Taste of success for Cranes 7s at home
Uganda qualified for Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 after reaching the Rugby Africa Sevens Championship final in Kampala on the first Saturday in October. The Rugby Cranes Sevens were crowned African champions for the second year in a row, albeit only after a last-gasp try from Adrian Kasito saw them come from behind to triumph 10-7 to the delight of the home fans at Legends Sports Ground. PHOTO/EDDIE CHICCO
If 2016 was the stepping stone, 2017 was when the Rugby Sevens Cranes cemented their status as a force to reckon with when it comes to sevens rugby on the continent.
Still riding on the previous year’s heroics of winning a maiden Africa Cup Sevens, the pretty unchanged side were favourites to defend the Africa Cup Sevens Championship at Legends Rugby Club in Kampala.
In front of a capacity crowd, Adrian Kasito dashed for glory in the dying minutes to break Zimbabwean hearts and send fans into a euphoria.
With a minute or so to play, Zimbabwe led 7-5 before Kasito got the most important try of his career. “I got the ball and all I thought of was getting to the line,” he told Daily Monitor drenched in sweat moments after the final whistle.
It was cause for triple joy as places in the 2018 World Cup Sevens in San Francisco, Hong Kong Sevens and the Commonwealth Games had been sealed by virtue of making the finals.
Coach Tolbert Onyango was on ‘Cloud Nine’ with all this unfolding on his birthday, what better gift would he have asked from his players.
“Us playing in the World Cup will break more mental barriers, the players and everyone concerned are going to realise that we can achieve more as long as we hang in there,” he said. Prior to the showpiece, the side had prepared well by playing at the Oktoberfest Sevens in Munich, Germany although it had been overshadowed by the disappearance of three players Brian Kikawa, Fred Odur and Ramathan Govule. The development saw Joseph Aredo, Kevin Kerumundu and Byron Oketayot join as replacements. The stage was set as all nine countries namely Botswana, Ghana, Madagascar, Mauritius, Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia, Zambia and Zimbabwe had jetted in and felt at home at Silver Springs Hotel, Bugolobi.
Pool Stages
Uganda were tournament top seeds as defending champions and were expected to run over every side, considering that Kenya and Namibia who could have posed threats were absent from the meet.
In Pool A, Uganda kicked off against Zambia and ran in five tries from James Ijongat, Lawrence Ssebuliba, Eric Kasita, Phillip Wokorach and Pius Ogena to set up a 35-0 victory. The message that Uganda was taking no prisoners had been inked in bold.
Debutants Ghana were also on the receiving end as Phillip Wokorach led the 36-0 onslaught .Up next came North Africans Morocco, who looked sleek but could not match the home side. A 42-10 win with tries by Kasiita, Ssebuliba, Ijongat, Michael Wokorach, Joseph Aredo and Solomon Okia secured a second win but on a sad note Oketayot had his tournament cut short by injury.
Uganda’s last game on Day One had Tunisia as opponents and a win would secure a place in the last eight.
The boys once again delivered with Michael, James Odongo, Ssebuliba and Phillip delivering the goods for a 33-19 win on Friday evening that had seen the crowd gradually grow during the course of the day.
Quarterfinal
Day Two had a lot at stake. It was time for knockout rugby as the tournament entered the last eight. Botswana was in Uganda’s way but not for long. Kasito, Ssebuliba, Ogena and Odongo all crossed the white line to help Uganda to a 33-0 win and secure a semi-final place.
Semi-final
A win in the semifinals would of course get Uganda into the final and hand them a chance to defend the Africa Cup but that was not all.
It would also mean Uganda securing a place in next year’s Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco, USA and a chance to play at the 2018 Commonwealth Games at the Gold Coast, Australia. The writing was on the wall for enemy Zambia with a Ssebuliba hattrick that was supplemented with tries from Phillip, Keremundu and Kasito to kill two birds with the same stone.
Final
This was the moment everyone had been waiting for. Even with World Cup and Commonwealth Games slots secured, there was still hunger in the side and among the home crowd who wanted to win a championship at home. It was not the best start against Zimbabwe in the final.
A penalty try was awarded to the Zimbabweans who took a 7-0 lead with Ogena sent to the sin bin for two minutes, leaving the backyard fans voiceless and anxious before Odongo cut the deficit with a try which was not converted to give the game a breather at 7-5.
At this stage, Legends had gone quiet with fans cutting dejected poses as the clock ticked away. The Zimbabweans defence was holding on and frustrating the Cranes. It was also the first Uganda had found themselves chasing a game in the tournament. As the centre referee was about to call it a day, Kasito pounced onto a loose ball from Michael and ran the race of his life to score one of the most or not the most important tries in the history of Uganda rugby to make it 10-7. It was the best way to cap off a tournament that had seen Uganda add a second Africa Rugby Sevens Championship.
AFRICA 7s CUP 2017
POOL DRAW
Pool A: Uganda, Zambia, Tunisia, Morocco, Ghana
Pool B: Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Senegal, Botswana, Mauritius.
POOL RESULTS
*Uganda 36 Ghana 0
*Zambia 0 Uganda 35
*Morocco 10
Uganda 42
*Uganda 33
Tunisia 19
Quarterfinal
Botswana 0
Uganda 33
Semifinal
Zambia 12
Uganda 38
Final
Uganda 10 Zimbabwe 7
Tournament MVP : Phillip Wokorach
CRANES 7s AFRICA CUP WINNING TEAM
1. Pius Ogena
2. Eric Kasiita (captain)
3. James Odong
4. Adrian Kasito 5.Joseph Aredo
6. Michael Wokorach
7. Philip Wokorach (vice-captain)
8. Lawrence Sebuliba
9. Kevin Kerumundu
10. Solomon Okia
11. James Ijongat
12. Byron Oketayot
