Rugby Cranes 7s prep season with Kapchorwa camp
Training Phase. Uganda Rugby Cranes Sevens captain Wokorach and his teammates must make hay in Kapchorwa. PHOTO/EDDIE CHICCO
The Rugby Cranes Sevens contingent of 20, with 15 players and five officials will spend the next seven days away in Kapchorwa as the side prepares for another international season.
While Rugby Africa is yet to confirm its calendar, World Rugby has laid out one with the Olympics final qualifying tournament first in line.
Uganda and 11 other countries will on the weekend of June 19-20 take to Stade Louis II, Monaco in France for the last Olympics spot.
Tolbert Onyango’s troops have five months to get in shape and match the likes of Brazil, Chile, Jamaica, Mexico, France, Ireland, Samoa, Tonga, Zimbabwe, China and Hong Kong come June.
The demands of ‘The Sevens’ come with a certain level of preparation the side are targeting to compete in Monaco. This week will have players undergo three sessions involving game play and hill-running in the high altitude region. Training at high altitudes gives athletes an edge with increased lung capacity, increased lactic acid threshold, increased haemoglobin mass and red cell volume.
A week of training at 5,900 ft (1,800 m) altitude of Kapchorwa has its gains for the side before more preparations kick in. The Kapchorwa trip is only supplementing on what the boys have been working on throughout December in an undisclosed location.
In Monaco, Uganda will compete in a 12-team round-robin format that will see three pools of four teams go head to head.
Nations that progress from the pools will enter the knockout rounds, to the last eight, four and finals in that order. Fiji, USA, New Zealand and South Africa have already qualified as the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series top four. Japan, as hosts, Great Britain, Korea, Australia, Kenya, Argentina and Canada via the regional qualifiers.
THE CONTINGENT IN KAPCHORWA
Ian Munyani, Adrian Kasito, Solomon Okia, Norbert Okeny, Levis Ocen,
Pius Ogena, Michael Wokorach (cpt), Joseph Aredo,
Aaron Ofoyrwoth,
Isaac Massangnzira, William Nkore, Desire Ayera, Alex Aturinda, Kelvin Balagadde.
Byron Oketayot
