Mudoola: Rugby Cranes paying price for slow starts

Fred Mudoola and his assistant coach Leonard Lubambula spent last week in South Africa doing their coaching badges as the Rugby Cranes prepared for the return leg of the Elgon Cup in Kampala.The duo arrived back in Kampala on Saturday and straight into the action at the Kings Park Arena as Uganda attempted to wrestle the Elgon Cup from Kenya for the first time in nine years.In their absence, Marvin Odong and Timothy Mudoola took charge of the preparations. But from kick off on Saturday, the Rugby Cranes were on the backfoot and pinned into their territory for most of the first half. “In our training we have tried to address that (slow starts), we have tried to put it in,” Mudoola said after the loss.“I don’t know if it is a mental thing that we are going to try and do, but we’ll keep working and striving because indeed the poor starts are costing us,” he added.Inside the first five minutes, the Simbas had gone over through Ephraim Oduor, whose try was converted by Timothy Omela, to give Kenya an early 07-00 lead.Eugine Sifuna added another try for Kenya and at 14-00, Uganda had a mountain to climb in the contest for the ultimate prize.Things would turn from bad to worse when the Simbas bullied the Cranes for their third try under the posts to create daylight and silence the partisan crowd.“That poor start is really hurting us big time,” the former Rugby Cranes forward admitted.Sidney Gongodyo’s try at the death was simply a consolation for the Cranes as Kenya reminded everyone that Uganda is still some distance behind them in the 15s version of the game.Shakim Ssembusi missed the chance to get Uganda on board early in the game as his penalty drifted wide of the posts in the first half.The winger’s missed penalty in the second half, and Yassin Wasswa’s missed conversion, compounded Uganda’s kicking woes in the two games.Kicking would have made a big difference for Uganda in Nairobi but Robin Odrua and Joseph Aredo missed from point blank range to leave points on the field. Poor on the dayMudoola admitted that his side failed to tick any right box on the day, making work much easier for the opponent.“We had no ball and if you have no ball, you can’t attack. We didn’t tick any box, we had no ball and kept in defence all through.”The lineouts by Jude Jjuko left a lot to be desired as Uganda surrendered possession to Kenya severally to invite pressure into their own half.Jjuko failed to connect with his jumpers and was eventually replaced by Edward Emiemu early in the second half.The changes also saw Timothy Kisiga and Ian Munyani come on to inject some life into the contest but Kenya defended their line well in the second half to return home with victory on the day and the ultimate prize.Collin Kimbowa and Saul Kivumbi also came on to replace Santos Ssenteza and Asuman Mugerwa in the front row. Getting better The loss to Kenya reminded Ugandans of what happened in July when the Cranes fell to Zimbabwe in the opening game of the Rugby Africa Cup at Namboole.Zimbabwe obliterated the Cranes in the first half to lead 22-00 at halftime before Uganda, led by Philip Wokorach, attempted to punch back in the second half.The contest ended 22-20 and Uganda’s shot at the Africa Cup was dead on arrival. The team eventually finished fifth.“There has been some improvement in ball retention, there is some improvement in cohesion because I remember in the Africa Cup we lost so many rucks so, there’s been improvement in that,” Mudoola suggested.“For me, if we can improve our set pieces and the mental capabilities of the team, we will tick the boxes come next year.” Uganda will face Kenya in the Rugby Africa Cup quarterfinal next year.