Wokorach happy with few sessions

Wokorach is the only professional rugby player in the Rugby Sevens Cranes. PHOTO/ JOHN BATANUDDE.

What you need to know:

Wokorach arrived from Paris on Wednesday and will only take part in six sessions at most ahead of the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Cape Town, South Africa from September 9-11.

KAMPALA. Such is the schedule that Philip Wokorach has not taken in sessions longer than one week with the national rugby team.

The France-based player is often only able and available to participate in a few sessions before major tournaments. It’s the same this week.  

Wokorach arrived from Paris on Wednesday and will only take part in six sessions at most ahead of the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Cape Town, South Africa from September 9-11.

His first session is today and two more through the weekend. The team will travel south on Monday and plan to have three more sessions before facing Samoa in the opener.

“It doesn’t affect me much. I would want more but I am happy to work with what is available,” Wokorach said.

“I am not lacking in physical fitness and games fitness but longer camps might help with bonding. Luckily, I grew up playing with most of them so it’s not hard to adjust.

“It’s not sufficient but it doesn’t take you long. Even when I am away, the coach and the players always share what the team is working on so I am in the loop. We are told then we execute.”

A three-time Africa 7s champion, Wokorach is perhaps Uganda’s biggest rugby export having dominated the Kenyan scene before moving to France in 2019.

He is often Uganda’s top points’ scorer on the international stage. At the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco, USA, Wokorach bagged 30 points, including four tries.

Timothy Kisiga also managed four tries in the sun. The tournament’s top scorer, Papua New Guinea’s Manu Guise, had 37 points.

Uganda, then debutantes, would finish 19th out of 24 teams. An improvement on that is the team’s major focus in Cape Town.