Barewa make up the bulk of the North Nigeria representative team who travel to Lagos.
The North squad, selected at the Probables v Possibles trial in Kaduna the week previously, travelled south with a large contingent of Barewa players.
The annual series of N v S matches gives players an opportunity to experience representative rugby, and hopefully, a chance to catch the selectors eye and gain a spot in the Nigeria national squad. So, much is at stake.
The squad was as follows:
NAME CLUB
ABDUL ABDULLAH BAREWA
JULIEN NDOUBANON BAREWA
USTAZ BAREWA
ALEX BAREWA
NURA BAREWA
SHAMSU ALIYU BAREWA
IBRAHIM SURAJU BAREWA
YARO ZARIA
HASSAN MOHAMMED BAREWA
NUHU IBRAHIM BAREWA
SADDAM ZARIA
EMME ANYIM BAREWA
JOSHUA EFFIONG BAREWA
HASSAN ZANNA BAREWA
BASHIR USMAN BAREWA
AUWAL ZARIA
MANSUR ZARIA
UMAR D’BAU BAREWA
The North came with a gameplan based on territory via a kicking game and were expertly marshalled by Nuhu Ibrahim at fly-half and Hassan Mohammed at scrum-half. The match was only the second senior match ever for Hassan, but his crisp service and 50m box kicks pinned the South in their 22 for long periods of the game. Eventually the pressure told when a well-worked backs move resulted in full-back Bashir Usman powering over the line.
Final Score: South 6 - 15 North.