The Director General of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Hon. Bukola Olopade, has congratulated Nigeria’s women’s national rugby league team, the Green Falcons, for their historic victory over Ireland to reach the final of the International Rugby League (IRL) Women’s World Series in Canada.
Led by coach Bolu Fagborun, the Nigerian team showed great determination and defensive strength to beat Ireland 10-0 in the semi-final on Tuesday at the Terry Fox Stadium.
Hon. Olopade described the achievement as another major milestone for Nigerian sports, noting that the NSC’s ongoing efforts to improve various sports across the country are yielding positive results, as seen in Taekwondo, Badminton, Cricket, and Swimming.
“I want to specifically commend the management and leadership of the Nigeria Rugby League for their hard work behind the scenes, which has led to this great achievement by our ladies at the World Series in Canada,” Olopade said.
“This success shows the huge talent we have in Nigeria across all sports. Myself and Mallam Shehu Dikko were appointed by Mr President to harness these talents to their full potential, and this result is a clear example of that,” he added.
The DG encouraged the Green Falcons to go a step further by making history in the final against Fiji, urging them to become the first African team to win the IRL Women’s Rugby League World Series.
If the Green Falcons win the final at the Terry Fox Stadium on Sunday, they will also qualify for the 2026 IRL Rugby League World Cup — a first in Nigeria’s rugby history.