Four players from Jinja Hippos RFC have been named in the Uganda Sevens Squad for the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens scheduled for 2-3rd December at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai. The squad was announced on Friday morning.
The four players are; Tawfik Bagalana, Timothy Mugisha, Jacob Ochen and Dennis Etwau. They will all be making their national team debuts in Dubai.
Jinja Hippos are the defending champions of the National Rugby Sevens Series (Nile Special 7s) and their heroics a couple of weeks ago has earned some of their players call ups to the national side.
Stanbic Black Pirates’ Wandera Mubarak has also been handed a maiden national team call up.
Meanwhile, Philip Wokorach who’s one of the most capped players is not in the traveling squad but veteran star Michael Wokorach will lead the charges at the event.
Adrian Kasito who is the 2022 Most Valuable Player is in the squad alongside usual suspects like Aaron Ofoywroth, Ian Munyani, Timothy Kisiga, Desire Ayera.
William Nkore, Alex Aturinda and Karim Arinaitwe complete the 14-man team.
Uganda Sevens who are an invited side to the event are drawn in Pool C alongside European sides France, Ireland and Spain.
The Emirates Dubai 7s, part of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, returns to the UAE following a successful 2021 season.
HSBC defending champions Australia are in Pool A alongside East African side Kenya, South Africa and Great Britain.
HSBC record holders New Zealand are in Pool B with giants Fiji, Argentina and Uruguay.
Pool D has Samoa, USA, Canada and Japan.
The HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series will be the centrepiece of the Emirates Dubai 7s, which has hosted the series since its inception in 1999, as some of the world’s best rugby 7s players take to the pitch.
The 2022 edition of the rugby festival will deliver an amplified experience for all in attendance with additional entertainment stands and activations for children and young adults, including a new Hops & Food Market, the invitational team party tent, as well as a new stage called ‘The House’.
Meanwhile, Uganda Sevens will also participate in the Cape Town 7s scheduled for 9-11th December.
