The defending champion of the Rugby President Cup, Barewa Rugby Club of Kano will on Saturday play the final of the 2018 edition of the championship against old rival, Cowrie Rugby Club of Lagos.
Still smarting from their loss against the Kaduna based club who defeated them 8 points to 7 in last edition final played at the Old Parade Grounds in Abuja, Cowrie will hope to avenge the loss when they meet again on Saturday at the main bowl of the National Stadium, Lagos by 2pm.
Speaking ahead of the grudge game, Cowrie RFC Team Manager, Dele Coker is confident that his team has 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 7 years, they are sure of a win come Saturday.
”Very few squads in the country can boast of 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.”
Barewa club tutored by Martin Crawford has won the NRFF organised Northern League for four straight seasons.
Both teams having the highest number of home based players in the national team will have everything to play for as the national team Coach, Bronson Weir is expected to use the match to assess new players to be invited to the national team.
The teams:
Barewa: 15 Gabriel John, 14 Akpabio Samuel, 13 Joshua Effiong, 12 Michael Gabriel, 11 Sani Mohammed, 10 Nuhu Ibrahim (c), 9 Issa Omale, 8 Jude Abrakson, 7 Shamsu Aliyu, 6 Shalom Matthew, 5 Obi Wilson, 4 Alex Richard, 3 Zarmai Daniel, 2 Ibrahim Suraju, 1 Mohammed Umar
Replacements: 16 Bashir Usman, 17 Wisdom, 18 Dennis Clement, 19 Julius Godwin, 20 Zahrudeen Abdulkarim, 21 Christian Williams
Coach: Umar Bau
Cowries: 15 Azeez Ladipo, 14 Daniel John, 13 Christian Ogar, 12 Onoru Jatto (c), 11 Alfred Oche, 10 Hassan Rilwan, 9 Hassan Mohammed, 8 Isaac Sani, 7 Samuel Ekpo, 6 Tunde Sulaiman, 5 Ike Arinze, 4 Henry Eyong, 3 Emmanuel Chijioke, 2 Sodiq Oduola, 1 Sunday Bassey
Replacements: 16 Elijah Benjamin, 17 Mark Chukwuma, 18 Akeem Yusuf, 19 Collins Gilbert, 20 Marious Moses, 21 Emeka Iheanacho, 22 Quadri Kolawole, 23 Tokunbo Lambo
