Nigeria Rugby: Cowrie Emerges Champion Of Inaugural 7s President Cup

The deadly combination of Onoru Jatto, Christian Innocent Ogar, Afiz Ayinla, Azeez Ladipo were all that Cowrie RFC needed to clinch the 1st edition of the President Cup Rugby 7s tournament which held on friday the 23rd and Saturday the 24th of October 2015 at the Onikan Stadium, Lagos.

The current South West Rugby league champions decimated Merlin RFC of the UK in what happened to be a repeat of the 1st match of the tournament.

With bookmakers expecting a keenly contested game, Cowrie proved all wrong as Black Stallions winger, Christian Ogar scored a try less than 20 seconds into the game to open a 5 points lead against the Merlins who appeared to be struggling under the hot sun.

With Merlin RFC still reeling from the point conceded, Ladipo Azeez piled on more pressure with a try before Ogar added 2 tries to earn the Most Valuable Player prize of the tournament.

Despite spirited efforts from the Merlins in the second half, it was a case of too little too late as the game ended 48 points to 14 in favor of Cowrie RFC.

Speaking after the victory, captain of the side, Azeez Ladipo said the victory was a sweet reward for about 3months of training in preparation for the tournament as he commended his team for stepping up their game when it really mattered.

In the 3rd place match, Barewa RFC of Kaduna who narrowly lost to Cowrie in the semifinals were too strong for Racing RFC as they ran away by 7-0 scoreline.

In the Plate finals, Police RFC once again failed to live up to pre-tournament expectations as they were decimated by Panthers RFC by 19 points to 12.

It was all about Parakou RFC of Benin Republic who came, saw and conquered in the Shield category as they defeated Delta RFC by 21 points to 17. Gosar RFC also went home with the competition’s Bowl.

The competition held in a perfect family atmosphere which saw hundreds of rugby fans from the UK, South Africa and all over Nigeria come with their spouses and children to grace the tournament where enough food and drinks were made available by the organisers.