2018 Rugby President Cup Final: Barewa RFC to face Cowrie RFC

2018 Rugby President Cup Final: Barewa RFC to face Cowrie RFC

The defending champions of the Rugby President Cup, Barewa Rugby Club of Kano, will on Saturday slug it out in the final with Cowrie Rugby Club of Lagos at the 2018 edition of the championship.

The organisers said on Thursday in Lagos that Cowrie RFC would hope to avenge the loss they suffered at the hands of Barewa in the 2017 edition, when they meet in the main bowl of the National Stadium, Lagos.

“Cowrie Rugby are still smarting from their loss against the Kaduna-based club, who defeated them 8 points to 7 in the last edition’s final played at the Old Parade Grounds in Abuja.

“Cowrie will hope to avenge their loss,” it the organisers said in a statement.

Speaking ahead of the match, Dele Coker, the Team Manager of Cowrie RFC, expressed confidence that his team had what it takes to defeat Barewa.

According to him, with the number of talented players in their fold which has seen the team winning the Lagos league for the past seven years, they were sure of winning.

“Very few squads in the country can boast of the talents Cowrie has and against Racing and Police in the Lagos League.

“They showed excellent composure and a clinical edge and I expect them to improve on that,” it quoted Coker as saying.

The statement said that Barewa club tutored by Martin Crawford had won the NRFF organised Northern League for four straight seasons.

It further said that Bronson Weir, the national team coach, was expected to use the match to assess new players that would be eventually invited to the national team.

The list of players for Barewa RFC are: Gabriel John, Akpabio Samuel, Joshua Effiong, Michael Gabriel, Sani Mohammed, Nuhu Ibrahim, Issa Omale, Jude Abrakson, Shamsu Aliyu, Shalom Matthew, Obi Wilson.

Others are: Alex Richard, Zarmai Daniel, Ibrahim Suraju and Mohammed Umar.

The replacements are: Bashir Usman, Wisdom, Dennis Clement, Julius Godwin, Zahrudeen Abdulkarim and Christian Williams, while Umar Bau is the coach.

For the Cowries RFC are: Azeez Ladipo, Daniel John, Christian Ogar, Onoru Jatto, Alfred Oche, Hassan Rilwan, Hassan Mohammed, Isaac Sani.

Others are Samuel Ekpo, Tunde Sulaiman, Ike Arinze, Henry Eyong, Emmanuel Chijioke, Sodiq Oduola, and Sunday Bassey.

The replacements are: Elijah Benjamin, Mark Chukwuma, Akeem Yusuf, Collins Gilbert, Marious Moses, Emeka Iheanacho, Quadri Kolawole and Tokunbo Lambo.

Source: NAN

Photo Credit: Google