Sixteen teams have been drawn into four groups for the Lagos 7s Rugby competition billed to hold at the Onikan Stadium on November 5 and 6. The teams are the 12 Nigerian teams that featured in last weeks Northern Sevens tournament and were joined by two additional teams from Nigeria as well as ASFA from Senegal and the Sharks from Ghana.The breakdown of the draw held on Thursday at EXP Nigeria office in Oregun Lagos has in Group A: Barewa, Edo RFC, Kaduna and Warri RFC. In Group B are Nig Police RFC, Racing Lagos, Dragons and Eko 2. The teams in Group C are ASFA, Governor Select, Lagos RFC and Ilorin RFC. Group D has Sharks, Abuja, Jos RFC, Zaria.The 7s competition is used by the International Rugby Board to promote the game in the countries where it is growing and the Nigeria Rugby Federation is working very hard to make this competition an extraordinary event.The EXP Regional Director Mr. Tertius Strauss is very confident that the competition would create the kind of atmosphere desired.He said, "There is an enormous pool of talent in Nigeria and West Africa, the captain of France in the IRB World Cup final has his roots in Ivory Coast for instance. Nigerians have done well internationally for England in the past and even Cameroon has had Serge Betsen represent France. What we want is for our stars to shine here at home for us, in front of Nigerian fans.The Vice President of the Nigerian Rugby Football Federation, Prince Kayode Oguntayo is hopeful that the partnership with EXP could change the lack of facilities and adequate interest."For so long there has been little support and development of the sport in Nigeria; facilities are few and far between and players get few opportunities to sharpen their skills in competitive matches. We are very happy to have EXP as partners as they share our vision of the future of Nigerian rugby and we need more tournaments like the Lagos 7s," he said.There will also be a demonstration game by two womens teams and by two youth teams for this competition.
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