Mother of all Tests

Enigma. Half-back Magomu is gifted both with quick hands and thinking feet. PHOTO BY EDDIE CHICCO

What you need to know:

  • Rugby. Uganda need to execute a perfect game plan if they are to beat African powerhouse Namibia today.

KAMPALA. Namibia’s driving maul is much more than just a mere exercise in brute strength. Rugby Cranes fans, who will descend on Legends Club today, shall learn that the Welwitschias’ driven maul is as well choreographed as the ‘Bolshoi Ballet’.
The home fans will fervently cheer on today knowing a thing or two about Namibia’s maul-related dominance having been on the wrong end of it during last year’s 41-30 defeat at Kyadondo Rugby Club.
Former Rugby Cranes skipper Herbert Wafula believes the time-honoured panacea to Namibia’s mauls - driven or rolled - is not exactly rocket science.
“We need to secure our set-pieces as we massively disrupt theirs. We should contest their attacking lineouts well. If they get the ball, we need to disorganise and cut off the support,” said Wafula. After crowning his 50th Test appearance, which made him Uganda’s second most capped player, with a third try in Rugby Cranes colours, hooker Alex Mubiru promised to take it ‘one game at a time’.
There will be little room for error in his first game since that milestone. Mubiru will be expected to seamlessly find the hands of lineout jumper Mathias Ochwo, who will win his 52nd cap today.

Good memories
The two veterans, who missed last year’s 41-30 defeat at the hands of Namibia, have over the years dovetailed beautifully at the lineout. Mubiru threw the ball to Ochwo as well as Moses Soita and Adrian Bukenya during Uganda’s 20-19 fairytale win over Namibia at Legends back in 2007.
Utility back Dennis Etuket missed out on playing in that epic win because he was writing his final year exams at the university. Etuket says if Uganda is to enjoy any success today it will have to ‘play a game of 80 minutes’.
A watchful eye, he adds, must be kept on the wide ball, which the Welwitchias have used to lethal effect this campaign. “The spacing in our defensive line will be very crucial in closing out the spaces out wide,” he notes.
Indeed, Namibia showed in a nail-biting win over Zimbabwe last weekend that their game is much more than just the driven maul. Uganda will need to show unyielding qualities in defence to keep their line intact.
Ball recycling
Namibia’s pint-sized scrum half Damian Stevens has proven to be resourceful when it comes to quickly recycling the ball. Rugby Cranes will have to disrupt this cohesion at the breakdown.
“We’ve obviously watched Namibia and know what to expect from them. We need to focus on what we can do. We need to execute our plan,” says Rugby Cranes head coach John Duncan.
Any proactive approach from Uganda will be built around Ivan Magomu, who turned in a blinder against Tunisia last weekend. The flyhalf says he has noticed ‘gaps in [Namibia’s] midfield we can exploit’. This will beg of Rugby Cranes players running with the ball into the gaps.
As a reactive approach, Uganda will have to be organised, physical and targeted before the maul is set and acquires momentum. They will also need to dominate the scrummages.
Duncan sums it up neatly when he says; “Today’s game is going to be tight. We are going to need to convert all our chances into points to be in the running to win the game.”

Top try scorers in 2017 africa Gold Cup
Namibia: Rohan KItshoff (7)
Uganda: Charles Uhuru, Philip Wokorach (3)

*Two of the 12 tries Namibia have scored in the 2017 Gold Cup have been off driven mauls

STATISTICS CORNER
Previous meetings : 3
Namibia wins : 2
Uganda wins : 1
Namibia points scored : 136
Uganda points scored : 64

AFRICA GOLD CUP

Today at 2pm, Legends
Uganda vs. Namibia