the starting team; never the less the
team and management are aiming for a finals position, barring any
injuries.”
Cowrie Rugby Football Club are featuring for the second consecutive
time in the popular Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens Tournament and
the team is billed to depart on Monday 29 November 2010 to conclude
preparations and acclimatize before the event kicks off on Thursday 02
December 2010. The ‘Friends of Rugby’ sponsored female team is yet to
be confirmed by the organizers for the female version of the
tournament. The Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens Tournament is a
curtain raiser event to the official IRB HSBC Sevens World Series Dubai
7’s Tournament, which has only 16 countries listed by the International
Rugby Board to play in a 8-Leg IRB Sevens World Series. The countries
are: Dubai, South Africa, New Zealand, USA, England, Scotland, Hong
Kong and Australia. The tournament will run between December 2010 and
June 2011 in a league format.
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