Lady Rugby Cranes Sevens (Uganda Women’s Rugby 7s team) Coach Charles Onen says that winning bronze in the Safari 7s is an exciting experience for him and the players. The showpiece was held last weekend at Nyayo Stadium in Kenya.
Uganda women’s side picked two wins from four games in a tournament played on a round robin format.
The team didn’t have proper preparations for the showpiece save for the domestic regional engagements for the clubs. A podium finish for the side albeit inadequate preparations has brought joy to Onen.
“With the short time to prepare we are excited about finishing within a medal bracket after two years of no participation. I was impressed on how the team reacted to the short preparation and manged to passionately represent the country and won bronze,” Onen said.
Uganda won all its games in the opening day (30th October) beating Titans Women’s Rugby Academy 15-19 in the opener before condemning Zimbabwe to a 29-05 defeat later in the day.
However, in the next day Uganda fell prey to Kenyan sides Lionesses and their development side Lionesses II off 26-00 and 12-24 defeats. The home sides won gold and silver respectively while Zimbabwe finished fourth as Titans trailed.
Onen believes that had his charges put in a good shift on day two, they would have finished above third but they will take positives from the defeats.
“We had a chance to finish in a better position but we failed to consistently execute the game plan which is something we can work towards and achieve better results,” Onen added.
According to Onen, winning is a process and he and the side need to stick to their development plans that way they will possibly be able to confidently compete and achieve more in the future engagements.
Up next for the Ugandan side is the Africa Women’s 7s slated for April 2022 in Tunisia. However, more of local competitions and international trials are in the queue before the continental showpiece.
However, still in the Safari 7s, Uganda men’s side Rugby Cranes Sevens finished fifth. They had finished 10th in the previous one.
Uganda beat Samurai 17 – 14 in the 5th placement fixture to earn a strong finish to the event. Shujaa won gold, Germany claimed silver while Morans capped the podium. Red Wailers finished fourth out of the 12 teams.
