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Mudoola wants more from Rugby Cranes
Shakim Sembusi scored his first try for Uganda. PHOTOS/JOHN BATANUDDE
What you need to know:
A false start against the Zimbabwe Sables last Saturday left Uganda concerned and genuinely worried about the possibility of relegation from Africa’s premier competition.
Rugby Cranes head coach Fred Mudoola went into yesterday’s Rugby Africa Cup 2024 clash with Burkina Faso worried about the worst that could have happened.
A false start against the Zimbabwe Sables last Saturday left Uganda concerned and genuinely worried about the possibility of relegation from Africa’s premier competition.
“It is worrying and scary playing such games. You know yo are not safe and anything can happen,”Mudoola told Daily Monitor in an interview after Uganda’s 25-15 win over Burkina Faso at Namboole.
“I don’t know if that’s why (the possibility of relegation) we didn’t click. Players had pressure and thank God we are safe but we didn’t really play well. It was terrible rugby,” he added.
Going into Wednesday’s game, Uganda had a clear picture of what was ahead. Senegal had just defeated Cote d’Ivoire 25-08 to book their place in the fifth place final while defeat relegated the Ivorians to the relegation match.
The Burkinabes started on the front foot, scoring in the corner but the hosts didn’t wait for the second half to respond this time round.
Philip Wokorach opened the scoring for Mudoola’s charges with a well taken penalty to put Uganda on the scoreboard before winger Shakim Ssembusi touched down for Uganda’s first lead of the tournament.
Wokorach would convert that before scoring a try of his own in the corner following sustained pressure by Uganda in the Burkina Faso half.
Prop Asuman Mugerwa was sent to the sin bin for infringement before Burkina Faso got their second try. Uganda took a 15-10 lead into the halftime break and got the job done in the end.
Rugby Cranes coach Fred Mudoola is not happy about how the week has gone.
A penalty try awarded to Uganda following Burkina Faso’s repeated infringement and Wokorach’s penalty secured the victory for the Cranes.
Not impressed
Mudoola was happy with the result but far from impressed by the performance of the whole team.
The return of Eliphaz Emong into the picture after missing Saturday’s game with an injury gave Uganda another willing ball carrier and helped the hosts gain yardage against the Burkinabes.
But the West African opposition went pound for pound with the hosts and won the collisions battle on several occasions, forcing Uganda into errors that could have been heavily punished by a good kicker.
“I’m still not impressed. There are things we have worked hard on after the Zimbabwe game but still not implemented here especially the defence, the line of defence, the patience, the racks, all that is not happening,” Mudoola revealed.
The tactician emptied the bench on Wednesday, handing game time to all his bench players and giving the starters the much-needed rest.
Players like Nathan Bwambale, Saul Kivumbi, Robert Aziku, Pool Kalungi and Joseph Oyet all came on.
