Ghana Rugby Club Championship Entertains With Closely Contested Matches

Week two of the 2015/16 Ghana Rugby Club Championship (GRCC) at the Accra Sports Stadium lived up to its promise to entertain spectators and to test the resolve of the GRCC Teams on Saturday 28 November 2015.

The match between Idas Sports and Dansoman Hurricanes RFC ended with a point difference of less that seven points as did the match between Accra Sharks RFC and Cape Coast based UCC Spartans RFC. This earned the losing teams each a bonus point while the victorious teams earned four valuable Championship points each.

The final scores of the three GRCC matches were Accra Sharks RFC 17 - 15 UCC Spartans, Idas Sports 3 - 7 Dansoman Hurricanes RFC and Cosmos Buffaloes RFC 38 - 0 Griffons RFC.

The second week of the 2015/16 Ghana Rugby Club Championship (GRCC) produced exciting Rugby to the admiration of supporters on the day and all the Clubs are still optimistic of winning the ultimate prize.

According to Mr. Herbert Mensah, President of Ghana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) the quality of Rugby that players exhibited was beyond his expectations adding that there has been much improvement as compared to the previous season.

He cited Dansoman Hurricanes RFC and Accra Sharks RFC as the most performed teams so far in terms of discipline and skills as compared to the last season.

"I am hugely impressed with the first and second week of the league season and I congratulate the Tournament Commissioner for the good organization. I also acknowledge the players for exhibiting excellent Rugby and I think there has been much development compared to the past season," he said.

Clubs participating in this season's league are Accra Sharks RFC, Cosmos Buffaloes RFC, Dansoman Hurricanes RFC, Idas Sports, Titans SC, Griffons RFC and UCC Spartans.

In line with the new exciting match day menu the event again included a basic Rugby skills training session for the kids organized by the Accra Rugby Club and expatriates, women and boys 7s matches and a 7s match between two second division Clubs.

The occasion also saw the presentation of two Rugby balls and three copies of the 2015 World Rugby Union Law Book by the expatriate community to the GRFU.

Mr. Steve Noi, Tournament Commissioner of the GRCC, also presented Mr. Fred Roux with a referee jersey on behalf of the President, Mr. Herbert Mensah.

According to the President, Mr. Herbert Mensah, unforeseen circumstances prevented certain Clubs to prepare and register in time for the 2015/16 GRCC.

"One should be flexible and accommodating without compromising in Africa and the GRFU in association with the GRCC Tournament Organisers are working on allowing certain other teams to join the 2015/16 GRCC at a later stage. Details of such developments will be communicated to all stakeholders as and when finality are reached," he said.

In other Rugby developments the GRFU arranged for all Rugby stakeholders to revisit the GRFU Code of Conduct in order to ensure that Rugby remains both a safe sport and a sport admired by by its supporters and fans.

In making the request the President of the GRFU, Mr. Herbert Mensah, said that rugby is a value based sport guided by values such as integrity, passion, teamwork, discipline and respect.

"When rugby stakeholders lose sight of these value the appeal of the game of rugby to those who cherish these values as well as the appeal of rugby to the general public can easily vanish and destroy the game," Mr. Mensah said.

in another exciting development the GRFU and the University of Cape Coast (UCC) forged closer ties when Mr. Bismark Amponsah, a Board Member of GRFU and executive of CentWest Rugby and Mr. Clement Dennis, a rugby coach and technical expert presented Rugby balls to Dr. Daniel Apaak, the Head of Sports at the UCC, and members of his staff.

During the occasion Dr. Apaak emphasized the University's preparedness to include Rugby in its curriculum as one of the games on its calendar. He stressed on the need to have some staff (coaches) to be trained in the technicalities of the sport to better their understanding.

Grassroots or youth development at schools level under the World Rugby banner of "Get Into Rugby" also received a welcome boost when Mr. Jason Data, the GRFU Coordinator of the "Get Into Rugby" (GIR) programme, held a learning camp and exhibition match between kids of the Labone SDA School on Friday 27 November at the Al Wak Sports Stadium in Accra Ghana.

Mr. Herbert Mensah, President of the GRFU, has time and again said that the growth and performance of Rugby in Ghana will be measured by the growth and performance of Rugby at schools level.

"The 'Get Into Rugby" or youth Rugby development programme at schools level is and will be the highest priority of the GRFU for years to come," Mr. Mensah said.

Week three of the 2015/16 GRCC is scheduled to again be held at the Accra Sports Stadium on 5 December 2015 with a full programme starting at 9am and ending at 5pm. The GRFU and GRCC Tournament Organisers said that all stakeholders are welcome to join the Ghana Rugby Family for a day of entertainment and excitement. Entrance to the event is free of charge.