Mensah celebrated his birthday on 26 December, climaxing in a year when Ghana Rugby achieved a string of accolades that included Full Membership of World Rugby, hosting and winning the Rugby Africa Regional Challenge – West 1, getting ranked on the Rugby Africa Men’s Sevens table for the first time and getting promoted to host the Rugby Africa Bronze Cup.

[contextly_sidebar id=”f0Emz7B9RKR4QyG6A2DGmRqN9XCFewyD”]Herbert Mensah took over Ghana Rugby on 5th June 2014 when he was elected unopposed as President of the Union at its Electoral Congress in Accra, Ghana.

As an astute businessman and sports administrator, he ordered an in-depth audit of the state of Rugby in Ghana and concluded that most of the fundamental requirements to be considered for Full Membership of World Rugby were not in place.

Between 2014 and 2017 Mensah brought  in a series of changes that included the development of governing strategies and plans, the establishment of a Ghana Rugby Secretariat, the introduction of a rugby management system (scrumIT), the institution of a financial management system (Sage One), the reconstitution of the Regional Associations and Clubs, the introduction of a ten team domestic competition, the initiation of the World Rugby youth development programme (“Get Into Rugby”) and the resuscitation of women’s rugby.

Besides for the abovementioned achievements of 2017, the year also saw the introduction for the first time of a Women’s Sevens division to the annual domestic league, the Ghana Rugby Club Championship, a development area that was close to the President’s heart from the word go.

Mensah also narrowed the gender gap through the appointment of women to both the Ghana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) Board and the boards of its Regional Associations.

Mensah’s ultimate mission is to lead Ghana’s national teams, the Ghana Eagles, to participate in World Rugby and other global competitions such as the Olympics and Commonwealth Games.

Even though Ghana Rugby has achieved much in a short space of time with a lot to look forward to, Mensah’s biggest challenge will undoubtedly be to put the Union on a sound and sustainable financial footing, something that is currently absent from the sports management recipe.

Mr Adama Bakhoum, Rugby Africa Training Manager, warned the Ghana Rugby family as far back as 2016 that the funding of the GRFU by the President alone is not sustainable and that the neglect by the management of the Union to do something about the situation will place Ghana Rugby at serious risk.

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The schools with rugby teams ended the term with a touch rugby competition among the boys and girls.

It is the third time the program has been held at the Kanda Cluster of schools.

Participating schools included the Islamic Training Institute, Al-Waleed Comprehensive Islamic Basic school, Kanda 3&5 JHS, Kanda ‘1’ Basic, Kanda A.M.A JHS and Aggrey Memorial International School.

Each school presented two teams – one each for the boys and girls – with 12 players in each side making up a total of 96 participants in the event.

The first round match was between the Islamic training Institute against Al-Waleed.

In Group B Kanda 3&5 JHS played against Kanda ‘1’ Basic boys and girls. the girls’ group was won eventually by Kanda 3&5 JHS with the second position going to Islamic Training Institute.

Kanda ‘1’ Basic finished third while  Al-waleed Comprehensive Islamic Basic school placed fourth.

The winner in the Boys group was the Islamic Training Institute with Kanda ‘1’ Basic second, Kanda 3&5 JHS third and Al-Waleed Comprehensive Islamic Basic school in fourth.

Ghana Rugby Board Development Officer, Rafatu Inusah, said she saw a massive improvement in most of the players from all the schools.

“Both boys and girls performed very well, and it was an achievement for not only me but for Ghana Rugby as a whole,” Inusah said.

The event was also covered by AFP (Agence France Presse) who interviewed some of the students from various schools.

Memunatu from Kanda 3&5 JHS, for instance, said she loves to play rugby because it is a friendly and exciting game which could be enjoyed by both boys and girls.

Development Officers who took part in the festival included Ms Rafatu Inusah, Ms Kadija Adams, Mr Francis Donkor, Mr Emmanuel Kalos, Mr Philip Asomani and some players from Conquerors Sporting Club.

