The Nigeria Rugby 7s team, the Stallions, endured a mixed opening day at the African Men’s Sevens Series in Kampala, Uganda, earning a commanding win over Ghana before falling to Morocco.
In a dominant display, the Stallions opened their campaign by overpowering Black Eagles of Ghana in a 26–5 win.
Nigeria set the tone from the outset, dictating play and pressurizing the Ghanaian defence. Captain Oghenesuvwe Obano was particularly influential, providing a key attacking outlet as the Stallions established control across the pitch.
After taking a 14–5 lead, Nigeria continued to pile on the pressure, eventually forcing Ghana into submission and sealing a convincing opening-day win.
However, the Stallions faced a much sterner challenge in their second outing against Morocco, and the encounter proved a completely different proposition.
Despite expectations that Nigeria would give the Moroccans a tough contest, Morocco took control early and went into the interval with a 14–5 advantage.
Nigeria struggled to regain their footing after the break as Morocco increased the intensity and extended their lead to 26–5. The North Africans maintained their dominance through the closing stages to run out 36–5 winners.
With one win and one defeat from their opening two matches, the Stallions will now turn their attention to their final pool match against Zimbabwe on Sunday.
Zimbabwe, regarded as one of the top sides in the competition, will provide Nigeria with another major test as the Stallions look to build momentum ahead of the quarter-final fixtures.