[ 2017-10-09 ]

Ghana Rugby team beats Mauritius in impressive Sevens campaign
Ghana Rugby completed its kickoff to the world
stage of rugby in Kampala-Uganda, by beating
Mauritius 26 to 0, to be placed 9th in the Africa
Men’s Sevens Tournament that was played between
ten of Africa’s best nations between 6th and 7th
October 2017, in Kampala-Uganda.

Ghana Rugby’s participation in the tournament
followed its acceptance as full member of World
Rugby on 10th May 2017, and after it managed to
convince the governing body, Rugby Afrique, to
include Ghana even though it was unranked by both
World Rugby and Rugby Afrique.

The first match of the tournament was a great
surprise to all involved when Ghana (ranked 9th
for the tournament) managed to draw 19-19 against
Tunisia who are ranked 4th in the tournament.

Even though the Ghana Eagles did not manage to win
another match in the “Pool of Death” against
Uganda (1), Morocco (5) and Zambia (8), everybody
was in agreement that Ghana was unlucky not to
have proceeded to the next stage, and that their
kickoff towards the quest for participation in
global competitions was solid and impressive.

Mr. Herbert Mensah, President and Board Chairman
of Ghana Rugby, said in an interview from Ghana
that he obviously hoped for a better result, but
he remains proud that the Ghana Eagles showed the
rugby world that they are not to be underestimated
in years to come.

“Ghana Rugby was probably the only team that had
no match practice prior to the tournament and this
was the first time that we have ever been exposed
to the “big” stage of Rugby,” Mensah said.

He further noted that, he was proud of the players
and technical bench who have managed to get Ghana
Rugby on a ranking list of Rugby Afrique for the
first time in its history.

Ghana Rugby managed to get pro-bono technical
support from the All Stars Sevens Rugby Academy in
South Africa, through the facilitation of Willem
Strauss, a well-known sports promoter.

Ludwiche van Deventer, head coach of the All Stars
Academy, assisted the Ghana Rugby coach with
preparations for the tournament. Mensah expressed
his sincere appreciation for the support and said
that fruitful discussions were held about
continuing relationships between the parties.

“The ranking as number nine on the Rugby Afrique
men’s sevens list rounded off a year of
exceptional achievements in a very short space of
time. Ghana Rugby achieved to become full members
of World Rugby since my administration, and I took
office on 5th June 2016 in fewer than three
years.

“In addition, we hosted a very successful Rugby
Afrique Regional Challenge tournament in May, that
we managed to win. Ghana Rugby currently tops the
challenge table,” Mensah remarked.

Mensah also expressed his gratitude personally and
on behalf of Ghana Rugby which “engineered”
Mission Kampala and made it possible.

“Thanking the Ghana Rugby Family & Friends for
their contributions is always the most difficult
task as you are bound to leave someone out. We
thank anybody and everybody who supported us and
will do so on an individual basis as well.

“I will forget if I don’t mention Rugby
Afrique for everything to do with Mission Kampala,
the Uganda Rugby Union for being a fantastic host,
the Panafrican Equipment Group and Golden Tulip
Accra for their sponsorship, Willem Strauss
Marketing for facilitating technical support from
South Africa, the numerous volunteers in Ghana,
and everybody else,” Mensah remarked.

The Africa Men’s Sevens tournament was won by
Uganda with Zimbabwe in second place.


The two teams, therefore managed to achieve the
exceptional honours of participation in the 2018
World Rugby Sevens Cup in San Francisco, the 2018
Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in Australia, and
the World Series Qualifier tournament in Hong Kong
in 2018.

Source - 3news.com

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