The event was also captured by Ghana Rugby’s photographer, Mr Chika Israel. Ms Inusah enouraged the students to always get united as one big rugby family.

She again emphasised the values of rugby of respect, integrity, solidarity, discipline and passion to them. Inusah also cautioned the students to take good care of themselves as they are going for the Christmas holidays and to welcome the new year with a renewed energy.

“I am grateful to God for a successful program and also want to thank all who supported the event, especially the President and Board Chairman, Mr Herbert Mensah.”

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

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In the announcement letter to the President and Board Chairman of Ghana Rugby, Herbert Mensah,  the President of Rugby Afrique, Abdelaziz Bougja, stated that, the request for promotion by the Ghana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) had been positively received.

[contextly_sidebar id=”S8YHvjn4nESQS1gIvDqVqiYegg03f5ac”]Bougja said the promotion came as a result of the good performance of Ghana Rugby in the Regional Challenge 2017, and the new status of Ghana Rugby Union as a full member of World Rugby.

He also revealed that, the contributing factors for the promotion were the suspensions of both the Cameroon and Nigeria Rugby Unions, and the unlikelihood of a final of the Regional Challenge between Lesotho and Ghana Rugby Africa.

In a statement from Mensah in London, he said that he was grateful to the Exco of Rugby Afrique for recognizing the achievements and efforts of Ghana Rugby to help with the development of the game in Ghana, and indeed in the rest of Africa and the World.

In April-May 2017, Ghana successfully hosted and won the Rugby Afrique Regional Challenge West 1 between Benin, Ghana, Burkina Faso and Togo, in what was a memorable year for the country in the sport.

Immediately after the tournament, World Rugby awarded Ghana Rugby Full Membership that meant that the Union could for the first time apply for investment funds for development, and more importantly, be considered for tournaments that will lead to eventual qualifiers for World Rugby and other global competitions such as the Commonwealth Games and the Olympics.

In October 2017, Ghana was drawn to compete in the 2017 Africa Men’s Sevens Tournament in Kampala, and managed to get ranked for the first time on Rugby Afrique’s log.

The promotion to the Rugby Afrique Bronze Cup came on the eve of the opening matches of the 2017/18 Ghana Rugby Club Championship (GRCC), in October 2017 in Cape Coast.

Mensah also expressed his appreciation to everybody who played a vital role in the memorable achievements of 2017.

“It is always a difficult task to say, thank you. Everybody who took part in Rugby in Ghana must be acknowledged and congratulated. First of all, my appreciation goes to the players, coaches, match officials and administrators who all sacrificed in many ways to make the last three years memorable.”

Mensah also acknowledged that the many volunteers and supporters who made contributions in kind or otherwise, are vital cogs in the machinery of Ghana Rugby. He also invited them to get even more involved in the years to come.

He said, “particular word of thanks must go to our sponsors who have made contributions in the spirit of unwavering faith that Ghana Rugby will make them and the country proud.”

“There are too many to mention, but I will neglect my duty if I don’t mention the following companies and individuals: World Rugby and Rugby Afrique, Olympic Solidarity and the Ghana Olympic Committee, Hayssam Fakhry of Interplast and Inesfly, Tim Callaghan of the Panafrican Group, Paul Kavanagh of the Golden Tulip Accra Hotel, the Gino Brands, eVerpure, Accra Breweries Limited, Paloma Hotel, our many media partners, and the individuals who made contributions from scarce resources in our many fundraising challenges.”

Mensah said that the memorable achievements would require even more support and more resources as Ghana Rugby intends to put in bids to host the continental 15s and 7s tournaments in 2018.

“Ghana Rugby’s achievements on international levels are Ghana’s achievements. We are representing the country, and we hope and pray that our governing bodies will also come forward and meet its commitments and promises to support us, and indeed other minority sports in 2018.”

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

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This follows the adoption of a new Constitution on July 2017, at its Annual General Meeting held in Accra-Ghana.

