The Nigeria Rugby League Association women’s national team, the Green Falcons, maintain their winning record against the Leopardess of Ghana, beating the visitors 24-8 in the second friendly game on Saturday at the Alaro City International Rugby Pitch, Lekki, Lagos.
The Green Falcons defeated the Leopardess with a dominant 40-0 scoreline in the first test game played last Tuesday but found their opponents more determined in the second game.
The two games serve as preparation for the Green Falcons’ participation in the inaugural World Series, where they will face Ireland for a place in the 2026 Women’s Rugby League World Cup in Australia and Papua New Guinea.
The Green Falcons are currently the Rugby League champions of the Middle East and Africa.
Speaking after the game, the Managing Director at the Alaro City, Yomi Ademola, said they were happy to be part of the success of the team ahead of the World Series.
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”After supporting the girls for an international match in Kenya where they excelled and made history to become the first African team to qualify for the World Series in Canada this year, we also collaborated with the Nigeria Rugby League Association to put together a standard pitch- in a matter of weeks- at the Alaro City here and organised friendly matches for them against Ghana’s Leopardess. We did all these to make sure our girls have the best we have to offer so that they can go and represent Nigeria very well on the global stage,” Ademola said.
The Director General of National Sports Commission, Bukola Olopade has assured the team of government’s support ahead of the World Series.
Olopade said: “I congratulate the Rugby League family in Nigeria on the huge success achieved, and all the brilliant effort on how our nation can benefit from this beautiful sport, while creating empowerment for our boys and girls alongside our men and women.
”On the international day for the girl child, the victories recorded by the Green Falcons even make it sweeter.”
Meanwhile, the Green Falcons captain, Blessing Aladeyemi said the friendly games are a good test for the team as they continue their preparation for the World Series.
“Now, we have to go back to the drawing board to be able to finalise the mistakes, the things that we didn’t do right, so that we can be able to do better once we get to Canada,” Aladeyemi said.
“I trust my teammate, I trust everybody, I trust my management, I trust my coach as well because they’ve put in the work. We are fit enough and 100% ready for the Canada game.”