The Rugby community in Nigeria experienced some excitement with the visit to the country of two Rugby Football Union guest on personal capacity to help out in the development of the game in the country.
Rugby Football Union Committee member Andrew Sarek & Brian William White who were both part of the British Development Team touring Uganda & Kenya in the last two weeks decided to pass through Nigeria on their way back to offer some assistance to the development of the game in the country of his birth.
Andrew Sarek was born in Ibadan. He & his son James Sarek who opted to play for Nigeria’s Under 18 National Team had visited the country some eight years ago, and help coach the team for two weeks that was preparing for the Confederation of African Rugby Under 18 Tournament in Ivory Coast in 2004.
Since then, they have kept in touch with the progress & development of Nigeria Rugby. They were however not too pleased with recent development as regards the ban by the International Rugby Board due to concession of the Rugby Federation, which have since being lifted after the intervention & elections into the board of the Nigeria Rugby Football Federation by the Nigeria Olympics Committee & The Nigeria Sports Commission.
According to Andrew, “the report we got from IRB was worrying & troubling, that we decided to see what assistance we can render from our end which should help out directly with the development of the game in the country”.
Said he, “We got in touch with our friend Ntiense Williams, popularly called “Mr. Rugby” in Nigeria who extended an invitation to us. He asked that we help out by imparting our knowledge & experience with a talk on professionalism of the game with the players, also to help the journalist have a better understanding of the game & its reportage, and to share our experiences as referees with the match officials under the Lagos Rugby Referees Society. We thought it was a great idea. So whilst in Uganda with the British Lions Development side, we decided to come through Lagos for a week on our way back to London. “
“We have being able to meet the wonderful people of Nigeria once again, we had a very interesting session with the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria Lagos Chapter & rugby players in the beautiful SWAN Center at the National Stadium, after we had met with the Secretary General of the Rugby Federation who got us to meet a wonderful and cheerful Liaison Officer of the National Sports Commission Mrs. Tayo Orewenme. We had a wonderful experience with match officials during the Lagos Rugby Referees Society meeting which was rescheduled to Thursday evening to accommodate our visit. Brian & I who are senior referees sincerely think that they are on the right path with the basic knowledge of officiating. We will love to return to see their progress. But whilst away we will continue to monitor their progress & link them on with other people who we know will be of immense assistance to them”.
“We also used the opportunity to meet with the board members of the Nigeria Rugby Football Federation through the President Dr. Richard Ajayi. What we observed here is that all the people want to get Nigerian Rugby up on the map of the Rugby World, but through deferent means. I will definitely love to bring the British Development side, like the one that visit Uganda & Kenya recently to play in Nigeria with the Nigerian National Team made up of predominately domestic players & a few of the foreign based players. That in my opinion will be a true reflection of positive development of the game in the country. We will also keep an eye on the Nigerian Side going for the International engagement in Morocco later in the year. “
“Ntiense had earlier requested that we help out with some Rugby kits. We swung into action and collected some kits from local rugby clubs in London, which could still be used by the local Rugby clubs in Nigeria for training purposes & even matches. We also brought in some balls & law books for the referees. We will continue to see how we can help in any way with the growth & development of the sports in the Country!”
Courtesy
Ntiense Williams
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