The new Constitution was adopted to bring the governance structures of the GRFU in line with best practice governance, whereby the role of the Board as strategic management organ is divorced from the operational administration of the Union.

Mr. Herbert Mensah, former President of the GRFU, was elected unopposed as President of the GRFU, and was also elected as a Board Member. The newly elected Board subsequently appointed him as Chairman.

The other nominated Board Members who were elected include Abdul-Aziz Issah, Bismark Amponsah, James Nunoo Mensah, Kobina Nyarko, Rian Malan (South Africa) and Steve Noi.

In addition to the six elected Board Members, a Ghana Rugby Union Players Association (GRUPA) representative, Michael Ako Wilson, was also elected unopposed to the newly formed Board.

The Board, at a special meeting after the elections, appointed Ms Rafatu Inusah to the Board as Women’s Representative.

The election of the Officers and Board was overseen by a Board representative of Rugby Afrique, Marcellin Zahui, as well as by the National Sports Authority of Ghana.

Also present at the occasion was a film crew from World Rugby, who landed in Accra on Sunday night to compile features on Ghana Rugby for World Rugby TV.

The GRFU Constitution also provides for the appointment of four independent Directors. The newly elected Board will be responsible for identifying suitable candidates and for inviting them to apply for the positions.

According to Herbert Mensah, the change in governance comes at a time when Ghana Rugby has managed to obtain Full Membership of World Rugby.

“The challenges Ghana Rugby are facing have changed dramatically since becoming full members of World Rugby as that has opened the doors for Ghana Rugby to enter the global stage of the Game. To meet these enormous challenges, investments will be required regarding increasing the performance levels of our national teams,” Mensah said.

He added that, the future of Ghana Rugby is still very much dependent on the rolling out the grassroots youth development plans nationally, but that the need for increased participation in international match opportunities for the national teams will add enormous new pressure on the GRFU.

According to Mensah, “The new Ghana Rugby Board will have to guide the Union strategically to ensure the necessary resourcing, while putting solid operational structures in place. Running a national federation is not dissimilar to running any big corporate body, and the Board would have its work cut out for them and for the operational units that they will put in place.”

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The announcement was made at the GRFU Secretariat in Osu-Accra, and was attended by Mr Tim Callaghan, Group Head of the Panafrican Equipment Group, and Mr Herbert Mensah, President of Ghana Rugby.

The sponsorship includes an undisclosed cash amount, kit for the Ghana National Rugby Team (the Ghana Eagles) and sports bags, and will be valid for a twelve-month period.

According to the agreement, the Panafrican logo will be prominently displayed on all national Ghana Rugby jerseys and shorts worn by the Ghana Eagles during participation in international matches.

The new kit that is currently being produced will be worn by the Ghana Eagles for the first time in their crucial encounters during the Africa Rugby Men’s Sevens Tournament scheduled for 6 and 7 October 2017 in Kampala, Uganda.

Ghana Rugby became full members of World Rugby on 10 May 2017 in fewer than three years since Mensah took charge of the Union.

This opened the doors to Ghana Rugby to take part in qualifiers for World Rugby, Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games and Hong Kong Sevens tournaments. The first opportunity that came up was the Rugby Afrique men’s sevens tournament that serves as a qualifier for the 2018 World Rugby Men’s Sevens World Cup tournament in 2018 in San Francisco, the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia and the Hong Kong Sevens.

The Ghana Eagles, who are by far the underdogs, will face stiff competition from nine other African Unions including Namibia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Senegal, Morocco, Tunisia, Botswana, Madagascar and Zambia.

According to Mr Tim Callaghan, General Manager of the Panafrican Equipment Group, the Group in conjunction with Komatsu Ltd is very proud to associate with the Ghana Rugby Football Union.

“Rugby is a team sport that is played globally with many millions of club and international players. We look forward to the Ghana Eagles progressing through the World Rugby rankings and wish them the best of luck for the upcoming tournament in Kampala,” Callaghan said.

