Cranes hungry for Elgon Cup

KAMPALA. Rugby Cranes captain Brian Odongo sees a lot of hunger in his peers ahead of Uganda’s crunch Elgon Cup tie with rivals and neighbours Kenya on Saturday at Legends Rugby Grounds.
“The side is extremely hungry,” Odongo told Daily Monitor prior to yesterday’s training session at Legends RFC.
Rugby Cranes will rest for two weeks before heading to Kenya for the return leg that will also serve as a Gold Cup tie. Kenya have enjoyed more success in the annual showpiece compared to Uganda, winning it nine times with Uganda stuck on three but that has not stopped the 2007 Africa champions from believing.
“Of course we are going into this contest to win. You can’t play in a rugby game and hope to lose or draw. Ultimately everyone’s focus and goal is to win,” he said.

Contrasting preparations
Kenya’s preparations have seen them pitch camp in South Africa for 10 days where they will played a test match against Durbell RFC of Cape Town before returning home to take on Germany in a 30-29 loss a fortnight ago.
On the other hand, Uganda have played two games against Kenya Cup losing finalists Kabras Sugar along with a few trial games against the Barbarians and select sides. The contrasting preparations have not bothered Odongo and company as they are contended with their own ground works.
“We might not have had a test game under our belt but from what guys have been doing in training, we have had sufficient preparations,” Odongo insisted.

“Of course you play the way you train and eventually how you train determines how you play,” he reasoned.
Odongo is also confident whatever they have worked on in training can help them overcome Kenya on Saturday without worrying about their opponent’s preparations.
“We have had sharp training sessions, worked on set plays, unit skills and we have trained as a team and therefore we should be able to come good on Saturday,” the captain added.

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