New Rugby Sevens World Cup format pits Uganda against Samoa

New format Day one fixtures

Uganda vs. Samoa - (winner) vs. New Zealand
Kenya vs. Tonga- (winner) vs. Scotland
Canada vs. Papa New Guinea - (winner) vs. Argentina
France vs. Jamaica - (winner) vs. Australia
Wales vs. Zimbabwe- (winner) vs. England
Russia vs. Hong Kong - (winner) vs. Fiji
Japan vs. Uruguay - (winner) vs. South Africa
Ireland vs. Chile- (winner) vs. USA

KAMPALA.With the 2018 Rugby Sevens World Cup under 100 days away, World Rugby has announced a new format for the famous Melrose Cup to be hosted in San Francisco, USA at the iconic AT&T Park on July 20-22 , featuring 24 men's and 16 women's teams.

Unlike in past World Cups where pool games have been played before heading for knockout rounds, there will be an initial knockout preliminary round featuring the nations ranked ninth to 24th, while the top eight seeds progress automatically to the round of 16. In a nutshell, under this format, the World Cup champion will have to win every match.

The top 14 men's seeds are ranked on basis of points gathered on the 2016-17 series and first seven rounds of 2018 in Dubai, Cape Town, Sydney, Hamilton, Las Vegas, Vancouver and Hong Kong. The remaining 10 teams which include Uganda are ranked according to their finish at the World Series qualifier in Hong Kong.

African champions Uganda who qualified with Zimbabwe on reaching last year`s Africa Sevens Cup final, have seen the new format place Pacific Islanders Samoa as their hurdle before the last 16. A berth against holders New Zealand in the last 16 awaits Uganda if they beat Samoa or face relegation to the bowl.

Rugby Sevens Cranes coach Tolbert Onyango thinks the new format makes it tougher for the less seeded sides as they play a game more than their seeded counterparts.

“The new format makes it harder part for upcoming sides as I think it rewards the seeded teams with playing a game less,” Onyango told Daily Monitor before adding that training would start on Sunday. “We are still resting but we resume training on Sunday,” he added.

The national sevens side has already competed in three tournament this year. The Victoria Falls Sevens in Zimbabwe, HSBC World Rugby Series Qualifiers in Hong Kong and the Commonwealth Games in Australia with hope of another build up tourney before heading for the World Cup in July.

Tournament referees: Alhambra Nievas (Spain), Joy Neville (Ireland), Sara Cox (England), Adam Jones (Wales), Ben Crouse (South Africa), Sakurako Kawasaki (Japan), Hollie Davidson (Scotland), Rebecca Mahoney (New Zealand), Beatrice Benvenuti (Italy).

About Uganda
Team: Uganda
Nickname: Rugby Cranes
Captain: Michael Wokorach
Coach: Tolbert Onyango
Major honors: two time African champions (2016,2017)