West African Tri-Nations Championships: Coach Weir Includes Three Debutantes in Black Stallions’ XV to Face Ivory Coast

Head coach of Nigeria’s national rugby team Bronson Weir has revealed his starting line-up for today’s West African Tri-Nations Championships clash against Ivory Coast which comes up at noon at the Nduom Stadium, Elmina, Ghana.

The South African has included three players who would be making their debuts for the national team in his starting line-up for the Black Stallions’ opening game in the competition against Ivory Coast who defeated hosts Ghana 22-12 on Sunday.

Speaking ahead of the game the South African said a win today would put the Black Stallions in a good position to win the series and identified areas where his side must excel to come out on top later today.

“I think it is quite clear; to win the series, we have to get a good result against Ivory Coast and to do that, we have to beat them in the contest area,” Weir was quoted as saying ahead of the game.

“[Ivory Coast] are quite good at the breakdown and decent in the air; both areas are a priority for us. Traditionally, Nigeria and Ivory Coast games are always very close, they are tough affairs, so our ability to finish the game strongly is going to be vital,” he added.

Nigerian Team To Face Ivory Coast (Debutants Are Asterisked)

15. Gabriel Etim John * (Fullback)

14. Abdulmalik Atomulaku (Right Wing)

13. Onori-Oyiza Jude Emmanuel Jatto (Outside Center/ Captain)

12. Joshua Effiong Etim (Inside Center)

11. Alfred Sunday Oche (Right wing)

10. Nuhu Ibrahim Samaila (Fly half)

9. Hassan Mohammed (Scrumhalf)

8. Jude Peter Abrakson * (No 8)

7. Ekubi Samuel Ekpo (Flanker)

6. Alex Onome Richard (Flanker)

5. John Terseer Kura (Lock)

4. Isaac Cato Sani (Lock)

3. Godwin Dina Otoro JR (Prop)

2. Umar Ibrahim Suraj (Hooker)

1. Ricky Ezenwa Nwagbara *(Prop)

Replacements

16. Mohammed Ahmad Umar

17. Sunday Bassey

18. Abduljelili Adeniyi Adeshina

19. Suleiman Olatunde Abdulganiyu

20. Oyekanmi David Kazeem

21. Monday Henry Omoragieva

22. Jeremiah Peter

23. Ezekiel Tom

Non-Playing

24. Daniel John Christopher non-playing for 1st match