By Victor Kanayo
Nigeria have been drawn in pool B of the African Men’s Rugby Sevens 2024 Olympic qualifiers alongside Zambia, Kenya and Namibia.
This was disclosed after a draw ceremony on Wednesday.
The main draw happened after Nigeria and other nations pulled through a pre-Olympic qualifier few weeks ago in Mauritius.
During that series, the Nigerian team also known as Black Stallions only lost a match to Algeria, at the final clash.
The Black Stallions won every other encounter against Ghana, Burundi, Congo, Botswana and Cote d’ivoire.
The Nigeria Rugby Football Federation (NRFF) shortly after a return to the international fold, following a ban by the World Rugby, will have their hands full as the men’s senior national team will try to punch above their weight to be at the Paris Olympics.
Currently paired in a group with two greatest Rugby nations in Africa, the Coach Steve Lewis-led Nigerian side will have to navigate their way out.
The Kenya Rugby Sevens team, fondly called Shujaa, a Swahili word meaning courage, confidence, bravery, or heroism; will be aiming for their third consecutive appearance at the Olympics while Namibia that finished fifth at the last qualifiers will hope to do better this time around just as Zambia, a sleeping giants in African Rugby, will hope to rise from their slumber in a bid to upturn the apple.
The Black Stallions of Nigeria will be aiming for the automatic ticket if they can get their best legs in Europe and America to be part of the team for the qualifiers.
The Olympic qualifiers will hold between September 16 and 17 at Harare Sports Club, Zimbabwe.
