Mamohlakola Letuka
Maseru
The England and Wales sevens rugby sides are set to play a friendly match on 14 May to fundraise for Lesotho’s rugby development programme.
The England-based founding president of the Federation of Lesotho Rugby (FLR), Dan Aylward, is behind the friendly whose venue the Sunday Express could not immediately establish.
According to the FLR secretary-general, Litsitso Motšeremeli, the funds to be raised at the match would be used to develop the sport at grassroots level.
“Our aim is to develop rugby at the grassroots, but the problem we have is funding, which is why we had to come up with this strategy, courtesy of Dan Aylward,” Motšeremeli said.
The two teams, he added, would be wearing the Lesotho national rugby team’s jerseys during the match.
“The relationship between Lesotho and England rugby goes way back to 2012 when the TY Junior Academy was invited to England for a tournament. The academy beat seven other teams to win the tournament.”
Motšeremeli expressed optimism for the future of domestic rugby now that Lesotho is making concerted efforts to be fully recognised by both the Confederation of African Rugby and International Rugby Board.
Meanwhile, the FLR on Thursday welcomed Vision Sports chief executive officer, Michael Beyneveldt, from Mauritius.
Beyneveldt told a press conference he was here to organise the Lesotho rugby team’s trip to Mauritius in June.
Likatola, as the national rugby side is affectionately known, is set to play a friendly against an unnamed side on 7 June.
“I am here to finalise everything about this trip, especially the accommodation in Mauritius. We will make sure the players are treated like professionals to motivate them, when they travel to Mauritius for a friendly match scheduled for June 7,” he said.
