The second Middle East North Africa championship begins at the end of the month and will be hosted by Morocco, the North Africans playing Lebanon in a two game series. The matches will be staged in Casablanca and the visiting Cedars will be aiming to retain the trophy they won last October. Morocco XIII coach Abdelwahed Souguini has named a 23-man squad for the fixtures. The veteran coach, who played for Morocco in the 1995 Developing Nations World Cup against Ireland and Moldova, is keen to let his young charges take the field.

“The MENA Championship is almost here, and we’ve prepared a good, young group,” said Souguini. “Recruitment has focused on players with a lot of potential who are maturing well in their regions. It has been a real pleasure to be able to express to these young players all the emotions that that they are going to feel.  They realise that hard work, demanding training, discipline and enjoyment are essential if they’re going to get the upper hand.”

Souguini, the Berrechid RLFC technical director and a former Moroccan boxing champions, is also playing a leading role in the organisation of aspiring Moroccan coaches: “I’m also hoping to be able to develop the younger coaches, that Moroccan rugby league is going to rely on to grow in the years to come.  Moroccan rugby league will be more stable with more youth involvement.”

Lebanon’s visit will be their second, marking a return to North Africa after an eight year interval. The visitors will be led by the Fédération Française de Rugby à 13’s performance chief, Thierry Dumaine who is part of a revamped Lebanese technical staff. His primary role will be to oversee the Lebanese squad, while also assessing the possibilities the sport has in Morocco.

MOROCCO XIII SQUAD
Mostafa Aamoud, Abdessalam Amine, Ayoub Akli, Hicham Alaoui, Rachid Amzaourou, Baderddine Barradi, Mohamed Boukassal, Salah Eddine Bellejdoul, Mohammed Chani, Najib Ahmed Daghbor, Said Daif, Mohamed Daouma, Mohamed Elomari, Hicham Ettarfi, Youssef Harizi, Mohamed Hdyli, Abdelaziz Lassaoui, Mohamed Mostaid, Youssef El Moudni, Rachid Ben Mouida, Mohamed Ouamou, Mohamed Seddiki,  Karim Tiri.