Ghana Rugby Championship Gains Momentum As 'Smoke 'n' Barrel' Joins In Support

The annual Ghana Rugby Club Championship (GRCC) completed its third week over the weekend with news that popular restaurant ‘Smoke ‘n’ Barrel’ will sponsor the fourth week.

The ten-team Club Championship is annually played in two Pools in Accra and Cape Coast.

The Accra Pool, featuring the Accra Rugby Club, Conquerors, Cosmos Buffalos, Dansoman Hurricanes and Lions, is lead by the incumbent Champion conquerors with 10 league points after its first two matches. They are followed by Dansoman Hurricanes (9) and Accra Rugby Club (4).

In Cape Coast Dennis Foundation, Griffons, Stallions, UCC Spartans and Western Cheetahs are battling for a spot in the Semi-Finals that will be played in Cape Coast on 23 February 2019.

The Cape Coast Pool leader at this stage of the Championship is Griffons on 14 points after three matches followed by UCC Spartans and Dennis Foundation who have only played two matches each.

The Championship is organised by the Regional Associations, GARA and CentWest, and this year the funding strategy has been to invite local businesses to sponsor one match day.

Week one of the GRCC was sponsored by Beaufort Properties and Smoke ‘n’ Barrel last week announced that they will come to the party by sponsoring week four.

Sport globally is having a tough time to raise sponsorships and the move by Ghana Rugby to ‘spread the load’ is regarded as a creative way to help with overcoming the funding dilemma.

According to Jen and Matt Barnett of Smoke ‘n’ Barrel, they personally are avid Rugby fans and that the support to the Ghana Club Championship is a way of saying thank you to the rugby players who also support their restaurant in Accra.

The fourth week will again be played at the St Augustine's Park in Cape Coast with Stallions RFC taking on Dennis Foundation at 11 am while UCC Spartans will face the Western Cheetahs at 2 pm.

In Accra, Conquerors will get to face Dansoman Hurricanes who has made no secret of the fact that they are going full-out to spring a surprise in the 2019 GRCC. The match kicks off at 12 pm at the St Thomas Aquinas SHS.