Magona: Right man at wrong time

Magona (left) makes his frustration clear on the Rugby Cranes bench against Kenya. On the right is his assistant Fred Mudoola

What you need to know:

SIZEABLE DITCH. In a nutshell, the problems behind Cranes’ miserable performances during the last fifteen months are bigger than Magona. The rugby system is broken and needs to be treated.

Kampala.

This week saw Peter Magona’s reign as Cranes coach come to quite an abrupt end.
At the time of announcing his resignation this week, Magona’s 15 months at the helm had ended with the 15s side relegated to tier 1C.

That was not the way things were supposed to have panned out when the former Heathens coach was tasked to take over a Cranes side that held a Confederation of African Rugby (CAR) tier 1A status and the Elgon Cup at the time.

Daily Monitor broke the news of Magona’s stepping aside on Tuesday after a turbulent era.
Magona was handed the Cranes` reins in April, 2013, then taking over from Yayiro Kasasa. Kasasa was later appointed director of coaches.
A 17-16 in the first leg of the Elgon Cup in Kenya was the perfect way to announce himself as Cranes coach.

The victory, the first time Uganda were winning in Kenya since 2006, had majority of the rugby fraternity over the moon. They hoped for more victories under him, but only one came after a year.

During his 15 months reign, Uganda have rapidly come tumbling down from tier 1A to 1C.
In between, the Cranes lost the Elgon Cup in 2013 and 2014. Two wins out of a possible eight is a feat that even Magona himself would surely be disappointed with.
The narrative over time as Cranes coach, especially from his backers, has been that Magona needed time to build his own.
But the question is, did he do anything over the course of the 15 months to earn himself the time his supporters insisted was needed to rebuild the side?

Failed transition
As a coach, Magona did try to rebuild a cranes side that needed new blood. He rejuvenated the side by handing a number of players national debuts. Starlets like Joseph Aredo, Brian Asaba, Solomon Okia, Patrick Leku, Ivan Markmot, Cyrus Wathum, Davis Kiwalabye and John Wandicho were all handed their first caps by Magona. That is evidence that he was determined to build his own side.
When the former Heathen’s eighth man announced his starting XV for his first game in charge against Kenya in the first leg of the 2013 Elgon Cup, eyebrows were raised.

A natural flanker, Robert Seguya was started out of position at scrum half, a decision that can only be made by a brave tactician. Cranes got lucky as the tactic paid off with a 17-16 victory although Seguya looked lost in the position for most of game. A week later, Seguya got the nod to start at scrum half once again but flopped this time around. Ten of the 19 points Rugby Cranes conceded to Kenya that day were down to Seguya’s mistakes. At the stroke of recess, instead of carrying the ball out of the danger zone as he used to heroically do, Seguya’s feeble pass was intercepted.

The swift passing move that ensued ended up with a Kenyan crossing the try line. It got worse for Seguya in the second half when he gave away a penalty right in front of the two sticks after misjudging the trajectory of a defensive Kenyan kick. Magona was forced to move Seguya to flank before bringing on Davis Kiwalabye at scrum half. All that meant that Seguya had to be a bit part player but Magona still choose to hand him a vital start-to-finish role.

Magona only came up with a new look side and new captain, Brian Odongo this year in preparation for the Confederation of African Rugby (CAR) tier B challenge in Tunisia. The young side disappointed by being relegated to tier 1C but there were a blend made for the future. Magona had to start rebuilding last year to make a stable transition.
The selection problems at number 10 never seized to stop haunting Cranes even under Magona.

Ambrose Kamanyire, Jasper Ocen, Chris Lubanga and Joseph Aredo all played at fly half at one stage in the last 15 months. Using different fly halves made it hard to have a stable half back pairing.
The Commonwealth Games also derailed Magona`s charges as he lost key players like Micheal Wokorach, Allan Otim and Jasper Ocen who were part of the sevens team to represent Uganda at the games. Their absence was felt when a Kenya A side tore Uganda apart 34-0 in Kenya.

However, a section of the rugby society believes Magona’s departure is like using a spoon to drain a lake as it won’t change anything unless the deep-seated problems afflicting rugby are addressed. Symptoms are being treated as the disease is being ignored. It’s high time the URU chairman, Andrew Owor, and his team dealt with the disease at hand before it turns into a cancer. In a nut shell, the problems behind cranes` miserable performances during the last fifteen months are bigger than Magona. The rugby system is broken and needs to be treated.