No room for complacency
Uganda’s back row Brian Asaba (with the ball) is tackled in the first leg Elgon Cup match against Kenya at Legends Ground last year. Photo by Eddie Chicco
What you need to know:
- In West Africa, Ivan Markmot took Ivan Kirabo’s place. Odongo, a regular since his 2008 debut, is ready to take the grind but also cautioned his younger teammates.
- When Uganda last played the North Africans at Legends back in 2009, the home side lost 41-17. A further 38-13 defeat in Tunis ended Uganda’s 2011 Rugby World Cup hopes.
Kampala. Rugby Cranes have had a desirable start to the Africa Gold Cup campaign, winning and drawing against Senegal and Kenya respectively.
In fact, Uganda temporarily climbed to the summit of the six-team log after the 17-16 triumph in Dakar a fortnight ago.
They have since fallen third on six points, one behind Kenya in second as Namibia rose to the top with a 95-0 drubbing of Senegal last Saturday.
Uganda’s next opponents this Saturday at Legends Rugby Club, Tunisia, are yet to win a game and arrived here from Nairobi where they lost 110-10 to Kenya.
That makes Rugby Cranes not only firm favourites for victory but also gives them a chance of racking up a huge score.
National captain Brian Odongo is staying grounded. “We can’t take them lightly, they have won in Kampala before,” prop Odongo told Daily Monitor.
“They will also be looking to bounce back from the Kenya game which means we are playing a hungry and angry side,” he added.
When Uganda last played the North Africans at Legends back in 2009, the home side lost 41-17. A further 38-13 defeat in Tunis ended Uganda’s 2011 Rugby World Cup hopes.
Odongo, along with his front row partners Asuman Mugerwa and Alex Mubiru, is one of the few to have started all three internationals this year.
The others to start every game include the back row pair of Brian Asaba and Marvin Odongo as well as the backline that has only been changed once.
In West Africa, Ivan Markmot took Ivan Kirabo’s place. Odongo, a regular since his 2008 debut, is ready to take the grind but also cautioned his younger teammates.
“We play 18 league games and that’s every week so we are used to it. There is no problem at all. Picking me and the minutes is up to the coach,” the loose-head prop said.
Adding that; “the whole team knows what is at stake. The preparations don’t get any lighter and we are working harder to apply pressure as we have been doing in the previous games.”
