By Victor Kanayo
After serving its four years ban by World Rugby, the Nigeria Rugby Football Federation (NRFF) has announced the appointment of a Scot, Steve Lewis, as head of its senior national teams.
This was disclosed by the President of the Federation, Dr. Ademola Are.
Steve’s First Pot Of Call Upon Return
According to him, Steve’s first assignment will be to lead the National Men’s and Women’s Sevens teams to the 2024 Olympic Games pre-qualifiers in Mauritius and Zambia in June and July, 2023 respectively.
“These outings are symbolic as it will be the first activities of Nigeria Rugby on the international scene since 2019.
“The Olympic games pre-qualifiers is the pathway for Nigeria to participate in Paris 2024,” he said.
Countries In For Africa Cup Sevens
Twelve countries will converge in Mauritius on June 24 to 25 to compete for available four slots in the Africa Cup Sevens slated for Zimbabwe in September.
Participating countries includes Mauritius, Cote D’Ivoire, Ghana, Botswana, Cameroun, Algeria and Nigeria.
Others are Burundi, Congo, Lesotho, Sénégal and Egypt.
The Nigeria Women sevens and other African Women’s teams will converge in Zambia on July 1 to 2 to compete for the available three slots in the Africa Women’s Cup Sevens slated for Tunisia in October.
Steve’s Reaction And Track Records
“I look forward to playing a part in Nigeria’s return to international competition, and laying down good foundations for a new generation of Nigerian players and coaches,” Steve said.
Steve is not a stranger to Nigeria Rugby having coached the Black Stallions 10 years ago.
Under his watch, Nigeria qualified for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014 against all odds.
Steve was named USA Rugby coach of the year in 2016 and 2019 respectively.
He coached Jamaica Sevens up to the World Challenger Series -Olympic Repechage in 2020 and he is a Technical Consultant for a much improved Brazil National Rugby Team.
Coach Steve is presently the Director of Rugby at Championship winning New York Major League Rugby Club.
