Rugby Cranes battered in Elgon Cup loss to Kenya

The Kenya Simbas silenced the Ugandan crowd at the Kings Park Arena to win the second leg of the annual Elgon Cup 21-5 and take the ultimate prize with a 48-30 aggregate score.

Having gone into the second leg with a slim two-point lead following last Saturday’s 27-25 victory in Nairobi, the Simbas got the perfect start in Kampala to stretch their advantage.

From kickoff, Kenya pinned Uganda into their 22-meter territory and had Ephraim Oduor going over for the game’s opening try. Timothy Omela added the extras and the visitor stretched their advantage to nine points.

That was before Eugine Sifuna crushed over for another try, which was converted by Omela to stretch the lead to 14-0.

The hosts were in sixes and sevens, struggling to retain possession in contact and losing grip of the wet ball whenever they tried to get the ball to the backline.  

Another converted try for Kenya ensured the visitors went into the halftime break with a comfortable 21-0 lead. Fred Mudoola and his charges were in a spot of bother and needed a big second half to impress the partisan crowd that had gone silent. 

But the multiple changes made at halftime and early in the second half only managed to ensure there were no more points conceded rather than go for it.

Ian Munyani and Timothy Kisiga came off the bench to inject some life into the game but the Kenyan defence had answers to every question paused by Uganda. 

“We wanted to start strong and we were very physical from the first whistle, which helped us control the tempo of the game,” Simbas’ head coach Jerome Parwater said after the game.

With action mainly in the Ugandan half for the entire first half, Innocent Gwokto’s run on the turn of possession was the only minor threat but the Kenyan defence recovered to clear their lines.

Shakim Ssembusi missed Uganda’s first opportunity to put points on board as his penalty swerved wide of the posts with the scoreline at 7-0. The Simbas were momentarily reduced to 14 after Alfred Orege was sent to the sin bin but Uganda failed to capitalize in the end.

Slow start

Uganda’s habit of starting slow continued to reveal its ugly head as Kenya went up 21-00 midway through the first half to close the contest. Mudoola, who only arrived from South Africa with his assistant on Saturday, had no time to be with the team since the last game in Nairobi. 

“We didn’t tick the key factors, the principles of play went against us both in attack and defence,” Mudoola said after the defeat.  “The poor starts are costing us, and this goes as far back as three years now,” he added. 

A more improved shift in the second half only saw Uganda get points on board through Sidney Gongodyo’s try which came right at the end as Kenya continued to dominate the two-nation series.

Ssembusi missed another shot at the posts in the second half to compound Uganda’s kicking misery that stretched from the first leg.

Uganda’s last triumph in the competition came in 2015, and the wait continues. The two sides will meet next year in the quarterfinal of the Rugby Africa Cup.

Elgon Cup

Second leg result

Uganda 5-21 Kenya 

Kenya win 48-30 on aggregate