Rugby Africa 7s Championship returns to Kampala after five years
Lewis Ocen (middle) in action for Uganda against Spain at last year's Safari 7s. PHOTO | DEUS BUGEMBE
What you need to know:
- The top two sides are also guaranteed slots at the Commonwealth Games that run from July 28- August 8 in Birmingham.
The Uganda Rugby Union (URU) is bracing itself for yet another milestone, Uganda will host the Rugby Africa Sevens Championships scheduled to run on the weekend of April 23-24 at Kyadondo Rugby Grounds.
“We shall host the event at Kyadondo,” URU general secretary Peter Odong confirmed to Monitor.
The news comes with good memories. The last time the tournament was hosted in Uganda at Legends Rugby Club in 2017, Uganda emerged champions after beating Zimbabwe 10-7 in a closely contested final.
Uganda will host 13 countries namely Kenya, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Madagascar, Zambia, Zimbabwe , Senegal, Tunisia, Namibia and four yet to be confirmed regional qualifiers.
Back then, the reward was a place at the 2018 Rugby Sevens World Cup in Sanfrancisco, USA. It remains the same target, qualification for September’s Rugby Sevens World Cup to be hosted by South Africa at the Cape Town Stadium, is on the cards for the top three sides.
The top two sides are also guaranteed slots at the Commonwealth Games that run from July 28- August 8 in Birmingham.
The Rugby Cranes Sevens have set sights on qualifying for both the World Cup and Commonwealth Games.
A top two finish guarantees both targets. The side kicked off preparations earlier in the week with the arrivals of former BlitzBoke captain Phillip Snyman and Johan Van Wyk , a Strength and Conditioning specialist coach.
The pair came in under the arrangement in which URU partnered with the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport (SAS) to help develop the game in the country. Timothy Mudoola has also joined the sevens management headed by Tolbert Onyango.
