CAPE TOWN, South Africa, November 18, 2019 – The second Rugby Africa Cup (RAC) 2020 elimination stage match kick offs on Saturday, 23 November at 15:00 local time (17:00 CAT) at the Bingerville Stadium in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.Both teams are determined to continue to the group stage of the RAC 2020 where after they will stand a chance to compete in the final RAC 2020 tournament and be ranked among the top continental teams.

“The Rwanda Rugby National Team (Silverbacks) is hopeful to win as our players got enough time to prepare for the Ivory Coast. We started extensive training in September 2019 with the Head Coach Claude Aime  Ezoua, and then received additional skills and experience from British (Scotland, England and Wales), French and South African coaches. The Silverbacks also played a friendly game with Inshuti Z’u Rwanda (Friends of Rwanda) on November 6, 2019, which helped in selecting the final list of 23 players.

I am confident in everyone in the squad and believe in their spirit of teamwork and aggressiveness to contribute to positive results,” said Kamanda Tharcisse, President of Rwanda Rugby Federation.

Edgar Babou, Sport Manager Team Côte d’Ivoire declared: “This eliminatory match against Rwanda is very important for us as it will allow us to qualify further in the Rugby Africa Cup 2020 in June next year. We have started training sessions a couple of months ago with the group of players that is already here in Côte d’Ivoire. We are going to put forward the most powerful team of the moment composed of players from the national championship and strengthened with some players coming from France, so we have consistency as well as the most forceful team available.

This match is of double importance to us, because the Ivorian federation has launched a new project a couple of months ago with new partnerships and this tournament will give us visibility and put the new project into place.

On the sports side we have a huge respect for the Rwandan team. We know that the team can benefit from continuity and they have been playing together for months. That’s why we do take this match very serious and will meet Rwanda with big determination, but also respect.”

The match will be broadcasted live and for free on Rugby Africa’s Facebook page @RugbyAfrique.

For the official announcement of the RAC 2020 please follow the link below: bit.ly/2OtRwka

Elimination stage:

23 November at 15:00 local time (17:00 CAT): Côte d’Ivoire vs Rwanda, Bingerville Stadium in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire