IT was probably asking too much of a team, some of whom had never even met before let alone trained and played together, to win the Confederation of African Rugby tournament played last week in Botswana. Despite that, hopes and confidence was high when Nigeria landed in Gaborone to try and qualify for Africa Group B.Two losses later an international rugby reality check had been handed out by better prepared, not necessarily more talented, teams. You can't just pitch up and win international matches without thorough preparation no matter who you are. The sad reality is that with the losses (the tournament was eventually won by home team Botswana) went any chance of qualifying for the Rugby World Cup in England in 2015.Now Nigeria's international rugby focus shifts to sevens rugby, the fast and furious shorter form of the oval ball game. Next year the IRB Sevens World Cup will be held in Moscow, and in 2014 the Commonwealth Games where sevens rugby is a core sport will take place in Glasgow. To get to the Sevens World Cup in Russia Nigeria first have to win the Confederation of African Rugby (CAR) sevens tournament in Morocco next month. Two teams from Africa, Kenya and South Africa, are among the nine teams already qualified to go to Moscow leaving Nigeria to battle it out against Burkina Faso, Cameroun, Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia to determine which other team will represent the continent at the global showpiece.So what are Nigeria's chances of qualification' Again, preparation time will be a major challenge for the Naija boys. There's talent aplenty, no doubt about that, and individual Nigerians have proved themselves as great exponents of sevens at international level. In the inaugural World Cup Sevens two Nigerians featured prominently in the victorious England team. Dayo Adebayo an electric winger, who also played for the England 15s team pulled off a memorable tackle to ensure England qualified for the final while teammate and fellow Nigerian, Andy Harriman, had the honour of captaining England to victory and was the first man ever to lift the Melrose Cup as a rugby sevens world champion captain.There is an interesting parallel and a good omen, if you believe in such things, in the captain of the Nigerian sevens team that will go to Marrakech, David Akinluyi, and Harriman. Both were born in Nigeria and studied at Cambridge University where both were awarded Blues in rugby. Like Harriman, today's Nigerian captain was also selected in the England sevens squad before he confirmed his allegiance to the land of his birth.Akinluyi was seen putting the Nigerians through their paces and practising sevens moves and drills after the second game in Botswana. He and the team were tested for speed and fitness and their base fitness monitored by coach Steve Lewis. The team have been given a specific training regimen to prepare themselves for Morocco and will be monitored frequently in the weeks leading up to the CAR tournament. But fitness and speed alone will not be enough to win what is going to be a hotly contested tournament, playing time together will again be crucial. Martin Crawford, NRFF National Development manager, is working hard to plan a training camp ahead of Morocco. 'We have two options,' he says 'the first is to hold a camp in Nigeria before leaving for Marrakech and the alternative would be to go to Morocco early and hold a camp there. It all comes down to finance, if we can raise the sponsorship then we will definitely hold a camp. The squad will most likely comprise both domestic and England based players so we're also investigating the possibility of a camp in England but the problems of getting visas for both Morocco and England probably rule that out.'With the IRB Sevens World Cup in Moscow next year and the Commonwealth Games a year later there is plenty for players to work towards. The National Olympic Committee have said they will begin coaching sevens rugby as from next year the long term future of the game looks bright but the immediate challenge lies in giving the team a fighting chance in Morocco.08033843683archtheadman@gmail.com
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