FOOTBALL VS RUGBY IN GHANA

Soccer is known to be the most popular sport in the world and especially in Ghana, but is rugby likely to have its place in this African country as well? Whatever it is, some volunteers from Projects Abroad NGO come every year to teach rugby to the Ghanaian students in order to help the rugby organisation in Ghana to develop this sport within the country.

Rugby and soccer are so different sports that rugby may not suit Ghana. The eternal fight between football and rugby fans, which have neither the same point of view nor the same expectations of entertainment, may answer this question." When you play rugby you can't be lazy ", said Troy Robertson, an Australian volunteer in Ghana and a casual rugby player too, " every player has to be at 100% if they want to see their team win, unlike football where you can see lazy players counting on the best players of the day ". Indeed, even if football is also a team sport the mentality is different. “Cheating in soccer is really annoying, for instance ", Troy Robertson complained,

“Even if rugby is a rougher game, the players are more fair play and seldom sent off ".

However, the fact rugby is precisely a painful game is a point often mentioned by football fans. " I do not like play rugby because it's too physical, I'm too scared to be hurt ", Scott William Patterson confessed, a volunteer from Northern Ireland and a football supporter.” I think rugby players like to prove how manly they are, but me, I don't care how weak people think I am, it's a different mentality ", he added.

Similarly, technical skills required for football are often considered as being more impressing than physical skills in rugby game. “In rugby you just have to be strong, to run fast and do good tackles, to me, football skills are more exciting ", confirmed Scott Patterson.” Only the rules are technical in rugby “he added jokingly. In effect, people complain about rugby rules regarded as too difficult to understand, even for a casual supporter. Similarly, in the mind of most of people soccer is a much easier sport to teach and mostly a much cheaper game to play. Rugby is a richer sport because of the more expensive and sophisticated pitch. " You can't play rugby everywhere with friends as in soccer ", explained Scott Patterson, " That is the reason why football is the most popular sport in the world and especially in Africa, I guess ".

However, even if Ghanaians love soccer and that rugby is far from being the first national game, Mr George, supervisor of the rugby training in the Central Region, is more optimistic. " Rugby started to be developed in 2003 ", he reminded, "We even have our own national team called " Abura Bombas ", which will go to England in October to play a friendly match ". Indeed, rugby has a real organization in Ghana, led by Miss Gifty Annam Myers. She subsidizes equipments as balls and jerseys, and she got the building of a real rugby pitch located in Accra. “Thanks to Mr. Nicholas John, a British senior army soldier who organized the coaching courses in the Central Region, and thanks to the many volunteers who come to help us rugby is becoming more and more popular, at least in Cape Coast ", Mr. Georges asserted. However according to Troy Robertson, who is working with Mr. Georges, the lack of rugby pitches is a problem to expand the practice of this sport in Cape Coast. " Play this rough game on the ground and without real rugby goals is very difficult and is discouraging more than one ", he explained, " It is  too bad because even though most of the student don't really get the rules and do not seem to be interested in this sport, some of them are really good and involved ", he added. Thus, as long as rugby will not be subsidized properly the practice of this sport will not be able to be expanded in the Country.