The Nigeria national rugby union team represent Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

 in the sport of rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

. Nigeria have thus far not qualified for a Rugby World Cup

Rugby World Cup

The Rugby World Cup is an international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board and held every four years since 1987....

, but have competed in qualifying tournaments.
Nigeria played their first international against Zimbabwe in 1 August 1987, losing by 111-12 in Nairobi

Nairobi

Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...

. Their greatest success has been in the 2007 Castel Beer Trophy

2007 Castel Beer Trophy

The 2007 CAR Development Trophy is the fourth edition of second level rugby union tournament in Africa. The competition involves sixteen teams that are divided into two zones . Each zone is then divided into two pools of four...

, where they beat Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso national rugby union team

The Burkina Faso national rugby union team represents Burkina Faso in international rugby union. Burkina Faso are a member of the International Rugby Board , but have yet to play in a Rugby World Cup tournament....

 in the final of the north section.

Nigeria tried to qualify for the first time for the 2007 Rugby World Cup

2007 Rugby World Cup

The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003,...

, but lost to Senegal (6-48) and Cameroon (8-18), and were eliminated. They also missed the presence at the 2011 Rugby World Cup

2011 Rugby World Cup

The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Africa at a meeting in Dublin on 17 November 2005...

, after losing to Cameroon (6-26), in the pre-qualifier.

World Cup record

• 1987 - No qualifying tournament held
• 1991 - 2003 - Did not enter
• 2007 - 2011 - Did not qualify

Rugby 7s participation

• The Black Stallions (as they are nicknamed) regularly compete in 7s tournaments across the UK including Manchester, Newquay, Rugby rocks and the West country 7s, however they have also attended the International Invitational 7s in Dubai for the last few years.
• More recently they participated in the C.A.R (Confederation of Africaine Rugby) in Marrakesh, Morocco on 24th-25th September 2011. In the pool stages they defeated Senegal and Burkina Faso but were beaten by hosts Morocco, however they still progressed to the semi finals where they were to face regular IRB participants, Tunisia.
• They were beaten in the semi finals by a very organised Tunisian team, however pride was redeemed in the 3rd/ 4th place playoff against Ivory Coast, where they came from behind in the second half to force the game into sudden death extra time where a last minute try gave the victory to the Nigerian team. This has now meant they have qualified for the All Africa 7s tournament taking place in 2012 which has the potential of qualifying for the Rugby World Cup 7s in Russia in 2013. "One team, one dream".

External links

• Nigeria Rugby Football Federation Official Site
• Nigeria on IRB.com
• Nigeria on rugbydata.com