The 2024 Ghana Rugby Club Championship Men’s 15s tournament came to a thrilling conclusion on Wednesday, December 4, as Conquerors defeated Accra Rugby Club 50-7 to claim the championship title.
The competition, which kicked off on October 19, 2024, at the St. Thomas Aquinas Senior High School Park, was temporarily halted after week two to accommodate the Rugby Africa Women’s 7s tournament hosted by Ghana at the University of Ghana Rugby Stadium. The tournament resumed on November 27, 2024.
In the third-place match, Oguaa Warriors RFC edged out Northern Lions 36-25.
Conquerors’ General Captain, Prince Boamah, expressed his team’s elation at winning the championship. “When Conquerors is there, no team can beat us, and you can see that during the league, we were unbeaten, and nobody even crossed 10 points. That should tell you we are back, and we are going higher and higher.”
Boamah also welcomed the return of the 15s tournament, stating, “We are very happy for the league to come back because it’s been a long time. We have been waiting for it, and with all these issues here and there, it was really disturbing us, the players. We were not getting what we enjoy doing, so for the league to come back, it’s very good news to us.”
Conquerors’ Coach, Marvin Chirume, who also doubles as the Black Eagles’ coach, praised his team’s dominance throughout the tournament. “I think Conquerors have been dominant from start to finish. We just hope that other clubs will try and pull themselves up so that there’s a bit of competition because that is what will add to the national team.”
When asked about sporting talents that he thinks can be recruited to the national team, Chirume replied, “I have spotted a lot of talents even from the other teams that couldn’t make it to the top. There’s a lot of talents, but the issue is just the grooming from the way they are now because, basically, it’s raw material that you are working with.”
Accra Rugby Club’s Emmanuel Kalos attributed his team’s defeat to the lack of consistency in the league. “It’s been a while since we started playing, and when you do something and you pause and come back, you are a bit shaky, and it takes a lot of games to actually get back to the level that we need to perform at.”
Ghana Rugby Football Union Director, Ms. Rafatu Inusah, expressed his delight at the successful completion of the tournament. “I am glad today to see the end of the Ghana Rugby Club Championship 15s. Again, the defending champions, Conquerors, took it. It wasn’t easy, but the important thing today is to see rugby back to life. The continuity is very important.”
Inusah hinted at an exciting future for Ghanaian rugby, stating, “When we started with the 7s, we had 10 clubs that participated in it, and now with the 15s, we have 6 clubs that participated. By next year, I’m sure it’s going to be 10 or plus that will be participating.”
Take a look at the final Championship Table:
1st position – Conquerors
2nd Position – Accra Rugby Club
3rd Position – Oguaa Warriors RFC
4th Position – Northern Lions
5th Position – Accra Majestics
6th Position – Idas Sports Rugby Club
Source: https://obusports.org