12-18/07/2021 internationals without match threads

[Welsh Exile]

Interesting stuff. Who are some great players from nigeria or west africa?

Him and Ugo Monye, on the pod I was listening to, were saying that if they could attract all their players they'd be a top 10 rugby nation and Itoje was like "they'd be a problem" but they were talking about players like Thierry Dusautoir and Serge Betsen from before as well. Itoje was also saying, though, that they have the raw talent but obviously lack the infrastructure.

 

[Geordie]

Well just to start off the top off the top of my head...

The likes of Victor Ubogu, Steve Ojomoh, Andy Harriman etc all born in Nigeria and England regulars. Maro Itoje's parents are from Nigeria.

Others like Serge Betsen from the Cameroon, Abdel Benazzi from Morroco...

Im sure theres a lot of others...it i were to search though.

 

[BPM]

Interesting stuff. Who are some great players from nigeria or west africa?

Itoje is the best example currently, but England have typically had a good number of players of Nigerian descent.

Currently in/around the England squad, you have Itoje, Obano, Oghre, Ojomoh (junior) and Isiekwe.

There are quite a few more in the Premiership too.

A lot of French players like Ba, Woki, Canada, Macalou etc. are from West African extraction.

 

[Umaga's Witness]

In answer to the opening question, part of the influence might be a lack of coverage over here. There would be plenty of people interested if we didn't have to pay over and above what we already do to watch all rugby. I would've loved to have seen NZ v Fiji and Samoa v Tonga but there wasn't coverage available to my knowledge and if there was, it's probably would've cost extra to paying for BT and Sky Sports.

I really hope that Fiji can kick on from last week and this week, I think the Tonga Samoa game will be tighter than last week but Samoa will still win

I didnt think the tonga samoa game was going to be tighter, the samoan tram simply is higher quality . But it almost was closer, well done tonga. Some nice tries by samoa though. Mad that sione tuipolotu has played under 20s for tonga, samoa, and new zealand.

 

[Reiser99]

Can't find a matchday thread so will stick it here.

That Hallam Amos tackle in the air is a perfect example of why there needs to be a similar framework as with high-tackles. Luke Pearce says he didn't land on his head or neck, yet other refs ignore this and look at how he could have landed, not how he did. It's being refereed so inconsistently at the moment.

 

[Brigantine]

The African WC Qualifying rounds are producing some interesting results.....

Ivory Coast beating Nambia (adimittedly shy of most of the first choice players)
Senegal Beating Kenya...

Could we see the possibility of new Countries starting to over take the old guard...? That Senegal side had some massive lads (some could do with some conditioning work to be fair)

2023 Rugby World Cup – Africa qualification - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I had my eye on Tunisia and Algeria, I've felt for a while they've been flying under the radar. But COVID got in the way for Tunisia.

Algeria beat Uganda, and I see now they were 20 - 3 up against Ghana before they emptied the bench (and lost).
They're there in the QFs for next year, on the easy side of the table. So IMO still one to watch. They're ranked super low, but only because they just joined the rankings, and the bottom is where you start.
Have to wait until next year though.

Given the success of players from Nigerian backgrounds (currently and historically), I'm surprised Nigeria don't seem to be participating a great deal in rugby.

Hmm... 16 games total in 7 out of the 8 years 2012-2019. But 2 games in a season is typical for tier 3.
With 3 new rugby countries in Africa now, including Burkina Faso up the road, maybe they'll regularly get 3. What do you think they should be reaching? and if they're going any distance, who should pay? (I guess you could go either "Nigerian league XV" or "London Nigerian")

 

[BPM]

TBH, I have no idea of how the competition is set-up or what kind of funding the Nigerian team has access to.

London Nigerians already exists as an amateur team, so it's possible that could be utilised in some way I suppose?

Nigeria had lots of factors that could give them a high potential for success. 7th highest population in the world, a massive diaspora to draw from, Africa's biggest economy and also (very importantly IMO) some excellent role models in rugby.

There are also some rugby related elements that could also help. I don't know the figures, but personal experience gives me the perception that a higher than average proportion of black students in grammar school/private education - i.e. rugby playing schools are of Nigerian heritage. Certainly the majority of black players I have played with or against are from Nigerian backgrounds. This means that a lot of players from the Nigerian diaspora have probably played rugby throughout secondary education if not earlier.

At the moment, it's a seam of talent England are able to tap into, but there are several Premiership players eligible for Nigeria who could join a national set-up and that is a growing number, so if the option was there, they could quickly assemble a reasonable team (certainly at an African level).

 

[Brigantine]

London Nigerians already exists as an amateur team

That's a good start!

You think they could make a buck if they hosted e.g. Nigeria vs Tunisia or Nigeria vs Kenya in London somewhere? Assuming it counts towards the Africa Cup, and assuming they could get a bunch of their Premiership players to cameo.