It’s a Tough! Nigeria Rugby Coach Reacts to Sevens Group Draw

In an exclusive interview with Brila Media, coach Lewis said: “It’s a tough draw. South Africa and Zimbabwe are big dogs, you know. South Africa and Zimbabwe are both professional teams.

“Nigeria is an amateur team at the moment. Their players train and play every day and get paid for it, while our guys don’t. Mauritius, they are the hosts. They had a good weekend, but they are more like Nigeria in terms of resources and talent at the moment.”

Lewis expects a challenging Saturday. “It will be tough to face South Africa and Zimbabwe, but it would be a fantastic achievement to beat either of those teams.”

Reflecting on their recent performances, Lewis commented: “We’ve had a disappointing weekend. We came in eighth and went one for four, only beating Tunisia.

“This was mainly due to a lack of preparation. We have six players from the UK, four from Nigeria, one from the US and one from South Africa.

“The first time they met was at the airport. We really had limited preparation and didn’t know each other well. But now we have a week to practice. Hopefully we’ll be more cohesive and perform better.”

Lewis also stressed the need for a stronger national league. “All things being equal, with the right funding and resources, we need a national league. Tournaments in Lagos, Abuja, Kano: our players need to play regularly. As a national team, Nigeria needs to play more often.

“You can’t just play one tournament a year and expect to do well, while other countries play six to eight tournaments a year.

“We need a competitive national league and more opportunities to train and compete together as a national team.”