
The match started frenetically with both teams scoring tries in the first eight minutes, first by Ghana’s Jalilu Yussif Abdul followed by a Benin try from Alphon Guegi.
Of the eight tries scored only three were converted to add six points to the try tally of 40.
In the next encounter on Wednesday 3, May Benin will face another archrival, Togo, in the second of the three-match tournament. The match will again be played at the Accra Sports Stadium and will kick off at 3 pm.
The final match will be between two teams with good and close relationships, Ghana and Togo, on Sunday 7 May at the Accra Sports Stadium.
Match officiating was handled by World Rugby referee Ignace Ndri assisted by the Ghanaian team of Clement Dennis, Ishmael Adamah, Robert Oram, and Benson Botchwey.
The Match Commissioner for the Africa rugby Regional Challenge is Mr Alain Koubé with Mr Charles Yapo as Citing Officer. The Judicial Officer, Mr Said Chikhaoui, could not make it to Ghana.
Although the encounter was a hard-fought battle, there were no serious injuries, and no sending-off sanctions were handed out by the Match Referee.
Mr Herbert Mensah, President of Ghana Rugby, said that he was satisfied with the performance of the Ghana Eagles although there was room for improvement.
Mr Mensah once again expressed his gratitude to the sponsors such as Interplast, the Gino brands, Golden Tulip Accra, Accra Brewery and CLUB Lager, eVerpure and AMS for making this tournament possible.
“The Ghana Government once again let Ghana Rugby down by not helping with one pesewa towards this international encounter. More importantly, they let Ghana down.”
Madam Bertha Graft-Johnson, Sales and Marketing Manager of Golden Tulip Accra, said that they are proud to support the Ghana Eagles and congratulated them on behalf of the hotel group.
“In Ghana, we seem to be only focused on football, and the Golden Tulip Accra decided to support a lesser known sport. We chose Ghana Rugby because we believe they can win on the world stage of Rugby. It is our pleasure to support the Ghana Eagles with accommodation and meals for the VIPs of Africa and World Rugby,’ Madam Graft- Johnson said.
After a hard week behind them, the Ghana Eagles will have some time to work on mistakes in preparation for their critical encounter against Togo on Saturday.
Credit GRFU