A.Bougja Pdt of the CAR

: Wednesday, 01 February 2012 06:12

The Confederation of African Rugby is again going through a new stage in terms of development through the establishment of a tough competitions’ timetable intended to prepare African teams for 3 major events.

This year, through the Africa Cup, the qualification process for the 2015 World Cup in England will start and CAR boasts 2 qualifying tournaments for the Sevens Rugby World Cup in 2013 in Moscow and the Junior Rugby World Trophy for the Under 20 in 2013.
Qualifications for the Women’s Rugby Union World Cup will be played, first between Uganda and Kenya; the winner will then meet South Africa.

Without forgetting what has been our strength for the past few years and therefore to be more competitive, we must continue to raise the stakes higher in terms of development and training.

Women’s rugby, true development medium even beyond sports issues on the continent, is at the centre of the drawing up of a specific strategic development plan.

Training programmes that are intended to allow national Technical Directors and Administration Directors with a joint workshop for French and English speaking countries in Johannesburg, as well as referees and coaches with two workshops planned this year in Castres and Stellenbosch, to reach the highest level.

Finally, we have also decided to launch 2 pilot initiatives for schoolchildren in the context of the IRB «Try, Play, Stay» project in Tunisia and Zimbabwe.

These initiatives similar to actions introduced these past years will hopefully allow us to see African rugby reach the level at which it can compete on the world scene.

Best wishes and happy "rugby" year 2012.

Abdelaziz Bougja
President of the Confederation of African Rugby