Skipper Odongo demands wider pool for jumbo task

KAMPALA.

Rugby Cranes met their management team on Sunday while awaiting the return of South African coach John Duncan in April ahead of the 2017 international calendar.

Upon the confirmation of fixtures for the Africa Cup 1A tournament by the continental body - Rugby Afrique, Uganda Rugby Union (URU) had issues to iron out with players.
“National team players had a meeting with their management to discuss (the) training plan,” Ramsey Olinga told Daily Monitor yesterday.

Bumper schedule
The five-game Africa Cup kicks off with a trip to Nairobi to face Kenya on June 24. Seven days later, the national team will visit Dakar to face Senegal.

The team will then host Tunisia, Namibia and Zimbabwe during a nine-week period ending on August 5.
Referring to the task that starts with an Elgon Cup game against Kenya on June 10 here, captain Brian Odongo made some demands.

With some of the games only a week apart, Odongo feels it will take meticulous planning and execution for Rugby to stay in the top tier for associates.

“It’s definitely harder than previous years. It calls for proper nutrition and conditioning,” Odongo advised.
Adding that; “the team needs a wider pool of players at the same level to be able to go through this campaign.”
Just to emphasise the enormity of the task, the Rugby Cranes 7s team will be in Hong Kong from April 7-9 for the seventh leg of the 10-round HSBC World Sevens Series.
There, Rugby Cranes 7s, the bulk of whom will also be in the 15s side a few weeks later, must win a qualifying tournament to become a core side on the lucrative circuit.

Key preparations
Last year, Robert Seguya, the national team assistant coach, referred to Uganda players as “sissies” who are “not well conditioned” to perform at the highest level.

So often Uganda is also faulted for poor preparations across the board, something Odongo feels URU must pay attention to.
“Early preparations are also key so that during the actual tournament,” he said.

“We do not have to work on fitness but rather just polish up how we want to play for a particular game hence negating fatigue.”

Rugby Afrique “will pay for the flights for 23 players and three staff per team as well as a hosting grant to accommodate the visiting team to the host union.”

However, URU must pay “a one-off participation fee of US$10, 000 (at least Shs35m)” to take part in the designated tournament.

RUGBY AFRICA CUP TIER 1A
Uganda’s fixtures
June 10: Uganda vs. Kenya (Elgon Cup only)
June 24: Kenya vs. Uganda
July 1: Senegal vs. Uganda
July 15: Uganda vs. Tunisia
July 22: Uganda vs. Namibia
August 5: Uganda vs. Zimbabwe