The Junior Rugby Cranes of Uganda lost their fifth-place semifinal match 21-13 to Zambia in the ongoing U20 Barthes Trophy on Wednesday in Nairobi, Kenya. Uganda, who had earlier lost 44-20 in the quarterfinals will now face Madagascar in the ranking final.
The Zambians were impressive in their opening game against tournament favorites Namibia and they went ahead to show Uganda what they are made of by staging a come-from-behind win to defeat the East African side. Uganda went into the breather trailing 10-7 despite Uganda being the first to score in the game.
The Zambian Head Coach Ruben Mkandawire pointed out that his charges capitalized on the weaknesses of the Ugandans including their issues with fitness. “The game went for us because we saw Uganda was very unfit and we really wanted to capitalize on that. Our kicks were on point, our backline was super despite them having a heavy pack. But the boys really did well and I am happy,” says Mkandawire.
The Zambians will now face Ivory Coast in the fifth-place final and Mkandawire does not shy away from the fact that the Ivorians are a physical lot. “The Ivorians are bigger and more physical but we will use our advantage which is running the ball wide. We also have a very good number 10 as well as number 15 and with their kicks, I am sure that we will be able to carry the day some Sunday,” concludes Ruben.
On his side, Coach Emma Katuntu was not happy at all with the result. “A very tough result to take in. We started the game very well, we were the first to score but we failed to capitalize on the good start and we let our opponents come back into the game and win,” says Katonto.
The U20 Barthes Trophy will enter its final stage on Sunday 30 April where Uganda will play Madagascar in the rankings final while Zambia will play Ivory Coast in the fifth-place final.
