For any player to make the final team that will feature in this year's Rugby Cranes' busy schedule, hard work is the starting point.
Assistant coach Robert Sseguya has no place for soft landers and expects everyone to fight and convince him to earn a place on this year's roaster. The Rugby Cranes, in a bid to get match fitness, are in Kenya with two trial games lined up against Kenyan side Kabras Sugar in Kakamega. Kabras Sugar is home to Cranes’ star fullback Phillip Wokorach.Sseguya intends to use the two games in Kenya to assess his team and know who is up to the task and who isn't. "By the end of the tour I will know who is ready and who isn't, " the former Rugby Cranes star revealed before the team left for Kenya Tuesday morning. "Team selection is no joke and everyone will get a chance to show how much he can contribute to the team," Sseguya added. The tactician is however, positive that the multiple options at hand will aid the team’s preparation for the Africa Rugby 1A scheduled for June and July.
The Rugby Cranes have five fixtures that Sseguya believes can be taken care of if his side stick to the collective goal of the team. Uganda will play Kenya, Namibia, Tunisia, Senegal and Zimbabwe in the Africa Cup with the winner of the tournament qualifying for the 2019 World Cup to be held in Japan. “The good thing is that we have many great players across the pitch and this gives us multiple options to choose from,"Sixty players were summoned for training six weeks ago and these have put it a great shift of effort in training to make Seguya confident that Uganda will ably compete with all the opponents. Seguya also expressed his frustration due to lack of enough trial games for his side. "We have to work within our means and we take take the Kabras tour seriously," he said when asked about the team's lack of high profile trial games ahead of the competition. Uganda's neighbours and opponents Kenya will face Germany later this month in a test match. The team is also set for a camp in South Africa before taking on Uganda in the Elgon Cup first leg on June 10.
RUGBY CRANES FIXTURES
June 10: Uganda vs Kenya
(Elgon Cup)
June 24: Kenya vs Uganda
July1: Senegal vs Uganda
July 15:Uganda vs Tunisia
Jul 22: Uganda vs Namibia
Aug 5: Uganda vs Zim