Cranes working six days a week ahead of France trip

Super Vision. Phillip Wokorach vies for possession against Zimbabwe last year. He will join the test side in France. PHOTO | JOHN BATANUDDE


The Rugby Cranes continue preps for the business part of the year with head coach Fred Mudoola and his vice Bobby Musinguzi on top of things.

July will test the Cranes with five games awaiting them. 

The side is scheduled to depart for Marseille, France on June 28  for the Rugby Africa Cup where they kick off against Kenya in the quarters three days later on July 1 at the Stade Maurice David, Aix-en-Provence. They will have to play two more games, depending on how they fare against rivals and neighbours Kenya, to make it three tests in ten days. On returning to Uganda, the Rugby Cranes will set themselves up for the annual Elgon Cup against Kenya with the home leg due in Kampala on July 23. A week later, Mudoola’s charges will pack their bags and head to Kakamega in Western Kenya for the return leg. By the end of the month, Uganda would have played five games with a 35 man squad at the coaches’ disposal.

The latest squad released has Phillip Wokorach part of the side despite the Uganda Rugby Union setting a precedent earlier in the year to keep 7s players out of test action and vice versa. It has to do with the fact that he plays professional rugby in France at A.S.B.C Vaucluse Rugby, which is a two hour drive to Marseille where the Africa Rugby Cup will be hosted. 

His inclusion will boost the side for the continental showpiece before he joins the 7s camp to prepare for the Commonwealth Games due July 28 to August 8.  Back home, the Rugby Cranes are training six days a week every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday between 4pm and 7pm with a gym session on Sunday at Crossfit, Industrial Area.