Panafrican sells and services the Komatsu range of earthmoving and mining equipment in Ghana, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Kenya and Tanzania.

Herbert Mensah, President of Ghana Rugby, welcomed the addition of Panafrican as proud sponsor of Ghana Rugby and said that some corporate bodies such as Interplast, Inesfly, the Gino brands, the Golden Tulip Accra, eVerpure and Africa Mining Services have all come forward in the past to support Ghana Rugby.

“The addition of the Panafrican Group to the list of companies who have supported Ghana Rugby is not only welcomed but highly appreciated,” Mensah said.

“The recognition that Rugby is at the core of life in that it brings discipline to our young people is truly appreciated. In a time that not a lot of people support minority sports I am proud to be associated with the Panafrican Group that share in what we want to achieve. To those on the outside, I hope they will understand that minority sports can only survive if we have these kinds of associations with people who really care.”
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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The event formed part of the celebrations organized by the Ghana Olympic Committee.

According to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), “Olympic Day is much more than just a sports event, it is a day for the world to get active, learn about Olympic values and discover new sports based on the three pillars of move, learn and discover.

As a result, National Olympic Committees organize sports, cultural and educational activities throughout the world to mark the day.

Rugby 15s appeared for the first time at the Olympic Games in Paris in 1900, and was on the programme of the 1908, 1920 and 1924 Games. This sport subsequently did not feature on the programme, but has been reintroduced for the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016 in its 7s format.

At the 121st IOC Session held in Copenhagen in October 2009, it was decided to include rugby in the Olympic programme for Rio in 2016, with a men’s and a women’s rugby 7s tournament, each with 12 teams.

According to the President of Ghana Rugby, Mr. Herbert Mensah, participation in an Olympics event is definitely the dream of any athlete and it is no different for Rugby players.

“The reintroduction of Rugby to the Olympic fold was a major milestone in the history of Rugby. Ghana Rugby, even though it is in an embryonic phase of development, has definitely set its eyes on qualifying both junior and senior teams to the Olympic Games.” Mensah said.

The Olympic Day exhibition by Ghana Rugby consisted of learners from the “Get Into Rugby” (GIR) programme of six schools taking part in typical GIR sessions under the supervision of Rafatu Inusah, a Board Member of the Greater Accra Rugby Association (GARA) and GRFU Women’s Rugby Development Manager, and coach Sani Alhassan.

The GIR Programme (GIRP) is World Rugby’s core programme to grow the Game of Rugby in the world, and it is aimed at new entrants to the sport.

The programme consists of two phases, “Try” and “Play” with four modules in each phase that progressively equip the youth and other new entrants with basic skills required to move to the “Stay” phase of Rugby.

GIR is also the cornerstone of Ghana Rugby’s youth development programme, and has seen encouraging growth in participation since the introduction of the programme in 2015.

Rugby union, commonly known as rugby, is a contact team sport which originated in England in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football is based on running with the ball in hand. In its most common form, a game is between two teams of 15 players using an oval-shaped ball on a rectangular field with H-shaped goalposts on each try line.

Rugby is the second biggest sport in the world.

The 2016 World Rugby Year in Review reported 8.5 million players, of which 3.2 million were registered union players and 1.9 million were registered club players.

Female players represented 22% of all participants.

About Ghana Rugby

The Ghana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) is the official sports federation representing Rugby Union in Ghana, and is a full member of both Rugby Afrique and World Ruby.

Ghana Rugby is also registered with the Ghana National Sports Authority (NSA), and is a member of the Ghana Olympic Committee.

Mr. Herbert Mensah is the President of Ghana Rugby.
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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The news, which was delivered to Mr. Mensah in a letter from the President of Rugby Afrique, Abdelaziz Bougja, read:

Dear Herbert,

It gives me great pleasure to confirm that World Rugby’s Council has unanimously voted in favour of Ghana Rugby Union’s application to become a full member union of World Rugby. From my side, I presented an assessment of the development of the union which was very well received.

