The Nigeria Rugby Football Federation has named a 42-man provisional squad for the forthcoming Heritage Cup meeting with Ghana, confirming its intention to field an entirely home-based Stallions XV for the contest in Accra on November 29, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
The fixture will take place at the University of Ghana Rugby Stadium and has been billed as a grudge match between two long-standing rivals.
The federation said the squad will open camp in Lagos on November 22, with players expected to report at Ojez Hotel on Jones Street in Ebutte Metta.
Officials added that the group reflects a spread of talent from leading domestic clubs, including Cowrie, Racing, Barewa, Delta, Edo State, Zaria, Kwara Dynamite, Nigeria Police, AJ Sharks and Plateau Tigers, along with two players whose club details were not provided.
The forwards list includes Quadri Kolawole of Cowrie, Julius Godwin of Racing, Iyintosoluwa Kolawole of Racing, Olatunde Sulaiman of Cowrie, Obi Wilson of Barewa, Emmanuel Agu of Barewa, Jude Abrakson of Barewa, Chukwudera Onunkwo of Racing, Nelson Eselekhomwen of Edo State, Adebayo Tobi of Racing, Chidozie Nwabunwanne of Cowrie, Cornelius Arebamhen, Friday Solomon of Delta, Akeem Yusuf of Cowrie, Akinkunmi Akande of AJ Sharks, Liberty Enoma of Delta State and Williams Malu of Nigeria Police.
The backs division features Isa Omale of Barewa, Oseni Fawaz of AJ Sharks, Ibrahim Jeje of Kwara Dynamite, Jeremiah Peter of Barewa, Adamu Husaini of Zazzau Rugby, Innocent Peter of Delta State, Joshua Rankin of Cowrie, Christian Williams of Barewa, Joseph Junior Girigi of Kwara Dynamite, Ezekiel Tom of AJ Sharks, Joshua Etim of Barewa, Sadam Abubakar of Nigeria Police, Benedict Obianuju of Delta Marine.
Also included in the back division are Festus Omorodion of Edo State, Iliyasu Musa of Zaria, Stephen Suru Kiki of AJ Sharks, Daniel John of Cowrie, Prince Sam of Barewa, Gabriel Etim of Barewa, Samuel Akpabio of Barewa, Monday Omorogieva of Racing, Aliyu Auwal of Edo State, Simpson Daniel of Barewa, Chidera Iheme of Plateau Tigers and Onoru Jatto.
The NRFF confirmed on Thursday (yesterday) that the provisional group will be reduced to a final travelling party of 24 players for the Heritage Cup encounter in Accra, where Nigeria will aim to secure a strong performance against Ghana in one of West Africa’s most keenly contested rugby fixtures.
