World Rugby has lavished praise on Ghana’s newly-constructed dedicated rugby stadium at the University of Ghana campus, with Coralie Van Den Berg, the organization’s Regional Partnership Manager in Africa, hailing it as an “outstanding” venue that will propel the sport’s growth across the continent.
Rugby 7s made its historic debut at the African Games in Accra this week, with the brand-new rugby stadium at the University of Ghana playing host to the three-day tournament.
Van Den Berg, representing World Rugby President Sir Bill Beaumont, was on hand at the stadium on Day 1 to witness rugby sevens make its historic debut as a core event at the prestigious 13th African Games in Accra.
After witnessing the performances of the seven men’s and five women’s national teams from nine participating countries, Van Den Berg had high praise for Ghana.
“I’ve been privileged to be given a tour of the facilities,” she said in an interview with AfricaNews360.com.
“I went to see the teams’ accommodation at the village and the University of Ghana, which is an exceptional setup in terms of the capacity.
“The setup of the village is really impressive. I think more effort has been spent to make sure that these games are organized to the best international standards, but we are particularly pleased and honored with this new rugby-dedicated facility.”
The state-of-the-art stadium made an impressive debut as host of the nine-nation rugby sevens tournament. Its world-class amenities provided the perfect stage for rugby to finally take its place at Africa’s premier multi-sport spectacle.
World Rugby representatives did not hold back in lauding the Ghanaian hosts for their commitment to delivering an event upholding the highest international standards, which included constructing the new dedicated rugby venue.
Her plaudits were a resounding endorsement of Ghana’s efforts, as the country pulled out all the stops to construct the dedicated rugby venue and seamlessly integrate the sport into the African Games program.
This comes after she personally made a special trip to express her gratitude to the president of the country.
“We went to thank President Nana Akufo Addo, in person, for this commitment to sports in general but to rugby in particular, because this is an outstanding new stadium, and we hope that we can together work on making the best usage of this rugby facility in the future,” she added.
On the competition
After watching the opening game, in which Burkina Faso defeated host Kenya, she hailed the history-making moment in the 13th African Games.
“I am really pleased that rugby is now part of the program of the African Games,” she said.
“For us, it is very significant because we are already an Olympic sport, we are part of the Olympics movement and we wanna be part of the African Olympics movement as well. In this regard, history has been made.”
Nine nations are competing for medals in the men’s and women’s rugby 7s tournament over the next three days.
The men’s tournament features teams from the host nation, Ghana, as well as Benin, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, and Tunisia. The women’s event has Ghana, Uganda, Tunisia, and Madagascar represented.
The successful hosting of Rugby 7s at the African Games marks a milestone for the growth of the sport across the continent.