I would like to congratulate you and your Board as well as the employees and volunteers of Ghana Rugby Union for a tremendous job and remarkable achievements in a short space of time. This affiliation to World Rugby is a milestone in the development of rugby in Ghana and we at Rugby Africa remain committed to supporting Ghana Rugby.

Allow me take this opportunity to thank you for a very well run Regional Challenge tournament in Accra and to congratulate your team for their victory.

Yours sincerely,

Abdelaziz Bougja

Président Rugby Afrique

Mensah, from his residence in the UK, responded to the news by saying that Ghana Rugby indeed worked extremely hard in a very short space of time to be honoured with this appointment.

“We are thankful to the President of Rugby Afrique, Mr Abdelaziz Bougja, and his team with specific reference to the General Manager Mrs Coralie van den Berg, and Regional Development Officer Charles Yapo for their support and guidance to reach this milestone,” Mensah said.

With this appointment, Ghana becomea the 18th country in Africa to achieve full membership of World Rugby.

Full Membership of World Rugby has distinctive benefits for a country as that not only gives the Union access to development grants, but it also paves the way in the quest to achieve the ultimate goal of playing in a Rugby World Cup tournament.

“Although this fantastic achievement gives much reason for celebration, I have informed my administration that they must keep the party short as the real work only starts now,” Mensah said.

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By: citifmoline.com/Ghana

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The Black Eagles of Ghana recorded an emphatic 46-5 victory over Benin in the ongoing Rugby Africa Regional Challenge at the Accra Sports Stadium.

Mr Mensah told the press after the game that, Ghana’s rugby is steadily progressing and it can only get better in the few years to come.

“Ghana rugby is moving in the right direction, after the Rugby Africa Regional Challenge tournament, we would start preparing for the commonwealth games.

“We have made an impressive progress in the last 18 months, now we have the physical players that we didn’t have before, we have players who are over 150kilos, and we do have players who are over 6.5 feet in height.

“Now we are teaching them how to play the game of rugby and mentally they are beginning to think like rugby players and not footballers, which means, they are working and dying for each other and not worried about material things.

“The players now understand that it’s about teamwork, fighting on the pitch and not leaving any energy behind until the end of the 80 minutes.

“We are not perfect, we still have a long way to go, we are learning all the time to improve, and we can only imagine where we are going to get to by next year.

“We are going to set a high standard and make the nation proud, we cannot feel any pain and there is nothing like closing time. We would fight to the very end. Ghana Rugby is slowly getting there,” Herbert Mensah said.

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Source: GNA

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The match started frenetically with both teams scoring tries in the first eight minutes, first by Ghana’s Jalilu Yussif Abdul followed by a Benin try from Alphon Guegi.

[contextly_sidebar id=”veX7PSUe9MAd97r7alpHBPsJhppkrHY9″]From then on, however, it was one way traffic with Ghana scoring four more tries in the first half and a further three tries in the second half.

Of the eight tries scored, only three were converted to add six points to the try tally of 40.

Try scorers for Ghana were Jalilu Yussif Abdul (2), Abdul Mumuni Halidu (1), Theophilus Opai (3), Michael Acqueye (1), Kelechi Onwuta (1). Theophilus Opai converted two tries with Francis Donkor adding one more conversion.

In the next encounter on Wednesday 3, May, Benin will face another arch rival, Togo, in the second of the three-match tournament. The match will again be played at the Accra Sports Stadium and will kick off at 3:00pm.

The final match will be between two teams with good and close relationships, Ghana and Togo, on Sunday 7th May at the Accra Sports Stadium.

Match officiating was handled by World Rugby referee Ignace Ndri assisted by the Ghanaian team of Clement Dennis, Ishmael Adamah, Robert Oram, and Benson Botchwey.

The Match Commissioner for the Africa Rugby Regional Challenge is Alain Koubé with  Charles Yapo as Citing Officer. The Judicial Officer, Mr. Said Chikhaoui, could not make it to Ghana.

