Director of the Nigeria Rugby League Association (NRLA),Nosakhare Agwoje has charged corporate bodies to roll out the drums and identify with the country’s female national rugby team as they gear up for the upcoming World Series in Canada.

In an exclusive chat with The Guardian, Nosakhare lavished praise on corporate bodies that have bankrolled rugby in the country, describing their gestures as magnanimous.

He however maintained there is no better time for new and old sponsors to come on board and identify with the country’s female national team than now after the girls defied all odds to qualify for the World Rugby Series at the expense of Kenya and Ghana

Nosakhare declared that rugby has come to stay in Nigeria and therefore urged multinational companies to throw their weight behind the association’s new bride to enjoy the much-desired mileage at the international level.

”I am super excited over our qualification because this is their first competitive effort and it is no small achievement to have qualified for the Rugby World Series. It is a big thing for women’s rugby in this country.

”That is why they are ranked No.1 in Africa at the moment. In terms of sports development for women, this is a good thing, we have seen our women’s basketball team play so well at the Olympics, and the ladies have put rugby on the map with their sterling performance.

”We are not trying to compete with other sports in Nigeria. We are putting the right structure in place before walking up to the Sports Ministry and letting them see that our girls are no.1 in Africa and 17th in the world while our men are fourth in Africa,” he noted.

He added that the just concluded Level 1 and Level 2 training course for coaches and referees is a sign of many great things to come as far as rugby is concerned in Nigeria.

”This is what I meant when I talked about putting some structures in place because the last time we had such training was in 2019 and there was no female team in place at that time and now we have coaches. It shows how progressive we are on this project.

”Now we can go to schools and introduce the sport to kids at the early stage. That is why we are determined to do things right to attract the right people and sponsors. We want to emphasis the fast growth of rugby in Nigeria

”We are strategically trying to position ourselves where we can attract sponsors,’ he said.

Nosa then urged Nigerians to rally behind the girls when the World Rugby Series gets underway in November.