Rwanda’s Sports Minister, Joseph Habineza has promised to the national men’s rugby team, the ‘Silverbacks’ ahead of their next continental assignment.

Speaking at a press conference last Friday, Habineza said that the team deserves all the support they can get from the Sports ministry after their heroics in Bujumbura early this month.

The Silverbacks were crowned champions of the 2008 Confederation of African Rugby (CAR) Super 16 after a 7-5 finals’ victory over the hosts, Burundi.

In his remarks, the minister also credited the ruggers for their morale and advised other sporting disciplines to follow suit.

"These guys deserve a lot of credit because they went into the tournament with a mission and they achieved it.

"They have great morale and we all know that in sports, it is very important to have morale and confidence. Unfortunately, this is lacking in most of the other sporting disciplines," the youthful Minister conceded.

Next year, the Silverbacks will compete in the CAR competitions alongside the likes of Tanzania, Mayote Islands and Mauritius.

Their first major tournament will be the CAR Castle Super 16 where the winner will automatically progress into the next stage-CAR Super 9.

On top of winning the CAR Super 16, Silverbacks’ Vincent Kamali was also named as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player after topping the scoring charts with six tries.

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