Although the encounter was a hard-fought battle, there were no serious injuries, and no sending-off sanctions were handed out by the Match Referee.

Herbert Mensah, President of Ghana Rugby, said that he was satisfied with the performance of the Ghana Eagles although there was room for improvement.

“I think coach Lovemore Kuzorera did a good job in preparing the Ghana Eagles, but there is no reason to sit back. The match Saturday against Togo will be a different affair as they are without a doubt the tournament favourites.”

Mr. Mensah once again expressed his gratitude to the sponsors such as Interplast, the Gino brands, Golden Tulip Accra, Accra Brewery and CLUB Lager, eVerpure and AMS  for making this tournament possible.

“The Ghana Government once again let Ghana Rugby down by not helping with one pesewa towards this international encounter. More importantly, they let Ghana down.”

Madam Bertha Graft-Johnson, Sales and Marketing Manager of Golden Tulip Accra, said that they are proud to support the Ghana Eagles and congratulated them on behalf of the hotel group.

“In Ghana, we seem to be only focused on football, and the Golden Tulip Accra decided to support a lesser known sport. We chose Ghana Rugby because we believe they can win on the world stage of Rugby. It is our pleasure to support the Ghana Eagles with accommodation and meals for the VIPs of Africa and World Rugby,’ Madam Graft- Johnson said.

The Coach of Benin Rugby, Kossou Euloge, said that Ghana has a good team with both a strong forward pack and a very mobile back line.

On the question, “What is next for Benin?”,  Mr Euloge said that even though they know and respect Togo very well, they will do everything to ensure a win on Wednesday.

“We don’t want to go home empty-handed,” Euloge said.

After a hard week behind them, the Ghana Eagles will have some time to work on mistakes in preparation for their critical encounter against Togo on Saturday.

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Source: Ghana Rugby

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The production of the kit was necessitated to equip the national Rugby team for their encounters in the Rugby Africa Regional Challenge Tournament.

The President of Ghana Rugby, Herbert Mensah, presented the kit to the Ghana Eagles while addressing the team about their upcoming challenges.

[contextly_sidebar id=”H4K2uW9tq1aW9utWhbwJrvUcZnMCDI9l”]In his motivational address, he reminded the Eagles to live the Rugby value of teamwork as well as the other values of integrity, passion, discipline and respect both on- and off the field.

Mensah said that, the team could only succeed if they are united whether they are in their camp or whether they are on the pitch training or playing.

“Your mission and sole objective are to win your matches. In the process, you should remember that a great great player is not always the one who has the ball, but the one who supports the one with the ball,” Mensah said.

Herbert Mensah also said that, they must never forget that when they get back to their communities, they will be seen as national heroes, and that they must be able to go back and be respected and honoured.

The kit and equipment that was flown in from South Africa and the UK consisted of team kit (jerseys, pants, and socks) as well as training equipment such as tackling bags, tackling shield and cones. Ghana Rugby also had to acquire the trophies and medals for the tournament participants.

The tournament consists of three matches on Sunday 30th April with Benin vs. Ghana, followed by a midweek match on Wednesday 3rd May (Benin vs. Togo) and the final encounter Sunday 7th May: Ghana vs. Togo.

In another development, Accra Brewery Limited with its CLUB Lager brand, has joined hands with Ghana by announcing that they will put up a beer tent during the three matches. Some of the sales will be hundred percent subsidized by ABL, while Ghana Rugby will also earn money through additional sales.

The Golden Tulip Accra, also joined the Ghana Rugby family with a very generous contribution of free accommodation and meals for the VIPs of the Ghana Rugby  Union.

Mr. Mensah said that the contributions by corporate bodies such as the Gino brands, Interplast, the Golden Tulip Accra, CLUB Lager, AMS, eVerpure, and others, must be applauded in the light of the total and absolute failure of the Ghana Government and other sporting bodies to support such an important international event.

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Source: Ghana Rugby

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