Mufulira Rugby Club Chairperson Thomson Ngulube has expressed happiness at the level Rugby is growing in Zambia.

Ngulube said the sport had taken a longer period to be embraced by most Zambians as compared to other sports disciplines that had elevated from minor sports status.

In an interview with Goal Diggers! on the sidelines of the Algeria – Zambia Sevens game in Copperbelt province on Saturday, Ngulube appealed to Rugby players to facilitate the spread of the sport in the country.

“You are into this sport because you love it and I’m sure you would be hurt if it failed to grow any bigger. This means you have to facilitate its growth and widespread. Zambia has a lot of appropriate training grounds for it so do what you can to grow it,” said Ngulube.

Meanwhile, Algerian Rugby coach Allan Boumedienne hailed Zambian players for their competitiveness despite losing to his side 31-0 on a rainy day at the Leopards Cage in Mufulira.

Boumedienne also noted that the rain helped his team to hold out team Zambia after taking a comfortable lead at halftime.

“Zambia is a team of valour, we knew it was going to be difficult to play Zambia. My team played well in the first half when it was raining and it helped my team win,” Boumedienne noted.

“We are happy to be in the Gold Cup, we are going to learn game after game because it will be hard to stay in the Gold Cup,” added Boumedienne.

Despite the loss Zambia managed to sneak into the Gold Cup alongside Algeria and will now compete with the best teams on the continent according to the Rugby Union of Zambia.

The Gold Cup tournament sees the winner qualify for Rugby World Cup and Namibia is the latest winner in 2018.