Elgon Cup
Uganda vs. Kenya
Saturday 4.30pm, Legends
The Uganda Rugby Cranes will pick positives from their last encounter with the Kenya Simbas ahead of the first leg of this year’s
Elgon Cup.
The last meeting in Nairobi ended in a 33-all stalemate in a match up that doubled as a Gold Cup tie.
The Simbas won the cup having gone into the second leg on the back of a 23-18 win in Kampala.
Assistant coach Robert Seguya believes the gap between the two sides has narrowed and the home side has every reason to go for a win when the two clash at Legends Rugby Club on Saturday.
The tie, granted test status a couple of years ago, will be used by the two sides to prepare of bigger things later next month.
The upcoming Rugby Africa Gold Cup which starts this year serves as the African qualifying round for the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan will take most of the attention.
“We are not about the Elgon Cup. We want to compete for the African title and a place in the World Cup,” Seguya revealed.
New Simbas coaches Ian Snook and Murray Roulston will use the event to test their troops having taken over only seven weeks ago.
Having played two build up matches against the South African Barbarian in April, the Rugby Cranes camped in Jinja over the weekend and are out to claim victory.
No Wokorach
Seasoned center Michael Wokorach will not be part of the team on Saturday. The outside center will be in the stands for the first time in nine years for personal reasons that he will not reveal to the press.
He joins a legion of senior players out of the team for one reason or the other. Alex Mubiru, Brian Odongo, Mathias Ochwo and Scot Oluoch are some of the other senior players out of the team this year.
Philip Wokorach will, however, be part of the team alongside other Rugby Sevens players like Adrian Kasiito, Pius Ogena, Ivan Magomu and James Odongo.
Dropped
While some senior players do not want to feature for the Rugby Cranes, there are those who have been training but didn’t make Saturday’s squad.
Chris Lubanga, Faisal Gamma and Arthur Mukama were all overlooked for the Saturday match.
Young players like Conrad Wanyama and Conrad Mukwaya will also have to wait a little longer for their senior debuts.
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