October 6, (THEWILL) – Bolu Fagborun of Bradford Rugby League, has led Nigeria closer to the 2025 World Cup, despite the fact that it was at very short notice.
Less than a week before their opening match against Cameroon at the Middle-East Africa (MEA) Rugby League Championship in Ghana, Fagborun was asked to take over as coach. To keep the trophy they won in 2019, when Fagborun played for the team, they defeated Cameroon 36-2 on Tuesday, before defeating hosts Ghana 30-4 in the championship match on Sunday, with one of Nigeria’s top rugby promoters and event organisers, Olatunbosun Johnson, as one of the officiating referees.
Although the trip may have been a little hectic for certain important Nigerian team members, the competition went without a hitch. Fagborun was just 18 months old, when his family moved to Bradford from Nigeria and he explained how he came to coach the Nigerian team: “Our usual head coach is Joe Mbu, but he had to stay at home for the tournament as his partner was giving birth. I wasn’t supposed to be heading out to Ghana at all, but I got the call the other week, booked my flight on the Friday (September 23) and flew at 6am two days later on the Sunday.”
He attributed the performance to the boost Nigeria got from some of the country’s players in the UK but was also pleased with the contribution from local talents: “Having the UK lads there was huge, as they help behind the scenes, are used to taking instructions on board, and can even lead sessions. A couple of them held team meetings while we were in Ghana, which some of the Nigeria-based squad weren’t used to.
“But the local lads are buying into what we’re doing, as it’s more than just passing the ball around or kicking it away, they need to get used to playing with a structure and completing sets.”
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
