Nigeria Rugby to battle 12 countries for Olympic qualifiers

Nigeria’s senior men's national rugby team, the Black Stallions, and 11 other countries will battle for Africa's ticket to the Paris 2024 Olympics.

12 Countries will converge in Mauritius on June 24-25 to compete for the available four slots in the Africa Cup Sevens slated for Zimbabwe in September

The Black Stallions will play their first game against Ghana in Mauritius. They will take on Burundi, which would be crucial before tackling the Democratic Republic of the Congo in their last pool A match.

Participating countries include; Mauritius, Cote D’Ivoire, Ghana, Botswana, Cameroun, Algeria, and Nigeria.

Others include; Burundi, Congo, Lesotho, Sénégal, and Egypt.

The Nigeria Rugby Football Federation has named Scotsman Steve Lewis as the new head coach of the country’s senior national team.

Pulse Sports reports that the Nigeria Rugby Football Federation (NRFF) has confirmed that the senior men's national team known as the Black Stallions will camp in the United Kingdom.

The black stallions are to participate in Rugby Afrique Olympic qualifiers slated for Mauritius on June 24 and 25, 2023.

Steve has coached the Black Stallions twice in the past 10 years, in 2012 and 2013. Under his leadership, Nigeria defied all odds to qualify for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. In 2016 and 2019, Steve was voted USA Rugby coach of the year.

Coach Stephen Lewis is the Director of Rugby at Championship winning New York Major League Rugby Club.